An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda and...Read More
A shipment of 4,000 tonnes of imported scrap booked by major Chinese steelmaker Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS) cleared customs checks at Jingtang port in Tangshan, Hebei in early June, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30. This is their second cargo of Japanese heavy scrap (HS) since China officially eased restrictions on scrap imports in January 2021. Their first cargo of 2,092 tonnes cleared...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 30 that are worth another look.BHP announced in 2018 that the depletion of its 80-million-tonnes-per-year Yandi mine in its Western Australia iron ore operations would begin from the second half of 2021. Fastmarkets explores how the low-grade fines landscape...Read More
Export prices of hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have dropped for prompt shipments in the week to Tuesday June 29 due to implementation of new export duties in Russia, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $955-985 per tonne on June 29, down from $980-995 per tonne one week previousl...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved down across Europe on Wednesday June 30, but market participants were in disagreement over whether the decline indicated a change of trend.Buyers have been holding back from purchasing bigger tonnages of HRC, preferring to book lots of less than 500 tonnes if they needed to re-stock or when doing back-to-back business.In addition, buyers believed that a so...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Europe inched up over the week to Wednesday June 30, despite slow trading activity, sources have told Fastmarkets.The number of transactions for domestic material has been minimal.Buyers have been refraining from purchases due to long lead times from domestic mills. They preferred to remain in 'wait-and-see' mode until the price trend became clear. Full cred...Read More
Australia-listed IGO Ltd has completed a transaction to form a new lithium joint venture with Chinese lithium producer Tianqi Lithium over the latter's Australian lithium assets, the company said on Wednesday June 30.In December 2020, the companies signed an initial investment agreement which saw Tianqi's wholly-owned subsidiary Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia Pty Ltd (TLEA) bring in IGO as a stra...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday June 30.Key drivers Trading activity is in stasis, with market participants considering the potential impact of the recently announced export duties on ferro-alloys from Russia, which are effective from August 1 until the end of the year. A few small deals were reported for both alloy and scrap within the current price ranges. Ferro...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases, but at a slow pace dictated by limited long steel demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $501 per tonne, along with shredded and bonus scrap at $521 per tonne cfr late on Tuesday June 29, the seller told Fastmarkets.But some mar...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases, but at a slow pace dictated by limited long steel demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $501 per tonne, along with shredded and bonus scrap at $521 per tonne cfr late on Tuesday June 29, the seller told Fastmarkets.But some mar...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 30 that are worth another look.BHP announced in 2018 that the depletion of its 80-million-tonnes-per-year Yandi mine in its Western Australia iron ore operations would begin from the second half of 2021. Fastmarkets explores how the low-grade fines landscape...Read More
Steel rebar prices in the north of Europe have remained firm at a high level over the past week, supported by strong demand, low stocks at buyers and limited imports, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30.Producers in the region were reported to have no spare volumes for July, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained flat on Wednesday June 30, with mills continuing to struggle to obtain feedstock material, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,370-1,420 ($1,631-1,690) per tonne on June 30, unchanged week on week.Hot rolled coil, the feedstock for hollow sections,...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Europe inched up over the week to Wednesday June 30, despite slow trading activity, sources have told Fastmarkets.The number of transactions for domestic material has been minimal.Buyers have been refraining from purchases due to long lead times from domestic mills. They preferred to remain in 'wait-and-see' mode until the price trend became clear. Full cred...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 30 that are worth another look.BHP announced in 2018 that the depletion of its 80-million-tonnes-per-year Yandi mine in its Western Australia iron ore operations would begin from the second half of 2021. Fastmarkets explores how the low-grade fines landscape...Read More
German steel maker Thyssenkrupp is to replace its four blast furnaces and switch to a system based on direct-reduction of raw material using hydrogen by 2025, the company announced on Tuesday June 29, following a visit by federal government ministers.The company confirmed that it will gradually replace the blast furnaces with direct-reduction plants fueled by green hydrogen, each able to melt soli...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday June 30 when concerns were raised about China's overall crude steel output for 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.08 per tonne, up by $1.75 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $217.85 per tonne, up by $2.91 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $180.95 per tonne, up by $1.33 per t...Read More
Asian steel scrap imports fluctuated wildly from territory to territory in 2020, with South Korea and Bangladesh reporting decreases while Taiwan and Vietnam recorded increases.Japan, Asia's largest steel scrap supplier, exported 9.39 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last year - over a fifth more than in 2019.Vietnam became the single largest importer of Japanese scrap last year; at...Read More
With the Chinese government setting 2030 as the target for China's carbon emissions to peak and 2060 for it to achieve carbon neutrality, the country's steel sector will have to change the way it does business.Fastmarkets speaks to market participants for their views on what these changes might be, and what challenges lie ahead.1. Reduce hot metal productionReducing hot metal output - such as via...Read More
Workers at Celsa Group's Spanish mill are holding a second day of industrial action, demanding a new collective labor agreement and an investment plan for the site, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30. The first strike was held on Monday June 28 at Celsa Atlantic steelworks, located in Laracha, north of Spain. The second strike started at 9am on Wednesday and will last until 10pm, source...Read More