Brazilian steel producers have passed on an increase of 20-25% in flat steel prices to automotive manufacturers in their latest annual contracts, according to Carlos Loureiro, president of national flat steel association Inda.ArcelorMittal, Usiminas and CSN have all passed on the rises to carmakers, sometimes by as much as 25%.An increase of this size had been expected, and...Read More
Flat steel sales volumes from Brazilian distributors dropped by 10.90% year-on-year in December 2018, due to lower international prices and a number of holiday absences during the month.Brazilian flat steel domestic shipments amounted to 169,900 tonnes, compared with 221,100 tonnes in December 2017, according to figures released by national flat steel association Inda on Tuesday January 22.Clients...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billetBilletBahrain, export, billet, traded at $440-445 per...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transactions: rebarRebarUAE, domestic (Emirates Steel), rebar, offered at 1,845 dirhams ($502) per tonne ex-works, February...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were mostly unchanged over the past week, with demand remaining soft, sources said on Tuesday January 22. But import offer prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil have slumped.Demand was subdued because stock levels in the UAE were already high and buyers have not yet started to place bookings in 2019, sources told Fastmarkets.In...Read More
The rebar market in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow, the major steel-consuming region in the country, remained weak and calm due to seasonally low demand this week.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the domestic price for Russian 12mm A500C rebar, including 20% VAT, was 35,000-35,500 roubles ($524-532) per tonne cpt Moscow on Monday December 21, widening downward from 35,500 roubles...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreGlobal Ore, 88,000 tonnes of 65% Fe Iron Ore Carajas, traded at $88.90 per tonne cfr China, bill of lading dated December 21.Vale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, traded.....Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dipped below $75 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday January 22 after briefly standing above the mark, with plenty of offers in the market unbid for.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $74.78 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.12 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $75.62 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.12 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $75.78 per tonne cfr Qingd...Read More
A transaction in the seaborne coking coal market on Tuesday January 22 took participants by surprise, having been concluded at a higher price than expected, in contrast with prevailing sentiment.A February-laycan cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal was sold at around $195-196 per tonne cfr China to an end user in southern China, according to various sources. This is around $4 per tonne highe...Read More
Summary of BHP's production results for the three months ended December 31, 2018.(year-on-year change)Copper416,000 tonnes, -3%Iron ore58 million tonnes, -6%Iron ore...Read More
China's ferrous futures largely declined during morning trading on Tuesday January 22, apart from the coking coal contract, which ended slightly higher than its opening price. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,661 yuan ($539) per tonne, down 24 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,573 yuan per tonne, down 13 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May...Read More
The Fanya Exchange will auction 34.64 tonnes of indium stocks it holds in its warehouse at the end of the month, market sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday January 22. Of the auctioned volume, 7.6 tonnes are stored in a Kunming warehouse of Changyue Feiping, a Chinese storage and logistics company, while the remaining 27.04 tonnes are in a local warehouse of Yunnan Postal Savings Bank. The stocks...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Tuesday January 22, with aluminium futures leading gains on more than 37,000 tonnes freshly canceled while broad strength in the US dollar index fueled downward pressure. Aluminium lead the complex with the most volumes traded over the morning at 4,616 lots as of 9:50am London time, while more than 50,000 tonnes o...Read More
Chinese steelmakers raised their offers on Tuesday January 22 in the absence of any selling pressure before the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,700-3,720 yuan ($544-547) per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,660-3,680 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneMany steelmakers in China raised their offers since they have secured enough orders for...Read More
Once again the upside initiatives in three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have run into overhead resistance, with the complex down by an average of 0.4% this morning, Tuesday January 22.Other commodity prices have also shown weakness, which we put down to the focus of slower global growth after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global growth outlook to 3.5% i...Read More
Aggressive bidding and lower offer prices weighed on manganese ore prices in China, where inventories also fell sharply in the week ended Friday January 18. Manganese ore prices in China continue to fall Manganese ore stocks in China slump Ferro-manganese prices in Europe, China drop Silico-manganese price fob India falls Alloy prices stable in United States The manganese...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange had dipped in recent days on the back of global growth concerns and after follow-through buying from last week waned, but the complex is broadly up again with average gains of 0.3% this morning, Wednesday January 23. Tin, that has been a star performer this year, was bucking the trend with a 0.3% dip to $20,390 per tonne. The rest we...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar slipped 0.07 to 75.04 cents U.S. following release of Canadian November Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a decrease of 0.6%. Actual was a drop of 0.9%. IBM gained $9.53 to $132.05 after reporting higher than consensus fourth quarter sales and earnings. Tesla...Read More
The base metals complex showed mixed results in afternoon trading on Monday January 21, with London Metal Exchange-three month prices for copper, aluminium and nickel failing to live up to last week's universal closing rally.The focus of the market remains on China's fourth-quarter data, which showed a further slowing of the economy at the end of 2018, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing by...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange complex consolidated in mixed morning trading on Monday 21 January, while market focus shifted to China's fourth-quarter data release.China's fourth-quarter GDP data was in line with expectations at 6.4%, down 0.1% from its previous recorded figure at 6.5%.''These numbers are basically in line with expectations, which were not optimistic,'' John Browning of...Read More