Most iron ore prices increased on Monday August 16 despite limited trading activity in the physical market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.52 per tonne, up $1.45 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.03 per tonne, up $1.29 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $131.47 per tonne, up $0.81 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-o...Read More
Manganese flake prices hit record highs in Europe and the United States in the week ended Friday August 13, amid short supply, talk of further production cuts and persistent delays in transportation from China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for manganese, 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam, rose by 5.6% to $5,050-5,250 per tonne on August 13, up from $4,750-5,000 per tonne in the...Read More
Apparent steel use in the European Union will increase by 11.2% year on year in 2021, the European steel association Eurofer said in the week to Monday August 16.The association has downgraded the outlook slightly compared to figures publishedin May 2021.In its previous outlook, Eurofer expected the EU's apparent steel consumption toincrease by 11.7% year on year in 2021.The association also...Read More
A lack of available containers for shipments out of the main Peruvian port of Callao, and shipping costs that have tripled since the start of this year, were hampering exports of copper, zinc and lead from the South American country, even as mine production was recovering from shutdowns in 2020 that were forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.Peru was the world's third-largest producer of zinc in 2020 an...Read More
Prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close on Monday August 16, with only tin making a solid advance, while the rest of the metals were either down or around their Friday levels. Tin's three-month price was up to $35,680 per tonne on Monday, up 1% from last Friday's closing price of $35,680 per tonne. It reached its latest all-time high of $35,955 per tonne on Thursday of last wee...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified a necessary clarification to the nickel sulfate specification with regard to timing of loading.The timing of loading for Fastmarkets' nickel sulfate ex-works China price assessment is within seven days, which was not reflected in the specifications when the price assessment was launched in July 2018.Fastmarkets confirms that the specifications are as follows, with the cl...Read More
Chinese aluminium production in July of 3.26 million tonnes was down by 0.9% from June, according to National Bureau of Statistics data published on Monday August 16.Although domestic aluminium production in July was still up by 7.4% year on year, it was down for the third consecutive month following June's production of 3.29 million tonnes and May's 3.32 million tonnes.China produced 22.89 millio...Read More
A summary of aluminium producer Rusal's results for the first six months of 2021 ended June 30.In brief: Rusal's aluminium production for the first six months of 2021 totaled 1,868 thousand tonnes, flat year on year. Revenue increased to $5,449 million compared with $4,015 million in the first half of 2020. Revenue from sales of primary aluminium and alloys for the first six months of 2021 increas...Read More
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has achieved Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certification for responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium at its Jebel Ali operations in the UAE.The certification relates to the aluminium smelter, casthouse operation and other associated facilities at the Jebel Ali plant. It has capacity of more than 1 million tonnes pe...Read More
Aluminium premiums in Japan dropped by an average of $2.50 per tonne to $175-190 per tonne on Friday August 13, from $180-190 per tonne on August 10, with low buying interest weakening demand in recent weeks. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A main Japanese ports (MJP) spot premium, cif Japan at $175-190 per tonne on Friday, marking its first change in since July 20.No spot trades were repo...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained above $95 per hundredweight ($1,900 per short ton) for the third consecutive business day, with demand and lead times stable in the domestic market.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $95.07 per hundredweight ($1,901.40 per short ton) on Monday August 16, a decrease of 1.08% from $96.11 per cwt on Friday...Read More
Export slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained largely unchanged in the week to Monday August 16 on limited trading activity.Customers in Europe, particularly those in Italy, had little appetite for imported material due to the traditional holiday season in the region.Buyers from Turkey, meanwhile, were facing limited demand for finished...Read More
Export prices for steel billet from the Black Sea basin have continued to decrease in mid-August amid limited demand in most outlet markets and lower costs for scrap raw material globally.Customers from Europe were mainly out of the market due to the holiday season in that region, while Turkish buyers were not willing to pay more than $650 per tonne cfr (equivalent to $620 per tonne fob) due to th...Read More
Turkish steel producers started the week with a single deep-sea cargo, which further deepened the decrease in prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday August 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 18,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $455 per tonne, along with 5,000 tonnes of shredded and 1,500 tonnes of bonus at $470 per tonne cfr.The previous cargo...Read More
Key participants in India's steel and scrap sectors welcomed the launch of the National Automobile Scrappage Policy at an investor summit held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with private companies signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to set up vehicle scrapping facilities, Fastmarkets has heard.The investor summit was held in Gujarat on August 13, and was addressed by Modi via video confere...Read More
Most iron ore prices increased on Monday August 16 despite limited trading activity in the physical market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.52 per tonne, up $1.45 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.03 per tonne, up $1.29 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $131.47 per tonne, up $0.81 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-o...Read More
China's domestic coking coal prices continued higher in the week to August 16 due to a supply shortage, which buoyed seaborne coking coal prices in the cfr China market on Monday August 16.The fob Australia market held largely steady on the first working day of the weekFastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $350.66 per tonne, up $5.66 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $3...Read More
China's Covid-19 measures are causing chokepoints in the country's ferrous supply chain, raising logistical costs for both traders and steel mills.China's National Health Commission reported 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday August 16 - 38 imported cases and 13 locally transmitted ones. Six of the locally transmitted cases were in Jiangsu province, while six were detected in Henan. While the numb...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets fell in the week to Friday August 13 amid a bearish outlook for demand for the remainder of the year.Fastmarkets iron ore indicesPellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $41.20 per tonne, down $3.60 per tonne66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $186.69 per tonne, down $20.97 per tonne65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $228.36 per tonne, d...Read More
Eastern China's domestic rebar price decreased slightly on Monday August 16 after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released housing industry data for July.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,190-5,220 yuan ($801-806) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneThe total area used for new housing construction totaled 1.19 billion square meters in January to July, down by 0.9% year on year, while the...Read More