The price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe stayed flat on Wednesday January 9, although the European Commission's recent proposal for 2019 steel import tariffs has removed some of the uncertainty in the market. Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe remained at $540-560 ($618-641) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, with no new deals reporte...Read More
Turkish steel mills were absent from the deep-sea market on Wednesday January 9, with no bookings recorded and no change in prices, sources told Fastmarkets. On January 8, three steel producers booked four deep-sea cargoes from the United States and Europe at steady prices and then started to watch the finished steel markets.A long steel producer in Izmir was said to be selling 50,000 tonnes...Read More
Physical iron ore markets weakened on Wednesday January 9 following downward corrections in futures and steel prices.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $73.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $74.04 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $75.68 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.52 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $...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 transactions: iron oreIron oreVale, Global Ore, 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, traded at the February average of the MB...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market remained in a slump on Wednesday January 9, sources told Fastmarkets.Some 25,000 tonnes of a mid-vol premium coking coal traded around $196-197 per tonne fob Australia.A southern Chinese mill source attributed the pessimism in the market to "poor car sales and weakness in the real estate sector"."For every transaction done, the next [trade] will be even lower like r...Read More
Demand for ferrous scrap in some Asia markets was higher mid-week because South Korea and Vietnam were actively seeking import cargoes from the United States and Japan.A major South Korean steel mill booked a 32,000-tonne scrap cargo from the United States on Monday January 7 based on a price of $311 per tonne cfr for heavy melting scrap 1. It paid $316 per tonne, or a $5 per tonne premium, for 29...Read More
China's ferrous futures largely rose during morning trading on Wednesday January 9, with only the iron ore contract dipping slightly.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,541 yuan ($516.50) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,442 yuan per tonne, up 24 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 514.50 yuan per tonne, down 0.50 y...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were higher across the board during morning trading on Wednesday January 9, following positive sentiment in Asian markets while US-China trade talks and a continued softening of the US dollar index support upward price action. Copper's three-month price was the best performer over the morning session, climbing 1.3% and reaching an intraday high of $6,007.50...Read More
The chairs of seven committees in the House of Representatives requested that the US Treasury Department delay the termination of sanctions against UC Rusal.In a letter written to Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday January 8, the Chairs said there are a number of additional questions to be answered surrounding the sanctions being removed and requested a meeting to discuss the issu...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil market was largely stable on Wednesday January 9 amid robust downstream demand, with some companies starting to restock ahead of the Chinese New Year in early February.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,660-3,670 yuan ($534-535) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,620-3,630 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward by 20 yuan per tonnePri...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped slightly on Wednesday January 9 on softening winter demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,760 yuan ($543-548) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,640-3,680 yuan per tonne, widened down 10 yuan per tonneRebar traders cut prices slightly amid continued weakness in demand even though both billet and futures prices tick...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday January 9 pricing session in Europe.Key driversThe market has been quiet during the first week of the calendar year, with only a small drop in ferro-titanium prices, while the price of scrap was stable. Liquidity is expected to increase throughout January.Around 110 tonnes was reported traded between $4.30 per kg and...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday January 9:Minor metalsCobalt MB free market alloy grade, $/lb: $24.50-26.25 per lb from $25.50-27.25Cobalt MB free market standard grade, $/lb: $24.75-26.25 per lb from $25.75-27.25Cobalt MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 335,000-355,000 yuan per tonne...Read More
Fastmarkets will launch two new manganese ore China port indices on a free-on-truck (fot) basis on Friday January 11.The new indices will be based on ores with manganese ore content of 37% and 44%, respectively.Based on market feedback after a one-month consultation period, Fastmarkets will launch the new indices to better reflect conditions in the Chinese market. China is the world's biggest buye...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were stronger across the board by an average of 0.6% this morning, Wednesday January 9.Tin led the way with a 1% gain and is back over $20,000 per tonne and has an impressive double bottom in place on the chart, with lows in August and November. Lead, zinc and aluminium were all up by around 0.8%, copper was up by 0.4% at $5,959 per tonne...Read More
Asian steel markets are in for another tumultuous year judging by the rate at which new developments are expected to spring up in 2019.China remains the center of interest, and rightly so, because its economic and governmental policies have cascading effects on the international steel market.While its progressive economic policies have served it well in sustaining its domestic steel sector in the...Read More
The following Fastmarkets UK non-ferrous scrap and foundry ingot prices changed on Wednesday January 9:Aluminium scrapGroup 1 pure 99% &...Read More
The Shanghai copper premium rose from its lowest in more than a year because of a narrowing negative import arbitrage for bringing units into China that made buying more attractive.The nearby LME forward curve switched to a solid contango as well, firming up sellers' positions globally. Shanghai cif premium rises by $3 per tonne from last Monday; bonded warehouse premium up by $5 LME cash/three-mo...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part little changed this morning, Thursday January 10. The exceptions were nickel that was up by 0.4% and lead that was up by 0.6%. The three-month copper price was up by 0.1% at $5,972 per tonne, with the high so far on Thursday being $5,985.50 per tonne. Volume across the complex has been average with 5,342 lots traded...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 9 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the Weekly Jobless Claims report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was a drop 225,000 from an upwardly revised 233,000 last week. Actual was 216,000. Twitter gained $1.06 to $33.31 after Bank of America/Merrill upgraded the stock to Buy...Read More