Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the EU were expected to move down slightly while trading activity remained slow, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 17.In addition, the definitive decision in the safeguard investigation by the European Commission (EC) is expected to have little effec on the HRC market, according to market sources. So EU mills are unlikely to achieve any price...Read More
Trading activity in the pig iron export market from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) resumed in the week ended Thursday January 17 but at reduced prices, due to falls in the scrap markets in the United States and Italy.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron narrowed downward to $320-330 per tonne fob Black Sea on January 17, from $320-335 per tonne a w...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 17 that are worth another look.China's auto sales fell last year for the first time since the 1990s, dampening expectations for steel demand in 2019 although some in the market think that there are still opportunities for steelmakers to remain profitable.The London Metal Exchange announced it will launch seven new...Read More
Former trader at Kyen Resources, Nishchay Chadha, has joined Viant Commodities as their head of trading in the Viant office in Singapore, Fastmarkets has learned. Chadha will oversee the refined metal and scrap trading business at Viant Commodities, a source close to...Read More
Major Indonesian integrated steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel is defending its market share of the domestic hot-rolled coil market in the face of more flat steel capacity coming on stream in the country from 2019 onward.It is adding a second hot strip mill at its 55-hectare complex in Cilegon, West Java, which it expects to come online in the second half of this year. The new 1.5-million-tpy mill will...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday January 17, with zinc futures climbing just under 2% while positive trading in aluminium resulted in the metal's moderate volume the highest in today's trading. Zinc's three-month price rallied throughout the afternoon to breach its nearby $2,500-per-tonne resistance level and close at its highest level...Read More
The Comex copper price reversed lower in the US morning on Thursday January 17 with the market unable to find solid direction amid a lack of news on trade developments between the United States and China. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.95 cents to $2.6640 per lb. "We are seeing modest losses across the metals board in relati...Read More
China's exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products increased by 19.8% in December 2018 compared with December 2017, but down 0.6% from November 2018, according to preliminary Chinese customs data.China exported 527,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in December, a 87,000-tonne increase from the same month of 2017 and 3,000 tonnes less than in November 2018, customs...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday January 17, with zinc futures climbing just under 2% while positive trading in aluminium resulted in the metal's moderate volume the highest in today's trading. Zinc's three-month price rallied throughout the afternoon to breach its nearby $2,500-per-tonne resistance level and close at its highest level...Read More
Fastmarkets' minor metals team answers some of the key questions raised during our recent web seminar, discussing recent market trends in minor metals, and the factors expected to drive price moves in 2019. If you missed it, follow this link to listen to the free recording. Has smuggling affected any other metals apart from antimony? Is it only antimony that is being smuggled? It is not only antim...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 17 that are worth another look.China's auto sales fell last year for the first time since the 1990s, dampening expectations for steel demand in 2019 although some in the market think that there are still opportunities for steelmakers to remain profitable.The London Metal Exchange announced it will launch seven new...Read More
The copper and brass scrap markets in the United States are shifting back toward a supply-demand balance, but availability of some high-grade copper scrap items remains tight and continues to pressure spreads."Copper scrap is in a calm equilibrium... Spreads have ticked up some, but [that's] normal for the time of year," one consumer said. "[We are] are full. Metal is flowing to us well."Other con...Read More
United States-based Alcoa, the world's eighth-largest aluminium producer, has forecast a surplus of alumina in 2019 while it increases metal production across the board.There was a 600,000-tonne deficit of alumina at the end of 2018, the company said, rounding off a year of record market tightness.Fastmarkets' alumina index rocketed upward to $707.75 per tonne on April 24, 2018, the highest since...Read More
French international banking group BNP Paribas has applied for category II membership of the London Metal Exchange, according to a notice released to members on Thursday January 17.The bank's futures entity, which is based in London and trades commodity futures and...Read More
Indonesia's Gresik 300,000 tpy copper smelter has yet to resume full operations after an earlier maintenance shutdown caused by an oxygen plant issue, Fastmarkets has learned. "The oxygen plant, which is operated by the third party has resumed, but not reached full operations. Therefore, although Gresik smelter has partially resumed since the middle of December 2018, it has not returned normal ope...Read More
The Comex copper price reversed lower in the US morning on Thursday January 17 with the market unable to find solid direction amid a lack of news on trade developments between the United States and China. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.95 cents to $2.6640 per lb. "We are seeing modest losses across the metals board in relati...Read More
China's exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products increased by 19.8% in December 2018 compared with December 2017, but down 0.6% from November 2018, according to preliminary Chinese customs data.China exported 527,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in December, a 87,000-tonne increase from the same month of 2017 and 3,000 tonnes less than in November 2018, customs...Read More
European steel association Eurofer is concerned that the definitive measures in the European Commission's safeguard case against steel product imports will not be enough to protect the region's markets from material redirected from the United States."While we welcome this endorsement, we are nevertheless worried that the form of the final measures may undermine their intended safeguarding function...Read More
The number of new passenger car registrations in the EU decreased 8.41% year-on-year in December 2018, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Wednesday January 16.New car sales in Europe totaled 998,503 units in December 2018, compared with 1,090,190 vehicles sold in the corresponding month of 2017."The EU passenger car market declined for the fourth month in a row. Last...Read More
The Turkish billet markets remained weak over the past seven days due to limited demand, sources said on Thursday January 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic billet in Turkey was $416-425 per tonne ex-works, slightly widened down from last week's $420-425 per tonne.Long steel producer Kardemir opened its domestic billet sales at...Read More