The European hot-rolled coil market remained in "wait-and-see" mode on Thursday September 2, with mills continuing to reject buyers' lower bids, sources told Fastmarkets.Order books for the majority of EU mills are filled until the first quarter of 2022. As a result, they are keeping official offers unchanged from levels in June - before the market entered its traditional summer slowdown. Some mar...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
China's domestic rebar prices recovered slightly on Thursday September 2, with demand stronger than in recent days following a rise in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,210-5,250 yuan ($807-813) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded January rebar futures contract rose to 5,348 yuan per tonne on Thursday morning, up by 106 yuan per tonne from Wednesday's closing pri...Read More
Domestic rebar prices remained unchanged in Egypt for orders to be placed in September on still-weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2.Egyptian producers normally announce new rebar prices at the beginning of each month, but have kept their prices unchanged since May 17. And despite lifting a ban on construction activity on July 1, demand has remained limited, sour...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
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
China Hongqiao, the world's largest producer of primary aluminium, has completed the first stage of its transition of over 2 million tonnes of aluminium production from Shandong to the company's hydro-powered smelter in China's Yunnan Province, it was announced during Fastmarkets International Aluminium conference this week. Speaking at the conference on Thursday September 2, Ron Knapp, internatio...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
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
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 contraction* The US Dollar Index continues to retreatBase...Read More
The supervisory board of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe has extended Bernhard Osburg's contract as chairman for another five years to June 30, 2027, the company said earlier this week.Osburg has been chairman of the executive board since March 2020, succeeding Premal Desai. He has been a member of the executive board since June 2019 with a focus on sales and innovation.In a meeting on August 31,...Read More
Copper scrap prices in the United States were steady on Wednesday September 1 amid solid demand and whipsawing Comex copper prices."Demand has held up well overseas, domestically it's fair," one trader source said. "Consumers have found a comfort level with their suppliers and everybody is making decent money at these spreads, so there've been no drastic...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
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
Steel wire rod prices in Northern Europe were largely flat in the week to Wednesday September 1, supported by good end-user demand and limited supplies, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?890-920 ($1,052-1,088) per tonne on Wednesday, widening down from ?,?900-920 per tonne week on wee...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
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 grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...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
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 4 points in pre-opening trade. Equity index futures moved lower following release of the August employment report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for August Non-farm Payrolls was 725,000 versus 943,000 in July. Actual was 235,000. Consensus for the August Unemployment Rate was 5.2% versus 5.4% in August. Actual was 5.2%. Con...Read More