For a number of years problems at Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe, have been casting shadow over the performance of the whole Italian steel industry. Will an acquisition of Ilva by a consortium led by ArcelorMittal, now in its final stage, be a game changer for the market?Following multiple reports of environmental and health problems caused by the Taranto plant, in 2013 Ilva was placed und...Read More
China ended steel production in all of the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year, it ha claimed.Most operators in China are primarily small private mills that use low-quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. This is mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors.For a long period, the government had neither a record of nor cont...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
The closure of some induction furnaces in China in 2016 followed by the government's crackdown on all unlicensed IFs in mid-2017 freed up some scrap volumes, albeit arguably of low-quality material. Chinese domestic scrap prices came under pressure from the increased supply, which prevented them from keeping pace with the rise in steel and other raw material markets in the fourth quarter of 2016;...Read More
Domestic rebar producers in Egypt have reduced their prices over the past week, however, steel billet import prices have remained stable week on week, sources said on Thursday December 27.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was at $440-445 per tonne cfr on Thursday, unchanged from the previous assessment.Billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent...Read More
Most flat steel import prices in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) decreased over the past week due to lower offers, sources said on Thursday December 27.Demand was subdued because stock levels in the UAE are already high and the market wants to see how the steel market will be in 2019, sources told Fastmarkets MB. UAE Chinese offers for hot-rolled coil (HRC) into the UAE were around...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday December 28.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower at the close of trading on Thursday, capped by a sharp downturn in global stock indices while quiet trading continues to keep volumes low. Read more here in our live futures report.Here is how prices looked at the most-recent close of trading on Thur...Read More
Feeding and trial production at Zhuzhou Smelter's new zinc project located in Shuikoushan, Hunan province started on December 26, Fastmarkets MB learned. The project has a 300,000-tonne-per-year zinc capacity smelter, which is replacing the company's closed 450,000-tpy capacity facility in Zhuzhou, also located in Hunan province."We started feeding on December 26, and plan to ramp-up the productio...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue its aluminium premium assessments for Antwerp duty-paid and unpaid and Vlissingen duty-paid and unpaid.The proposal is based on market feedback that these premiums are no longer a reference price in the market, with the majority of the market now basing its business on an in-warehouse Rotterdam basis.The in-warehouse premiums are currently published on a weekly...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading on Thursday December 27, buoyed by broad strength in global stock indices and a softer US dollar index. Climbing the furthest, the three-month copper price appreciated 0.7% over the morning and continues to trade close to the $6,000-per-tonne support level. Volumes traded for the red metal continu...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday December 27*Copper -$97.83 (-675.7 yuan) Aluminium -$394.48 (-2,724.54 yuan) Zinc $37.18 (256.79 yuan) Nickel $60.93 (420.82 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday December 27.Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with the complex buoyed by improved risk sentiment following a rally in US equities. Check Fastmarket MB's live futures report here.Chinese battery materials produc...Read More
The Turkish rebar and wire rod export markets remained weak over the past week due to the year-end holidays and limited demand, with no recovery expected in the coming weeks, sources said on Thursday December 27.Turkish steel mills continued to offer rebar for export at $450-460 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, yet there were no takers for those offers.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transaction: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilTaiwan, export, hot-rolled coil (1.2 mm),...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transactions: billet Billet CIS export, billet, offered at $440-445...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: rebarRebar Oman, export, rebar, traded at $500-502 per tonne cfr on...Read More
Import and domestic prices for rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) decreased this week, with demand weak, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Thursday December 27.Domestic rebarLocal rebar producers had previously announced reduced prices for January production on December 20.The country's largest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 1,899 dirhams ($517) per tonne ex-works, do...Read More