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 more* European Central Bank projected a dovish outlook on monetary...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 21 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US 79.59 cents following release of May Canadian Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 3.0% versus a decline of 5.7% in April. Actual was a drop of 2.1%. Twitter added $3.93 to $73.50 after reporting higher than consensus seco...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 21 that are worth another look.Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3.3% year on year in June; volumes began to stabilize after strong growth in the first half of 2021, flat steel distributors...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly stable on Wednesday July 21, with minimal reaction to China's announcement to sell more state reserve metal during the day. The three-month zinc price closed 1.1% lower than the previous day at $2,929 per tonne, while the three-month aluminium price was down 0.5% to close at $2,453.5 per tonne from a day ago,...Read More
European lead smelter Berzelius Metall has declared force majeure on supply contracts after floods that have caused chaos in northern Germany and Belgium forced the closure of its Stolberg smelter.Fastmarkets' calls to Berzelius were not answered, while an email to parent company EcoBat Technologies was not responded to by the time of publication.But sources in the lead market confirmed to Fa...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 21 that are worth another look.Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3.3% year on year in June; volumes began to stabilize after strong growth in the first half of 2021, flat steel distributors...Read More
Domestic prices for ferro-chrome in the spot market in China surged in the week ended Tuesday July 20 following production cuts in the province of Inner Mongolia.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China, jumped by 17.3% to 10,000-10,300 yuan ($1,541-1,587) per tonne on Tuesday, from 8,500-8,800 yuan per tonne one week earlier, and was now at its highest...Read More
Fastmarkets' Asia ferro-silicon prices were published early today due to an editor error.These prices were published at 10.35 GMT instead of 14.00-15.00 GMT. The pricing session took place as normal and the data appears as intended.The affected prices are:Ferro-silicon 75% Si min, cif Japan, $/tonneFerro-silicon 75% Si min, in-whs China, yuan/tonneFerro-silicon 75% Si min export, fob China, $/tonn...Read More
European lead smelter Berzelius Metall has declared force majeure on supply contracts after floods that have caused chaos in northern Germany and Belgium forced the closure of its Stolberg smelter.Fastmarkets' calls to Berzelius were not answered, while an email to parent company EcoBat Technologies was not responded to by the time of publication.But sources in the lead market confirmed to Fa...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda and...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Declan...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market reported no new trading activity on Wednesday July 21, because of the week-long Eid al-Adha public holiday.Turkish steel mils have not booked any new scrap material since July 13.The country is currently off work for the week-long religious holiday of...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday July 21.Key drivers The ferro-titanium price range widened higher in the week to July 21 on new deals against renewed demand from buyers ahead of new export duties from Russia which begin on August 31. The major consumers in the steel sector, however, have yet to emerge for longer term contracted deliveries and one steelmaker said t...Read More
German industrial giant Siemens plans to build "one of Europe's largest energy storage facilities" at Wunsiedel in eastern Germany, it announced on Monday July 19.The Siemens facility will have power capacity of 100MW and energy storage capacity for 200MWh, and will store electricity generated locally from surplus renewable energy. It will also cover demand peaks on the power grid. The electricit...Read More
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for cobalt hydroxide index, via an open consultation process between June 16 and July 13. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore no changes will be made to the methodologies at this stage.This consultation sou...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 21 that are worth another look.Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3.3% year on year in June; volumes began to stabilize after strong growth in the first half of 2021, flat steel distributors...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Italy declined slightly in the week to Wednesday July 21 due to lower slab costs and mills' needs to book more orders, sources told Fastmarkets.Competitive import offers have also contributed to the softening of domestic prices.Southern EuropeOfficial offers for plate from Italian re-rollers have been heard at ?,?980-1,000 ($1,155-1,178) per tonne ex-works....Read More
Sentiment in the European hot-rolled coil segment has been mixed, with buyers in Northern Europe trying to assess impact of floods on the market and Italian buyers monitoring declining import prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 21.Across the European Union, trading activity has been limited while buyers wait for a clear market trend. Credit lines have been exhausted over the past fe...Read More
Prices in the United States for domestic and imported carbon steel wire rod rose by $40 per ton in July, nearing an all-time high for domestic product and a record for imports.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was $55-57 per hundredweight ($1,100-1,140 per short ton) on Tuesday July 20, up by 3.70% from 53-55 per cwt on June 1...Read More
The Northern European market for steel wire rod was quiet in the week to Wednesday July 21, with prices being broadly flat, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?890-915 ($1,049-1,078) per tonne on Wednesday, the same as last week.The assessment was based on deals, offers and market participants'...Read More