Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States were above $97 per hundredweight for the eighth time in the past nine business days, with market participants speculating that tight market conditions will continue during the fourth quarter when mills shutdown for maintenance.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $97.48 per cwt ($1,949.60 per ton) on Thursday Sept...Read More
The impact of China's new "Two High" energy and emissions policy is likely to continue in the iron ore market into the first quarter of 2022, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Sentiment for the coming six months has turned increasingly bearish since the guidelines, coupled with winter production restrictions, were announced in September. New guidance on 'Two-High' projectsThe "Two-High" poli...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices edged down on Thursday September 23, with concerns over demand growing due to China's steel production curbs, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $108.67 per tonne, down $0.03 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $109.38 per tonne, down $1.27 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $79.54 per tonne, up $3.29 per ton...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard...Read More
Coking coal prices in the cfr market retreated slightly on Thursday September 23; steel production cuts and winter production curbs led market participants to doubt the sustainability of strong seaborne cfr prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $600.82 per tonne, down $1.51 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $550 per tonne, down $5.05 per tonnePremium hard coking...Read More
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices held steady on Thursday September 23 after surging a day earlier, with demand among stockists dropping during the day. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,800-5,840 yuan ($897-903) per tonne, unchanged Stockists held off from restocking further during the day amid losses in the futures market. They are not expecting prices to experience much upside in the near term.O...Read More
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
Market-based measures to help efforts to decarbonize would probably work well in the United States, according to the vice president of the European Commission.Frans Timmermans said that he had discussed the concept of the US introducing a carbon-pricing mechanism of some kind with members of the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus in Washington DC on Thursday September 23."I said to the Senators, some...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in China were largely stable on Thursday September 23, while futures retreated in response to the spread of escalated production curbs to downstream users.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,720-5,780 yuan ($886-895) per tonne, narrowing downward by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped to a three-week low of 5,58...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely up on Thursday September 23; the market continued to cautiously anticipate the outcome for Chinese real estate giant Evergrande while the debt deadline edges closer. "Equity markets have made a steady start so far on Thursday," James Moore, analyst at Fastmarkets said, "even after the United States Federal Reserve signaled that it will s...Read More
Major zinc and lead smelters across China received orders from provincial governments on Wednesday September 22 to lower their power consumption, sources told Fastmarkets. One major zinc smelter source in Guangxi was informed by the government to cut their electricity by 20%.'We are not told when power consumption could resume [to] normal at all. Some peers were even instructed to halve electricit...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the publishing time of the weekly India HMS assessment on Friday, from 4:30pm London time to 4:00pm London time, to align better with the publishing time of the India and Pakistan ferrous scrap indices.The shredded indices for India and Pakistan are both published at 4pm London time on a Friday, and the India HMS assessment will be brought in line with this, to offer...Read More
Bangladesh has returned to the deep-sea import market with another deal over the past week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 23.Bangladeshi mill returns to buy bulk cargoes, sources sayChina's scrap import volumes dropped by over 50% in AugustTaiwanese buyers continue purchasing at higher prices after electricity rationing endsBangladeshAt least one deal for United States-orig...Read More
The price of steel billet exports from the CIS corrected downward by a few dollars per tonne on Thursday September 23 when fresh booking to Latin America came to light.Around 20,000 tonnes of Ukraine-origin billet were reported sold to Latin America in the first half of the week at $600 per tonne fob Black Sea for basic-grade material.The deal sent Fastmarkets' calculation of its daily steel bille...Read More
Prices for ferrous scrap into Turkey were steady on Thursday September 23, with mills remaining absent from the deep-sea scrap market and making no purchases for a fourth day, market participants told Fastmarkets.Sources were in agreement that the market was nearly silent throughout the week and that prices were unchanged.The stability was supported by equally flat finished-steel prices during the...Read More
Copper's three-month price was steadily above $9,000 per tonne, and tin was up by 3.4% with most prices on the London Metal Exchange rebounding above their psychological levels amid dip-buying and a softer dollar on the afternoon of Wednesday September 22. Copper's closing price on Wednesday was at $9,286 per tonne, a 3.5% increase on Tuesday's price. The red metal had touched $8,810 per tonne on...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday September 22 that are worth another look.A group including Anglo American, BHP, Rio Tinto and Trafigura has called on governments to work together with the private sector to deliver the policies and investments needed...Read More
In China, ferro-chrome output was slow with continuing electricity outages in Inner Mongolia as well as energy-related production curbs in the southern regions.Production disruptions have resulted in many smelters' failure to fulfill their long-term contracts, a couple of whom began to look for material in the spot market, sources told Fastmarkets. "Electricity limitations in September proved to b...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday September 22 that are worth another look.A group including Anglo American, BHP, Rio Tinto and Trafigura has called on governments to work together with the private sector to deliver the policies and investments needed...Read More