An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rose on Friday July 23 on stronger restocking demand and lower production, but end-user demand weakened in the eastern coastal region ahead of an upcoming typhoon.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,280-5,300 yuan ($815-818) per tonne, up by 50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,160-5,200 yuan per tonne, up by 80-90 yuan per tonneTyphoon In-fa...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil have edged down, with most market participants remaining cautious and holding onto their inventory positions.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $975-985 per tonne on Friday July 23, down from $975-995 per tonne the previous week. The latest Brazilian slab deals to the United States have been heard...Read More
A major Japanese steel producer will raise its offer for October-shipment steel heavy plate to around $1,200 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia amid positive expectations, a source close to the producer told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 22.Inquiries for October-shipment plate from Southeast Asian buyers have been good despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the region, he said, and September-shipment...Read More
Import prices for flat steel in South American markets edged up for most grades due to higher offers from Chinese producers, while some participants reported a slowdown in the market.Offers of hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil rose at least by $20-30 per tonne on lower material availability, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South Americ...Read More
Trading activity in the hot-rolled coil markets across Europe was still limited on Friday July 23, with prices broadly stable despite gaining strength from short supply, Fastmarkets has heard.Firm offers were still scarce in the Northern European HRC market, sources said.Mills in the region had good order books and could only offer fourth-quarter production HRC, with some of them claiming to be so...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies and...Read More
Crude steel production in Germany continued to rise in June, recording a fourth consecutive month of recovery, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Thursday July 23.German crude steel production totaled more than 3.42 million tonnes in June 2021, up from 2.47 million tonnes in June 2020, WV Stahl said.The sharp rise is partially explained, however, by a low comparative base - last year's domes...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States fell below$91 per hundredweight ($1,820 per short ton) on Friday July 23 after three consecutive business days above that threshold. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $90.80 per cwt ($1,816 per ton), down by 0.51% from $91.27 per cwt on Thursday July 22 and virtually unchanged from $90.75 per cwt one week earli...Read More
Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally stronger this morning, Friday July 23, the exception was lead on the LME that was down by 0.5%, but that was after a strong gain on Thursday. Lead, tin and nickel all pushed the boundary on the upside on Thursday with gains of 1.5% or moreEuropean Central Bank projected a dovish outlook on monetary po...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices increased in both the cfr and fob markets on Friday July 23 due to more trading activities, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) inched up in the cfr market in the week to July 23 due to tight domestic supply for high quality resources. The fob market also continued to increase due to strong coking coal prices, sources said.Fastma...Read More
Iron ore prices edged down on Friday July 23 amid weaker demand.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $201.33 per tonne, down by $1.30 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $202.86 per tonne, down by $1.76 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $165.45 per tonne, down by $1.43 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $236.10 per tonne, down by $3...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet rose by about $13 per tonne during the week to Friday July 23 on stronger demand for finished products, particularly rebar, sources said.Fastmarkets assessed steel billet domestic, ex-works India at 42,200-42,400 rupees ($567-570) per tonne on Friday, up by 1,000 rupees from 41,200-41,400 rupees per tonne last week. "The billet price recovery is in...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.Turkish mills restrict deep-sea purchases to put downward pressure on pricesSummer slowdown hits US export marketCovid-19 pandemic shuts down local long steel and scrap mar...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close on Friday July 23, with nickel up 2.3%.Nickel traded in a wide range between $18,830 and $19,410 per tonne on Friday. The three-month contract closed at $19,372 per tonne, up from $18,922 per tonne on Thursday. Traded volumes were relatively low however, with just over 6,700 lots traded by the 5pm close."This has been...Read More
The inter-merchant light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom was steady in the week to Friday July 23, consolidating small gains from the previous week amid strong domestic fundamentals, despite quiet export sales to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
The world's largest carbon trading market is slowly gaining momentum and will eventually be a key component of China's ferrous industry, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.China kicked off nationwide carbon trading on July 16, with mostly thermal coal-fired power plants participating on the first day. Companies can buy carbon emission quotas from the market, while those with lower emissions...Read More
Domestic and export prices for Chinese stainless steel prices rose sharply over the week ended Wednesday July 21 on tight supply, which led to increased expectations of an export tariff to ease the shortage.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 19,000-20,100 ($2,939-3,109) per tonne, up by 1,000-1,300 yuan per tonne from a week earlierPrices have risen to their hi...Read More