Turkish steel producers have extended their absence in the deep-sea scrap market due to weak rebar sales, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 23.Steelmakers have now been absent from the market since June 15, when two cargoes were sold into Turkey from the United States.A mill in the Marmara region bought both cargoes, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 and $501 per tonne, plus...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
Stainless scrap prices in the United States remained firm this week, with processors forced to control their inventories while speculating what nickel, chrome and iron prices are going to do in the months ahead."Nickel, chrome and iron units remain strong, and demand has not experienced a summer slowdown as of yet," according to one dealer."Scrap flow continues to be lackluster," causing processor...Read More
US imports of standard steel welded wire mesh from Mexico are being or are likely to be sold at less than fair value, the Commerce Department said in a final determination on Wednesday June 23.The weighted-average dumping margin has been set at 110.42% for Deacero SAPI de CV and 23.04% for Aceromex SA de CV and all other exporters. Commerce had estimated those margins at 23.67-152.68% in its preli...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Prices for cargoes of steel billet imported into the Philippines have fallen because of a deluge of material being offered into Southeast Asian markets amid a lack of buying interest in China, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday June 23.Bid prices in China have fallen to around $650-655 per tonne cfr for 3sp billet over the first three days of this week, down from $670 per tonne cfr on Friday amid weak...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday June 23 amid improved sentiment because of the possible easing of blast furnace restrictions in China's Tangshan province and the sharp rise in coal prices, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.01 per tonne, up by $1.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $219.34 per tonne, up by $3.34 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grad...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies and...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday June 23 amid improved sentiment because of the possible easing of blast furnace restrictions in China's Tangshan province and the sharp rise in coal prices, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.01 per tonne, up by $1.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $219.34 per tonne, up by $3.34 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grad...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange continued to trade higher across the board during the day on Wednesday June 23. Prices across the complex followed their recent upward momentum during Wednesday's trading as a result of pacified market sentiment following the testimony given by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell to Congress on Tuesday. "In his testimony, Powell's tone was relativ...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.Fastmarkets assessed...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 21.00-21.90 on Wednesday...Read More
Analysts from Bank of America and KeyBanc Capital Markets see big changes approaching in the United States' steel market, with new capacity scheduled to come online later this year and into 2022, they told attendees of this week's Steel Success Strategies conference.In the atypical cyclical upturn caused in large part by the Covid-19 pandemic, Bank of America analyst Timna Tanners stands by her pr...Read More
China is moving a step closer toward a national plan for the trading of carbon emission permits with the release of guidelines by the Shanghai Environment & Energy Exchange (SEEE) on Tuesday June 22.This follows decade-long pilot projects in several provinces and cities including Shanghai.The SEEE, China's first trading platform for environmental and energy sectors, will be the sole marketplace fo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 23 that are worth another look.Swedish special steel producer Ovako is to collaborate with carmaker Volvo Group, Hitachi ABB Power Grids, H2 Green Steel and Nel Hydrogen to invest in hydrogen production at Hofors in Sweden, it has been announced.Read More
The rebar price in Southern Europe held steady at multi-year high levels on Wednesday June 23 due to supply shortages and surging scrap feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was at ?,?760-785 ($905-935) per tonne on Wednesday, the same as last week. The price, however, has been ris...Read More
Coking coal prices maintained the upward trend in the cfr China market on Wednesday June 23 amid further supply tightness of mainstream domestic coking coal and increased buying interest, while the fob market surged amid firm demand. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $183.67 per tonne, up $5.80 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $296.86 per tonne, up...Read More
Rebounds were under way in the base metals in London and Shanghai this morning, Wednesday June 23, but we will have to wait to see how the metalsreact to today's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) data.To reassure the markets, United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said: "We will not raise interest rates pre-emptively because we think employment is too high [or] because we...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
Buyers in South Korea have been willing to pay higher prices for Japanese scrap recently, outbidding Chinese buyers, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 23.The South Korean market has been highly interested in higher-quality scrap from Japan in recent months amid high special steel demand and rising scrap intake at some basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs) due to carbon neutrality policie...Read More