Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Some flat steel prices in Turkey fell in the week to Friday, September 3, with demand starting to improve on buyer restocking activity, sources told Fastmarkets.But while some market participants said they now expect prices to fall further because of the global price downturn, others said prices were likely to remain stable because of the improvement in demand.Prices in the Commonwealth of Indepen...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday September 3.China The Chinese ferro-silicon market turned bullish following the news that Inner Mongolia may conduct a round of production cuts due to its electricity limits, with many producers holding offers firm. Ningxia's production cuts, intended to meet the energy consumption dual control targets, al...Read More
Domestic prices for alloy steel scrap in the UK increased in the week to Friday September 3 due to good demand combined with tight supply, sources have told Fastmarkets.UK sellers of alloy scrap have been benefiting from both good domestic demand and strong demand and higher prices in India and the EU. As a result, UK buyers...Read More
Switzerland-based metals trader MRI Trading has hired Anant Mishra to head its office in South Africa, Fastmarkets heard on Friday September 3.Mishra will join MRI later this month from Vedanta Resources, where he has worked since 2004,...Read More
The light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom widened in its price range during the week to Friday September 3, with the low end dropping ?5 ($7) per tonne. And quiet trading in European deep-sea export markets weighed on British prices, according to trade sources.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-185...Read More
Poor demand in key import markets in Turkey and Asia continued to pull steel scrap prices downward in the week ended Friday September 3. High freight costs and a lack of container ships also damped spot trading liquidity.Turkish mills book handful of cargoes for requirementsUS sees limited export transactionsChina demand weak amid more production cutsVietnam spot liquidity limited due to holidaysT...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday September 3, but overall the picture is one of consolidation ahead of today's employment report from the United States.China's Caixin services PMI dropped to 46.7 in August, from 54.9 in July, switching from expansion to contractionThe US Dollar Index continues to retreat Base metalsTh...Read More
Three-month aluminium futures on the London Metal Exchange closed at their highest level for a decade on Friday September 3, with the base-metals complex broadly making gains despite jobs data from the United States coming in dramatically lower than expected.The LME aluminium contract closed at $2,727 per tonne on Friday, up by 1.1% from Thursday's close and its highest since May 3, 2011. This cam...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Dalila Ouerghi and...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 3.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Technical-grade and battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China recorded their strongest weekly gains of all time on Thursday September 2, according to Fastmarkets' assessments, with the two now trading at parity against a backdrop of strong demand from the lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) sector. Battery-grade and technical-grade lithium carbonate prices in China trading at parity amid ti...Read More
Some flat steel prices in Turkey fell in the week to Friday, September 3, with demand starting to improve on buyer restocking activity, sources told Fastmarkets.But while some market participants said they now expect prices to fall further because of the global price downturn, others said prices were likely to remain stable because of the improvement in demand.Prices in the Commonwealth of Indepen...Read More
The European steel hot-rolled coil market was quiet and lacking in direction on Friday September 3, with buyers and mills split on the future trend of prices, Fastmarkets heard.Producers in Northern Europe and Italy said they were sold out until the end of 2021, with some even booked for the first quarter of 2022, so are in no rush to reduce prices. In addition, if the European Union and the Unit...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China's domestic market rose on Friday September 3 after supply concerns emerged following a series of mill announcements of maintenance plans for September, the traditional high season, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,760-5,800 yuan ($892-898) per tonne, up by 90-110 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,720-5...Read More
The United States' steel import licenses dropped month on month but soared year on year in August, according to government figures.The US was licensed to import 2.30 million tonnes of steel in August, according to data from the US International Trade Administration's steel import monitoring system collected through Wednesday September 1. That was down by 17.86% from the preliminary US Census impor...Read More
Turkish prices for exports of reinforcing bar have continued to fall over the past week amid sluggish demand, and a continuing softening of import scrap costs, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2.Rebar offers varied mainly within the range of $670-675 per tonne fob, stable week on week but with a few offers heard above and below this level.Buying activity remained silent,...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were broadly stable during the week to Friday September 3, with most producers sold out for September rolling due to good end-sector demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw was at 4,000-4,100 zloty ($1,051-1,077) per tonne on Friday, widening downward by 50 zloty from 4,050-4,100 zloty per...Read More
Prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States' pig iron export market fell during the week to Thursday September 2 on bearish buyers in all outlets.Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $490-505 per tonne on Thursday, down from $510-520 per tonne the previous week."Activity has appeared in China, that will stimulate sales in all othe...Read More
The market for pig iron imports in the United States went down during the week to Friday September 3 on active bookings at lower prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $530-535 per tonne on Friday, down from $545-550 per tonne cfr a week before.Russia-origin pig iron was booked at $530-535...Read More