Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China inched higher on Thursday September 2, after two consecutive days of moderate losses, with market sentiment improved by positive production and inventory data.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,670-5,690 yuan ($878-881) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped to an intraday high of 5,618 yuan p...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal cfr price and hard coking coal fob price soared on Thursday September 2 due to sustained tight supply. And some Chinese coke producers proposed the ninth round of price hikes since the start of August.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $443.02 per tonne, up $11.99 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $403.85 per tonne, up $7.33 per...Read More
Non-binding offers have been made for the purchase of Glencore's warehousing and logistics firm, Access World, with the official due diligence process now underway, according to sources familiar with the matter.At least three Asia-based bidders are in the final stages of the process, which will require firm offers to be submitted at the end of the month, sources told Fastmarkets.A number of compan...Read More
Prices in the United States for imported hot-rolled coil hovered near the same level seen two weeks ago, with foreign producers taking advantage of the wide spread between imports and domestic material to bolster US sales."Offers are as much as $400 per ton lower than domestic prices, with deliveries arriving in November and December," an East Coast distributor source said. "Yes, the foreigners ar...Read More
Prices for domestic steel reinforcing bar in the United States were stable this week, with market participants waiting to see if other mills will follow Steel Dynamics Inc's (SDI) price increase.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on Wednesday September 1, unchanged since August 11 but up by 75.89% from $28 per cwt at the sam...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday September 2, with the outlook remaining bearish despite a drop in steel inventories amid relatively active port trading, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.02 per tonne,down $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.59 per tonne,down $1.64 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qing...Read More
The lower house of the Brazilian Congress passed a personal and corporate income tax reform bill on Wednesday September 1 that included a 1.5 percentage point increase in mining royalties, while adding new commodities that will be subject to that change.The bill was approved by 398 votes against 77. It was intended to raise the Financial Compensation for Exploration of Mineral Resources - Cfem in...Read More
Chile's state-owned mining entity Codelco announced on September 2 that it had reached an agreement with two of the three labour unions that are striking at its Andina mine."The workers associated with the SIIL and SUT Unions will resume their work on a date to be defined with the administration," Codelco said in a statement. The new wage agreement between the company and the Industrial Union of L...Read More
The anticipated agreement between the European Union and the United States on Section 232 tariffs would boost flat-steel export sales to the US and, consequently, reduce domestic EU availability, triggering a price rise in Europe, European buyers told Fastmarkets.The US and EU will reach an agreement on the exemption from Section 232 of European imports of steel and aluminium by November 1. The US...Read More
Speculation as to whether China will lift its anti-dumping (AD) duty on Indonesian stainless steel arose during the week to September 2. Some market participants believe this move would reduce China's crude stainless steel production and thereby help lower carbon emissions.China has imposed AD duty on imports of stainless steel billet, slab, hot-rolled plate and coil produced in the European...Read More
LME aluminium rose to a year-to-date high on Thursday September 2, while the other base metals also edged up following a bout of profit-taking activity at the end of trading on Wednesday. Aluminium's three-month price on the LME reached a new 2021 peak of $2,734.50 per tonne on Thursday morning, up 1.65% from Wednesday's closing price of $2,690 per tonne. Rising coal prices due to supply worries i...Read More
United States-based aluminium producer Novelis has concluded a $175 million capacity expansion project in Brazil and was already studying further increases to meet growing demand in the country for aluminium cans, its local vice-president for procurement, Alfredo Veiga, told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 1.The company disclosed in November 2018 its plans to raise rolling capacity by 100,000 t...Read More
Containerized scrap buyers in Taiwan maintained their bids for the material on Thursday September 2 after deals to South Korea were concluded at lower prices this week, sources said.Lower cfr South Korea deals weigh on Taiwan pricesProduction cuts pose uncertainties to scrap demand in ChinaTaiwanTaiwanese buyers maintained bids at $445 per tonne cfr today, reluctant to increase them further after...Read More
Spot prices for Japanese exported scrap slid this week, reflecting weak demand from overseas buyers, market sources told Fastmarkets.But the end of the summer maintenance season at many domestic mills is set to shore up demand and spot prices in the coming weeks.Demand from key overseas market such as Vietnam and Taiwan remained very weak due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the former and cheaper cont...Read More
Deep-sea steel scrap prices are expected to drop in upcoming bookings to Turkey, in line with falling finished steel prices in the country, market participants said on Thursday September 2.Sources said that suppliers in the United States were not currently offering material to Turkey because US domestic pricing negotiations remained unfinished. While a price drop is expected by some market partici...Read More
China's cobalt tetroxide prices drifted lower in the week to Wednesday September 1, due to weak demand from battery producers, while cobalt sulfate prices remained rangebound, with producers rejecting lower bids.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt tetroxide 72.6% Co min, delivered China fell to 275,000-285,000 yuan ($42,562-44,110) per tonne on September 1, down from 282,000-292,000 yuan per...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 2 that are worth another look.The anticipated agreement between the European Union and the United States on Section 232 tariffs would boost flat-steel export sales to the US and, consequently, reduce domestic EU availability, triggering a price rise in Europe, European...Read More
Bauxite refining and alumina production will resume at New Day Aluminum's facility in Gramercy, Louisiana, in the United States, after operations were halted due to Hurricane Ida, major shareholder Concord Resources said on Thursday September 2.The Gramercy facility is the only remaining alumina refinery in the US."Alumina production at Gramercy went into a planned curtailment on Sunday morning as...Read More
Non-binding offers have been made for the purchase of Glencore's warehousing and logistics firm, Access World, with the official due diligence process now underway, according to sources familiar with the matter.At least three Asia-based bidders are in the final stages of the process, which will require firm offers to be submitted at the end of the month, sources told Fastmarkets.A number of compan...Read More
Lead was the best performer on the London Metal Exchange at the end of trading on Thursday September 2, reaching its highest price in the past week, while most other metals in the base-metals complex remained around their Wednesday prices.Lead's three-month contract rose to as much as $2,315 per tonne on Thursday, and closed the session at $2,312.50 per tonne, up from Wednesday's 5pm price of $2,2...Read More