Fastmarkets MB proposes to discontinue four weekly tin spot premium assessments in Rotterdam, Shanghai and Singapore due to a lack of spot liquidity.The four prices are the 99.85% tin ingot premiums in-warehouse Rotterdam and cif Shanghai and the 99.9% tin ingot premiums for standard and low-lead purities in-warehouse Singapore. Fastmarkets MB will continue to publish weekly premiums for 99.9...Read More
The hot-rolled coil price in the United States was largely steady on Tuesday December 4, moving only 0.2% higher with little market activity reported.Fastmarkets AMM's daily US Midwest HRC index inched up to $37.85 per hundredweight ($757 per short ton) on Tuesday, up slightly from $37.77 per cwt the previous day.Lead times stand at around three to four weeks, market participants said.Qu...Read More
CIS export billet prices continued fall this week, reflecting a lack of supportive factors in the market.Fastmarkets MB's daily CIS export steel billet index was $432 per tonne fob Black Sea on Wednesday December 5, a drop of $3 per tonne from yesterday.The increase in Chinese domestic long steel and billet prices early this week has not provided the expected support to prices in Asia - offers of...Read More
Hollow steel sections prices in Europe were stable this week but lower feedstock costs and a reduced import quota limit could bring about a significant change, market participants said.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe was an unchanged ?,?635-650 ($722-739) per tonne delivered on Wednesday December 5.The hollow...Read More
The price for rebar produced and delivered in Southern Europe was flat on Wednesday December 5, with market participants pulling back in anticipation of the year-end holidays.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe stayed at ?,?530-540 ($603-614) per tonne delivered for the third consecutive week on Wednesday, with no new business expected before the new...Read More
European prices for mesh-quality wire rod stayed flat across the Northern and Southern parts of the continent on Wednesday December 5, with the EC's import quota's fulfillment passing the 90% mark.Fastmarkets MB's weekly domestic price assessments for mesh-quality wire rod in both Southern and Northern Europe stayed at ?,?540-560 ($614-637) per tonne delivered on Wednesday.The market has been quie...Read More
Domestic prices for steel beams in Europe were unchanged this week but mills continue to push for increases, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Wednesday December 5.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was ?,?620-645 ($705-733) per tonne on December 5, unchanged week on week. "Producers are announcing a considerable increase...Read More
Turkey's flat steel export volumes rose by 77.08% year-on-year in October 2018, according to data newly published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The reason for the increase in export volumes was strong demand, especially in Europe, as well as weak domestic demand within Turkey, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' average price for Turkish domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) was $...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday December 5 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers European suppliers booked a number of sales at lower prices in the past week amid relatively quiet consumer demand. Heavy industry typically uses the run-up to year-end holidays to clear order books, book profits and square financial accounts. Consequently, holders of feedstock try and shift their stock levels and are u...Read More
The following Fastmarkets noble alloys and ores prices changed on Wednesday December 5:Noble alloysMolybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $12.30-12.40 per lb from $12.10-12.30Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam,...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Wednesday December 5:Minor metalsAntimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $7,850-8,050 per tonne from $7,900-8,100Cobalt MB free market low grade, $/lb: $31.80-32.60 per lb from $32.00-32.60Cobalt MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 365,000-395,000 yuan per tonne from 370,000-400,000...Read More
Fastmarkets MB proposes to launch two new manganese ore China port indices on a free-on-truck (fot) basis.The two new indices will be based on ores with manganese ore content of 37% and of 44%. China is the world's biggest consumer of manganese ores, accounting for 60-70% of all seaborne trades. Demand for manganese ores has been steadily growing over recent years due to anticipated new projects i...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday December 5. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, with risk sentiment deteriorating amid confusion over whether much progress was made during US-China trade talks this past weekend.Check Fastmarkets MB's live...Read More
China Molybdenum Co will take direct control of metals trader IXM in a $495-million buyout of a fund it set up to originally purchase the firm from Louis Dreyfus, according to a notice issued on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday December 4.The deal exceeds the $466 million paid by the China Molybdenum-backed NCCL Natural Resources Investment Fund in May after initial agreements were signed l...Read More
The US ferrous scrap export market has plummeted on all fronts, with no export activity on the East Coast, a sharply discounted West Coast sale and chatter that an East Coast dock intends to drop prices by a whopping $30 per gross ton in the next seven days.One East Coast dock, which has lowered prices by $10 per gross ton since the end of November, now plans to drop another $30 per ton by ne...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices continue to falter in the United States due to lower demand and a weakening in commodities pricing. "All signs point to a very depressing end to 2018. Even news of a postponement of additional tariffs could not help stainless steel prices move in a more positive direction," one dealer said. "Yep, we are in the home stretch here and also hearing that the market will be...Read More
Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings as soon as they received lower prices from a European supplier, sources said on Wednesday December 5.Mills in Turkey were looking for prices at around $300-305 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) while the offers for the material were firm at $310-320 per tonne cfr from suppliers in the United States and the Baltic Sea.But a steel mill in...Read More
Brazil-based miner Vale already benefits from high-grade price indices and from demand for high-quality iron ore, but it expects the premiums paid for purer and less-contaminated ore to rise in the next few years, ferrous minerals and coal director Peter Poppinga said during the company's annual investor presentation in New York on Tuesday December 4.The Brazilian miner believes that the full-year...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Wednesday December 5 on an uptick in the iron ore futures contract.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $67.38 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.22 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $66.65 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.22 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $71.21 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.19 per tonne.MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $61.85 per tonne...Read More
The seaborne coking coal spot market gained some traction on Wednesday December 5 with expectations growing for the ban on customs clearance for imports of the steelmaking raw material in China to be lifted in January.A cargo of a top Australian brand was also sold to an end user in eastern China at the December average of a cfr China index for premium hard coking coal at a 4% premium, sources tol...Read More