Flat steel import prices remained stable during the past week in South America as market participants were waiting to see if price increases from China and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region would truly materialize.Fastmarkets assessed South American hot-rolled coil import prices at $525-540 per tonne cfr on Friday February 8, the same as a week before. Cold-rolled coil prices rem...Read More
Participants in the European hollow sections market are in favor of the European Union's new safeguarding measures but hope for additional support against cheap imports in the form of anti-dumping measures, they told Fastmarkets MB. The European Commission (EC) has set definitive safeguard measures on 26 imported steel products in the form of tariff rates and a range of quotas that are partly...Read More
Concerns about the security of 'upstream' iron ore tailings dams in the state of Minas Gerais have prompted the evacuation of residents from nearby communities, Brazil's national mining agency ANM said on Friday February 8.Inspections were carried out by mine operators - Vale and ArcelorMittal - and ANM, which then co-ordinated the evacuation proces with the municipal and state auth...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil increased slightly this week, as producers prepared to launch a new round of increases for April-shipment material.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian slab export prices went up to $420-470 per tonne fob on Friday February 8, compared with $410-460 per tonne fob a week before.No trades were made because market participants were waiting for the end of the Chin...Read More
Aluminium foundry premiums in Europe were under pressure this month from weak demand and the removal of US sanctions against Russian producer UC Rusal, but the premium in the United States remained firm. The premium in Eastern Europe for silicon 7 aluminium wheels on a delivered-duty-paid basis dropped 5% to its lowest level since monthly assessments began in 2017. Fastmarkets assessed the Eastern...Read More
Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse Rotterdam basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for standard-grade cobalt, in-warehouse, $ per lb Click here for...Read More
Manganese ore prices are showing signs of recovery after a poor start to 2019 that was blamed largely on bearish sentiment around silico-manganese and steel markets in China.Low-grade manganese ore prices have edged up in late January amid a flurry of demand ahead of Chinese New Year, which meant some of the firmer offers in the market were successful, despite the fact that some miners had cut off...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Friday February 8, hampered by low liquidity conditions due to Lunar New Year national holidays while dollar strength and broad risk-aversion continues to limit commodity investment.Nickel's three-month price was the biggest decline over the day, falling over 3% to close just above $12,500 per tonne and do...Read More
The Comex copper price softened during US morning trading on Friday February 8 with trading volumes reduced due to Lunar New Year. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.45 cents to $2.8240 per lb. Yet the copper price has experienced short-covering so far this year, according to Fastmarkets MB research."While investors were ex...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices stayed largely flat on Friday February 8 with China's week-long public holiday coming to an end, though there was some activity in the high-grade segment.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.37 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchanged. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $87.32 per tonne cfr Qingdao, unchange...Read More
Pig iron suppliers to the United States have increased their offer prices despite another fall in the price of prime scrap grades, citing lower availability and higher iron ore costs, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US was $350-360 per tonne cfr on Friday February 8, increasing from $340-345 per tonne cfr a week before."The prime-grade scrap price has...Read More
Transaction prices for grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless sheet in Europe have increased this week for the first time since mid-2018. The increase is largely the result of firmer nickel costs, which themselves began rising at the start of 2019 after decreasing throughout the second half of 2018. Distributors said that, looking at recent costs, it was clear that alloy surcharges for stainless ste...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Friday February 8, hampered by low liquidity conditions due to Lunar New Year national holidays while dollar strength and broad risk-aversion continues to limit commodity investment.Nickel's three-month price was the biggest decline over the day, falling over 3% to close just above $12,500 per tonne and do...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The Comex copper price softened during US morning trading on Friday February 8 with trading volumes reduced due to Lunar New Year. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.45 cents to $2.8240 per lb. Yet the copper price has experienced short-covering so far this year, according to Fastmarkets MB research."While investors were ex...Read More
Aluminium producer UC Rusal's profits from aluminium sales in the fourth quarter of 2018 were down by 16% year on year because the company was operating under trading sanctions imposed by the United States, according to an earnings statement published on Friday February 8. Rusal's aluminium production in October-December totaled 943,000 tonnes, up by 0.4% quarter on quarter. Smelters in Siberia co...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued to trend lower during morning trading on Friday February 8, with the metal's midweek surge largely attributed to a sharp rise in iron ore prices while consumer demand remains hampered by a dearth in Chinese stainless steel production. Nickel's three-month price has since corrected itself during the latter part of the week, falling m...Read More
US cold-rolled coil and coated base prices have continued to hover in the $40- to $41-per-hundredweight range, despite domestic mills announcing $2-per-cwt price increases in late January, market participants said.Fastmarkets AMM's assessments for domestic cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized base prices stayed flat week on week at $40.50 per cwt ($810 per short ton) and $40 per cwt ($8...Read More
The definitive measures taken by the European Commission (EC) in its safeguard case against steel product imports will not result in changes to the imported volumes or domestic prices of hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil or plate, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The situation, however, is different in hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), for which import volumes might decline, giving suppor...Read More
Coated-steel prices in Turkey continued to increase in the week ended Friday February 8, with some producers continuing to close their sales books because they were short of the hot-rolled coil (HRC) used as a base material.Coated-steel producers had low stocks of HRC, and chose to wait and see how much the price of HRC would increase before announcing their new prices for coated coil, sources tol...Read More