Prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down in the week ended Friday July 2 because of lower prices on an fob basis in China, and with fewer offers in the market while mills prepared for September-shipment negotiations.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel plate, import, cfr main ports South America, was $990-1,000 per tonne on Friday, down by $20-80 per tonne in...Read More
Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week ending Friday July 2 before the long holiday starts in the country on July 15, sources told Fastmarkets.July 15 is Democracy Day in Turkey and July 19-24 will be the Ei al-Adha holiday, so market participants expect reduced activity in the second half of July.Low priced sales from Russia to several destinations during the w...Read More
A flurry of low-priced transactions for Russian hot-rolled coil into Vietnam during the week to Friday July 2 has shocked market participants in Asia, causing prices to fall and depress sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.The deals follow Russia's announcement on June 24 that it would impose temporary export duties on ferrous and non-ferrous metals sold outside the Eurasian Economic Union from Aug...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were broadly flat in the week to Friday July 2, with local mills being largely sold out for July rolling and mulling new rises for August, sources have told Fastmarkets.Major domestic rebar producers in Poland were reported to have no July volumes remaining.Demand in the local market continued to be strong, despite rebar prices being at historic highs, driven...Read More
Domestic prices for steel wire rod in Poland have strengthened over the past seven days, supported by good demand and limited supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 2.Demand for wire rod in Poland was still good in the week to Friday, although the rise in prices put pressure on trading activity. Buyers were struggling to open or maintain credit lines, or to get credit insurance, due to th...Read More
German steelmaker Saarstahl has come one step closer to acquiring Liberty Steel's assets in France, with the parties having signed an "agreement in principle" on Thursday July 1, Fastmarkets has learnt."The signing of an agreement in principle between the Liberty Group and German steelmaker Saarstahl opens the way to a transaction in the summer of 2021," Bruno Le Maire, the French economy and fina...Read More
The pig iron export market in Brazil remained calm in the week to Friday July 2, waiting to see how the global market will react to Russia's plan to impose export duties on a range of metal products.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $620-625 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $620 per tonne a week before.Offers from the south...Read More
The United States' pig iron import market was muted during the week to Friday July 2 because buyers preferred to wait to see the effects on the market of the announcement of an export duty by Russia.Russia is the largest global pig iron supplier. It intends to impose a temporary export duty on pig iron at the level of 15% but no less than $115 per tonne, to be effective from August 1 until Decembe...Read More
Turkey secured up a fourth deep-sea steel scrap purchase at a discount, compared with its previous three previous cargo buys, in the week to Friday July 2, while activity in other global markets was comparatively subdued.Turkey secured four deep-sea cargoes, from Europe and the United StatesUS exporters kept export prices above $500 per tonne; international mills were forced to compete with the vi...Read More
The availability of significant volumes of lower-priced induction furnace (IF) steel billet in the Philippines import market has led to a cooling of interest in higher-priced blast furnace (BF) billet, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 2.IF billet from Thailand was heard sold at $665 per tonne cfr Manila earlier this week, with an offer for Vietnam-origin material heard later at $663 per ton...Read More
Monthly European alloy steel surcharges for grade-316 stainless steel have surged for July because of a sharp increases in the price of molybdenum, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 2.Fastmarkets' calculation of stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 316 2mm alloy surcharge domestic, Europe was ?,?2,902-2,946 ($3,439-3,492) per tonne for July, up by ?,?242-271 per tonne from June.The substantial increas...Read More
East China's rebar prices dropped on Friday July 2 due to weak demand on poor weather during the day, ending the week 10 yuan per tonne lower than June 25.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($746-750) per tonne, down by 40-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,780-4,820 yuan per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonneHeavy rain in large parts of eastern and south...Read More
The pig iron export market in Brazil remained calm in the week to Friday July 2, waiting to see how the global market will react to Russia's plan to impose export duties on a range of metal products.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $620-625 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $620 per tonne a week before.Offers from the south...Read More
The United States' pig iron import market was muted during the week to Friday July 2 because buyers preferred to wait to see the effects on the market of the announcement of an export duty by Russia.Russia is the largest global pig iron supplier. It intends to impose a temporary export duty on pig iron at the level of 15% but no less than $115 per tonne, to be effective from August 1 until Decembe...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down in the week ended Friday July 2 because of lower prices on an fob basis in China, and with fewer offers in the market while mills prepared for September-shipment negotiations.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel plate, import, cfr main ports South America, was $990-1,000 per tonne on Friday, down by $20-80 per tonne in...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in China, the United States and Europe on Friday July 2.China The China ferro-silicon price edged up due to the tighter availability following the news that producers in Shanxi and Ningxia might face another round of production cuts so the provinces can meet their dual energy consumption targets, with supplier offers broadly unchanged.In addition, the ne...Read More
With automakers switching to producing vehicles with batteries reliant on metals such as cobalt and lithium, the expectation for lead has been that prices will follow the downward fortunes of the internal combustion engine.But recently that has not been the case; lead's cash price on the London Metal Exchange reached a three-year high of $2,368 per tonne on Wednesday June 30, crowning nine straigh...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up at the close of trading on Friday July 2 following better-than-expected data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly up at the close of trading on Friday July 2 following better-than-expected data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.Total nonfarm payroll empl...Read More
Iron ore prices dropped on Friday July 2 on depressed market sentiment and a possible crude steel output cut in several areas which could weaken demand for iron ore, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $217.98 per tonne, down $1.34 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $219.57 per tonne, down $2.18 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More
Aluminium and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange remained firm during morning trading on Friday July 2 amid low-volume trading. The three-month aluminium price was most recently at $2,527 per tonne, up by $15 per tonne from $2,512 per tonne at the close of trading on Thursday. The contract has trading in a tight range of $2,506-2,527 per tonne on Friday morning. LME aluminium stock levels...Read More