China's new trend pf setting out unwritten rules for its commodities industries and communicating them verbally will be a key method to watch out for in the future, market sources told Fastmarkets."Unofficial communications to steel mills are increasingly [coming] via provincial and township authorities [and are], not written out clearly as announcements," an iron ore trader in eastern China told...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a fortnightly China pig iron import price assessment to enhance its growing editorial coverage of the Asian market for the steelmaking raw material.The new assessment will be for pig iron with maximum 1.25% manganese content and maximum 0.15% phosphorus content.Market sources expect China to import pig iron in increasing volumes due to its evolving steel industry...Read More
Coking coal prices maintained the stable trend in both the cfr and fob market on Wednesday July 7. There is new demand for October-loaded Australia coking coal in the fob market and the offers for prompt loading cargoes remained strong, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $202.25 per tonne, down $0.27 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $308...Read More
Iron ore prices were generally flat on Wednesday July 7 in the physical market with limited liquidity, while futures prices were driven up by bullish steel prices, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $222.39 per tonne, up $0.03 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $225.70 per tonne,down $0.32 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $185.69...Read More
Xinfa group's alumina refinery in Xiaoyi city, Shanxi province closed an operation line with a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year last week due to a bauxite shortage, several sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 7.The refinery has a total capacity of 3.6 million tonnes and has run at full capacity since May.Xin'an Chemical alumina refinery, a subsidy of Hangzhou Jinjiang group located i...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rose slightly on Wednesday July 7, but the gains were much lower than those in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,960-4,990 yuan ($767-771) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneHeavy rain in large parts of China and high temperatures in the south have pushed down end-user demand for rebar, with one trader in Shanghai describing spot demand as "really....Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market rose for a third straight day on Wednesday July 7, following a sharp gain in futures prices driven by growing expectations of production reductions across Chinese steelmakers in the remainder of the year.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,650-5,720 yuan ($873-884) per tonne, up by 70-100 yuan from 5,580-5,620 yuan per tonne. The most-traded HRC co...Read More
Base metals rallied in morning trading on Wednesday July 7 with copper leading the pack higher.At $9,495 per tonne the LME three-month copper contract was up 1.96% from Tuesday's 5pm close."Yesterday, we said the metals were looking more upbeat because copper had broken higher, but given the weakness seen yesterday, the market looks a bit flighty, so we will wait to see if the dip buying pushes co...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies and...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda and...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) 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 hydroxide p...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 23.85-24.50 on Wednesday July...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
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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...Read More
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's economic planning body, has published a plan for its resource recycling industry on Wednesday July 7 to accelerate the development of a low-carbon circular economy.The development plan, which includes a goal for the ferrous scrap usage in the steel sector to reach 0.32 billion tonnes in 2025, forms part of the country's 14th five-year...Read More
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the country's 14th five-year development plan for a circular economy on Wednesday July 7, according to a notice published on the commission's website.The plan highlights the importance of promoting economical and intensive use of resources, and building a circular industrial system as well as a recycling system of waste materials in...Read More
China's output of recycled non-ferrous metals is set to reach 20 million tonnes by 2025, the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Wednesday July 7. The output target forms part of the NDRC's resource recycling industry development plan, which aims to accelerate the development of a green and low-carbon circular economy during China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).A...Read More
Singapore is well-placed to continue playing a growing role in the global commodities market amid the possible likelihood of Covid-19 turning endemic, the Singapore Exchange's head of commodities, William Chin, told Fastmarkets in an interview ahead of Singapore International Ferrous Week 2021."Covid-19 brought the entire commodities industry into uncharted waters and threw out century-old playboo...Read More
Europe's third-quarter steel import quotas opened on Thursday July 1, but already some suppliers have absorbed a large proportion of the long steel allocation, repeating a similar scenario from the previous quarter.As a result, European independent traders and downstream steel users are once again left with no alternative to domestically produced steel and surging prices, sources told Fastmarkets....Read More
Base metals prices on both the LME and SHFE were mixed this morning, Thursday July 8, after the United States Federal Reserve’s latest minutes showed a slight pick-up in hawkishness.China is looking to cut the bank reserve requirement ratio (RRR), suggesting the authorities think the economy needs support.Base metalsLondon Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were mixed on Thursday J...Read More