Copper's three-month price was up by 1%, and most London Metal Exchange prices were slightly up the morning of Friday October 1 after a steep sell-off on Thursday afternoon with macroeconomic concerns mounting.Copper's three-month price returned to above the $9,000 per tonne level with a rise to $9,026.50 per tonne on Friday morning from a $8,936.50 per tonne price on Thursday at the close, a 2.4%...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...Read More
Poland's steel wire rod producers decreased their offers for October due to weak buying activity and cheaper imports, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers from local producers for October material were heard at 3,800-3,900 zloty ($953-978) per tonne delivered, down sharply from the initial September rolling offers of 4,100-4,230 zloty per tonne.The domestic wire rod market has been downbeat in Septembe...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
Base metals prices were down on the morning of Friday October 1, extending the weakness that started to accelerate on Thursday, when the LME base metals closed down by an average of 2.3%, with tin dropping by 6.2%. The weakness was broad based with equities retreating, too. Asia-Pacific equities weaker this morning.Gold and the yen rallied on Thursday, and US treasury yields are weaker this mornin...Read More
The inter-merchant market for light-iron steel scrap in the UK was steady for the second week in a row in the week to Friday October 1, with major processors holding their offer prices stable to ensure a steady stream of supply into their yards, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant UK was ?170-190 ($229-256) p...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close on Friday October 1, but the copper price was the star performer closing 2.1% higher.The three-month copper price closed at $9,128 per tonne, recovering from Thursday's dip when it closed at $8,936.50 per tonne. It hit a high of $9,143 per tonne earlier in the day."Thursday's sell-off [for copper] could be either due to invest...Read More
Buyers in the Philippines are being asked to bid higher to secure steel billet cargoes due to limited supply available to the Philippine market, sources told Fastmarkets.In China's latest round of buying in the week to October 1, the steelmaking behemoth took in material from Russia, Turkey and Indonesia, among others. Total purchases of import billet to China since September 6 have now reached ar...Read More
Demand for low-carbon aluminium units in Europe remains strong, especially for value-added products (VAP), market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product (VAP), Europe at $20-30 per tonne on Friday October 1, up from $15-25 per tonne on September 3.Market participants noted a clear gap between different VAP un...Read More
Demand for coated steel coil in Turkey was very weak during the week to Friday October 1, with prices decreasing further, sources told Fastmarkets.Stock levels for the product were enough for buyers to wait and see how low prices would go, sources said.Hot-rolled coil prices kept decreasing as well, so buyers continued toexpect more price cuts for coated coil.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment f...Read More
Rising demand led to higher ferrous scrap prices for material imported into Turkey in the week to Friday October 1, while prices in most other markets were comparatively lackluster. Turkish mills were increasingly active in the market over the week, leading to an uptick in regional import prices United States sellers were able to sell at higher levels amid an increased appetite for scrap in Turkey...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Flat steel prices continued to fall in Turkey during the week ended Friday October 1 because of weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers wanted to prices to flatten before placing orders and end-user demand was also weak, sources said.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey was $880-900 per tonne on October 1, falling from $890-920 pe...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More
Five key global lithium producers SQM, Ganfeng Lithium, AMG Brazil, Orocobre and Pilbara Minerals have announced the setup of the International Lithium Association (ILiA), which aims to provide a central voice for lithium producers and to promote the sustainable development of a global battery value chain.The founding members account for over half of current global lithium production, according to...Read More
The rally in Chinese lithium prices paused in the week to Thursday September 30, with sentiment turning slightly more cautious owing to power restrictions being implemented in some battery materials production hubs.Chinese lithium prices stabilize; hydroxide trades still active ahead of week-long National Day holiday (October 1-7).Seaborne Asian lithium market also stable, but spot activity thins....Read More
Tata Steel officially separated its operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on Friday October 1 after an agreement was reached a day earlier, the company said.Under the new structure, Tata Steel Europe will no longer exist as an operational organization; Tata Steel Netherlands and Tata Steel UK will operate as two independent companies.Tata Steel started national-level consultations t...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More