Steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States increased on Wednesday July 14 for the first time since June 16. Fastmarkets' assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49 per hundredweight ($980 per short ton) on Wednesday, up 2.08% from $48 per cwt the previous week and up 70.44% from $28.75 per cwt at the same time last year.US marketNucor Corp and Mid-Continent Steel and Wire each increase...Read More
A summary of operational results for Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), for January-June 2021 compared with the same period of last yearIn brief NLMK group sales of 8.24 million tonnes were down by 7% year on year from 8.86 million tonnes. Sales in its home markets, which include Russia, the US, Belgium, Italy and France, increased by 3% to 5.5 million tonnes from 5.36 million...Read More
Demand for steel rebar and billet in Egypt was subdued in the week to Thursday July 15 because buyers preferred to wait until after the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday before conducting new business, sources told Fastmarkets.Eid al-Adha is expected to take place next week and market participants did not want to make any bookings before the four-and-a-half-day religious holiday.At the same time, uncer...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil in northern Europe were stable in the week to Wednesday July 14 despite a decline in offers for overseas material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil import, cfr main port Northern Europe was ?,?1,200-1,240 ($1,417-1,464) per tonne on July 14, down by ?,?50-60 per tonne week on week from...Read More
China's steel industry is driving a change towards carbon-neutral or low carbon-based steel production in response to national plans to reach peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.Carbon neutrality is a shared challenge for the global steel industry but China faces some unique ones, Frank Zhong, the chief representative in Beijing of the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), said on Th...Read More
Turkish steel producers were inactive in the deep-sea scrap import markets on Thursday July 15 due to a public holiday in the country, sources have told Fastmarkets.Steel and scrap trading were expected to slow in the coming weeks because of several public and religious holidays. Turkish market participants were not at work on Thursday with the country...Read More
The coking coal market in China slightly inched down on Thursday July 15. The fob coking coal market held steady without much firm buying interest for August-laycan cargoes on the same day, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $210.15 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $307.63 per tonne, down $0.69 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
Steel scrap import prices into China remained steady despite supplies of domestic scrap being tightened by the rainy season in the north and by high temperatures in the south, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 15.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China, which takes into account prices at ports in eastern China, was $530-540 per tonne o...Read More
Iron ore prices increased on Thursday July 15, supported by falling steel inventories in China, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $222.09 per tonne, up $3.43 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $223.75 per tonne, up $3.75 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $182.06 per tonne, up $3.65 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines,...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has announced that John Glen MP, economic secretary to the UK Treasury, will be the guess speaker at the annual dinner during LME Week this year.Glen was first elected to parliament as MP for Salisbury in 2010 and has held his current position as economic secretary to the Treasury since January 2018.LME Week is due to take place face to face this year in London starting f...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices across China's domestic market edged higher on Thursday July 15 while futures prices traded rangebound after Wednesday's sharp gains due to the increased likelihood of a drop in steel production in the second half of 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,860-5,920 yuan ($907-916) per tonne, narrowing upward by 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to rise on Thursday July 15, following a strong showing in the futures market in early trading.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,240 yuan ($805-811) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneDeals were concluded at 5,200-5,240 yuan per tonne in early trading, with buyers expecting rebar prices to continue rise on seeing the futures...Read More
The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be generally supportive of aluminium premiums in Europe and will add further bullish sentiment to an already heated market, sources told Fastmarkets this week."A Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will put a carbon price on imports of a targeted selection of products to ensure that ambitious climate action in Europe does not lead...Read More
Prices on the London Metal Exchange picked up on the morning of Thursday July 15, building on momentum from the early Asian trading session after the release of positive economic data out of China. Global investors remain confident that economic growth in China is relatively robust, even though its second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) showed signs of slowing with a 7.9% year-on-year uptick,...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices rose sharply over the week to Wednesday July 14 on concerns of tighter supply amid growing expectations for mills to cut production.Gains in the nickel market provided further support to stainless steel prices.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $18,698 per tonne, up by $381 per tonn...Read More
Entreprise G?(C)n?(C)rale Du Cobalt, a state-owned company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will start to buy cobalt produced by the country's artisanal miners within eight weeks, it told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 14.Cobalt is a key ingredient, alongside lithium and nickel, in batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), demand for which was expected to boom in the medium term.Artisanal a...Read More
Glencore has described rioting in South Africa as a "force majeure event" in a letter to customers about a number of ores, alloys and metals exported from the country, although this is not a declaration of force majeure. In a notice to customers on July 14, seen by Fastmarkets, the trader-miner warned that ongoing violence in South Africa could potentially prevent them from fulfilling contracts wi...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 24.40-25.00 on...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies....Read More
Vietnam is proposing to impose a 5% export tax on steel billet, which could make offer prices from the country's mills uncompetitive in key Asian markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 15.The proposal has been drafted by the Vietnam Ministry of Finance, but is not yet official policy as it is awaiting final government approval, according to key billet trading sources.News of the propos...Read More