Brazilian slab export prices remained stable as buyers and sellers held their ground in negotiations for August-shipment batches amid high flat steel prices and raw material costs.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil unchanged for the second consecutive week at $980-1,000 per tonne on Friday June 18.Sellers were holding offers at $1,000 per tonne fob to t...Read More
China has started cautioning state-owned enterprises (SOEs) regarding overdependence on imported commodities and overexposure in commodity-based financial derivatives, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.In the past few days, there had been rampant market chatter the country's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission (Sasac) asking SOEs to report their positions in commodit...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan have risen on active purchasing that tailed off toward the end of the week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 18.Fastmarkets' steel scrap shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $533.93 per tonne on June 18, up from $516.47 per tonne on June 11.Offers heard this week were in the range of $520-540 per tonne cfr, whi...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices inched up in the cfr market on Friday June 18 amid supply tightness for both domestic and imported cargoes, while the fob market surged on tight supply. Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) remained largely stable in the cfr market in the week to June 18 amid firm offer levels and limited buying activities from end-users for Russian PCI. The fob market in...Read More
The latest analysis from recent activity on the CME Group's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam.Key tradesJune 2, 2021: 120 tonnes (10 tonnes each month from January to December 2022, all at $21.45 per lb)June 17, 2021: 240 tonnes (10 tonnes each month from January to December 2022, all at $22.95 per lb; 10...Read More
Prices in the Taiwanese containerized ferrous scrap import market rebounded this week amid improving sentiment and competition for material in the bulk market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized steel scrap, heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20), United States material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $450 per tonne on Friday June 18, narrowing upward by $1 pe...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America increased in the week ended Friday June 18 amid reports of higher freight rates and more expensive deals.Demand for August-shipment material was steady, and close to levels seen in previous months, according to market participants. But clients were still uneasy due to the possibility of tax changes in China.Most sources were expecti...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 EU member states have voted in favor of the proposed extension of the safeguard measures on imports of steel products, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 18.The vote was supported by 17 member states, the sources said.The European Commission had not released an official statement at the time of publication.On June 11, the Commission sent a draft proposal to the World Trade Organiza...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 Cobalt alloy...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
All base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower on Friday June 18 than at the start of the week, by an average of 5.6%, brought down by a mixture of macroeconomic factors that have stifled the complex's recent bullish run.The decline across the complex to Friday was led by copper's fall on the LME, down by 8.3% on Friday to $9,135 per tonne from Monday's closing price of $9,971.50 p...Read More
Most London Metal Exchange base metals prices continued to tumble on the morning of Friday June 18, with copper's three-month price heading for its worse weekly fall since the start of the pandemic, while nickel rebounded on dip-buying. Copper has entered its fifth day of decline, opening at $9,250 per tonne on Friday at 9am, down from Thursday's closing price of $9,315 per tonne. Yesterday's 5pm...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption soared by 83% year on year in May, according to figures from national steel institute, A??o Brasil.Apparent steel use reached 2.50 million tonnes in May compared with 1.37 million tonnes in the same month in 2020, the institute said on Thursday June 17.Consumption of flat-steel products rose 98.90% to 1.45 million tonnes from 730,000 tonnes in the same comparis...Read More
The EU member states have voted in favor of the proposed extension of the safeguard measures on imports of steel products, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 18.The vote was supported by 17 member states, the sources said.The European Commission had not released an official statement at the time of publication.On June 11, the Commission sent a draft proposal to the World Trade Organiza...Read More
Global scrap prices in the key markets diverged in the week to Friday June 18, with those in Asia moving upward, while Turkish scrap prices fell amid slow buying driven by uncertainty over finished steel sales.Turkish buyers had to pay a premium for US-origin shredded scrapUS export market reported new sales to TurkeySolid demand in Vietnam resulted in higher pricesChina reported stability in impo...Read More
Iron ore prices went down slightly on Friday June 18 on news of state monitoring of the commodities markets, new operational restrictions in Tangshan and market rumors about capacity reductions.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $218.90 per tonne, down by $1.92 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $220.24 per tonne, down by $1.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More
Rebounds were under way in the base metals complex in London this morning, Friday June 18, while in Shanghai the base metals mostly reflected the weakness seen on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday.The more hawkish stance from the United States Federal Reserve on Wednesday lifted the dollar but has weighed on sentiment......as has China's decision to release state reserves of copper, aluminium...Read More
The latest analysis from recent activity on the CME Group's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam.Key tradesJune 2, 2021: 120 tonnes (10 tonnes each month from January to December 2022, all at $21.45 per lb)June 17, 2021: 240 tonnes (10 tonnes each month from January to December 2022, all at $22.95 per lb; 10...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market edged higher on Friday June 18, while export prices fell as overseas buyers became more cautious due to the potential imposition of export taxes.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,500-5,530 yuan ($853-858) per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,450-5,480 yuan per tonne, down by 90-100 yuan per tonne.S...Read More