The mood in the European hot-rolled coil market soured in the week ended Friday August 27 after both buyers and producers started to return after the summer holiday in August.Trading activity has been limited while buyers follow a wait-and-see strategy.Buyers expect domestic coil prices to decline in September due to lower raw material costs.Demand outlook for the automotive segment - one of the k...Read More
The European hot-rolled coil (HRC) market remained calm on Tuesday August 31 while buyers remained in a "wait-and-see" mode, sources told Fastmarkets.Although both buyers and sellers have returned to the market after a traditionally slow August, they have been taking their time to assess market trends. Buyers' sentiment has been largely negative due to lower iron ore costs, uncertainty over automo...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price had the strongest growth in the complex this month, trading at $2,726.50 per tonne on Tuesday August 31, while most other prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower than on August 2. Aluminium closed at $2,718 per tonne on Tuesday, a rise of 2.6% from last Friday's price of $2,649.50 per tonne and up from $2,615 per tonne at the start of August. Bullish funda...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's new digital register for physical metals data, LMEpassport, will launch on October 1, starting with aluminium, the exchange announced on Tuesday August 31.LMEpassport will store electronic Certificates of Analysis (CoAs), which are specification and quality assurance documents that must accompany shipments of LME metals into and out of warehouses.It will also store sust...Read More
China's biggest metals conglomerate, Minmetals, has hired Julio Cesar Rojas Ramirez to develop its copper concentrates blending business and the utilitization of its copper smelting capacity, Fastmarkets has heard.Prior to joining Minmetals, Rojas was director for primary raw materials with Aurubis, Europe's biggest copper smelter.His previous roles include head of global sales at Nyrstar and seni...Read More
London Metal Exchange prices were mixed on the morning of Tuesday August 31, with aluminium and nickel leading on the upside due to tightening fundamentals but lead's three-month price under pressure. Aluminium's three-month price reached a peak of $2,726.50 per tonne on Tuesday morning, its highest since May 2011, when the metal reached $2,746 per tonne. It was down slightly to $2,697.50 per...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly firmer on the morning of Tuesday August 31, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were more mixed.This comes despite the release of some weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing numbers. The US dollar index was, however, weaker. China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 50.1 in August from 50.4 in July. China'...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States drifted lower - but still held above $96 per hundredweight ($1,920 per short ton) for a fourth straight business day - after service centers reported better availability and some shorter lead times. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $96.17 per cwt ($1,923.40 per ton) on Tuesday August 31, down by 0.78% from $96...Read More
Flat steel imports into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were mostly at decreased offer prices during the week ended Tuesday August 31, while the uncertainty about the direction of prices continued, sources have told Fastmarkets.The uncertainty came because China has still not announced the level of an expected export duty to be applied to hot-rolled coil.Some buyers believed that new dut...Read More
With Italian steelmaker AFV Beltrame Group's recently announced investment in a new green steel plant in Romania, chief executive Carlo Beltrame is looking to futureproof the company ahead of the upcoming green steel revolution. In discussion with Fastmarkets' Carrie Bone, he outlined the changes and challenges anticipated for decarbonizing the steel industry."Why green? Because when we started on...Read More
Export prices for steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States region continued to decrease in the week to Tuesday August 31 with the market lacking support, Fastmarkets has heard.One of the principal negative factors weighing on prices was the dearth of trading activity in the major export outlets.Last week, CIS sellers covered the demand from Latin America...Read More
Steel billet and rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates decreased on Tuesday August 31 while demand for rebar improved, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for rebar improved after a long period of poor demand due to low stock levels, sources said.The country's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 2,610 dirhams ($710.46) per tonne, and Conares Steel's rebar price was 2,574 dirhams...Read More
Turkish steel producers made no new scrap bookings on Tuesday August 31, however a deal from the previous Friday came to light, which lowered prices, market participants said.The Baltic-sea cargo was heard late on Friday August 27, past the closing of the daily indices, and was followed by a public holiday in both Turkey and the United Kingdom on Monday August 30. The cargo was booked by a steel m...Read More
Volatility in steel markets continues to build into the last four months of 2021, with the recent plunges in iron ore prices affecting the wider ferrous supply chain.Uncertainty about the outlook for the ferrous supply chain continues to build in the Asia-Pacific region, with a number of key determinants still appearing clouded and inconclusive. What are they and how will they affect the ferrous m...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were down on Tuesday August 31 amid suggestions in the local media that steel production cuts would be imposed in China's Guangxi province, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $153.67 per tonne, down by $2.99 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $154.44 per tonne, down by $2.75 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium,...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices increased across the board in both the cfr and fob markets on Tuesday August 31 amid ongoing tight supply, sources said. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $421.85 per tonne, up by $7.30 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $392.81 per tonne, up by $2.60 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $255.70 per tonne, up by ...Read More
Firmer Chinese steel markets have been supporting sentiment in the Chinese scrap market, keeping buyers optimistic about September and October, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 31.Prices in China inch up amid buyer optimismTaiwanese buyers could start paying moreChinaSpot prices for steel scrap imported into China edged up on Tuesday August 31 amid improving sentiment in the steel market...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in China edged lower on Tuesday August 31; futures prices pulled back due to the latest factory activity data prompting concerns over the country's economic recovery.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,700-5,730 yuan ($881-886) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange came down from its highest leve...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged down slightly on Tuesday August 31, but less so than futures due to strong end-user demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,220-5,260 yuan ($807-813) per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonne.The most-traded January rebar futures contract briefly dropped to today's low of 5,287 yuan per tonne before recovering...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Bulk and noble alloys both moved largely in line with our price forecasts globally over the past month, though several markets surprised to the upside, exceeding our forecast gains. Stronger-than-forecast pricing momentum was primarily triggered by supply shortages in numerous...Read More