Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 9 that are worth another look.Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil largely trended downward over the past week due to limited trading activity in the spot market.Two Chinese investors...Read More
European steel H-beam prices reached new highs on Wednesday June 9, with mills continuing to push through successful increases, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?970-1,000 ($1,181-1,218) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?940-970 per tonne one week earlier.Some mills remained out of the market, with full...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices picked up on Wednesday June 9 as a result of futures gains leading to stronger demand, market sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,960-5,000 yuan ($776-782) per tonne, up by 40-50 yuan per tonneRebar futures staged a slight rebound on Tuesday and Wednesday, following a large drop on Monday, which market participants said was a "reasonable price change".The...Read More
A major Japanese steelmaker will hike its offers for August-shipment hot-rolled coil amid tight supply and high raw materials prices, a source close to the company told Fastmarkets.The steelmaker will increase its offer to $1,100-1,200 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia, widening up by $50 per tonne compared with July-shipment materials. It will also increase its offer to $1,200-1,300 per tonne cfr to o...Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported into China were unchanged for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday June 9 despite the June Kanto Tetsugen auction result inching up by ?362 ($3) per tonne from last month.The Kanto Tetsugen, which is a cooperative of scrap dealers in the Tokyo region, closed its monthly H2-grade scrap export auction on Wednesday with the winning bid price at ?49,195 per tonne fas...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices remained largely stable in both the cfr and fob on markets Wednesday June 9, with most market participants on the sidelines, source said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $168.50 per tonne, up $0.20 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $282.87 per tonne, up $0.20 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $145.43 per tonne, up $3...Read More
Nickel gained the most in percentage terms during morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday June 9, while other base metals were mostly unchanged from Tuesday at high levels.The LME three-month nickel price reached $18,130 per tonne on Wednesday morning, up from its previous close at $17,942 per tonne. The contract rose to a three-month high of $18,475 per tonne on June 3 - its hig...Read More
Fastmarkets' index of the 63% Fe Australia-origin lump ore premium, cfr Qingdao, hit a record-high on Wednesday June 9 amid strong activity on a trading platform.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $212.67 per tonne, up by $3.17 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.71 per tonne, up $2.90 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $187.88 per tonne, up...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for July shipment at slightly higher prices on Wednesday June 9, having only just resumed buying activity on Tuesday after a near-two-week break, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $498 and bonus scrap at $508 per tonne cfr.The same mill also bo...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States rose again over the past week amid big gains in the ferrous market and while nickel prices have continued to hover just above the $8-per-lb ($17,640-per-tonne) threshold."We can thank the iron market for the latest stainless price increase, especially since the London Metal Exchange nickel continues to struggle to move further to the upside," one d...Read More
A workers' strike at Vale's Sudbury nickel mine, in the eastern Canadian province of Ontario, is now in its second week, but would have to continue for at least a month before nickel premiums would rise in the United States, according to most market sources consulted by Fastmarkets this week.They were considering the effect on cut cathode premiums, especially.Vale Canada is North America's main pr...Read More
The 60-64.9% ferro-chrome market narrowed upward in the week to June 8, on high offer prices for Indian ferro-chrome to Europe.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, high carbon, 6-8.5% C, basis 60-64.9% Cr, max 3% Si, cif Europe, narrowed upward by 5 cents (+2.4%) to $1.05-1.10 per lb Cr on June 8, from $1.00-1.10 per lb Cr one week earlier."There is a scarcity of material and the domest...Read More
Two Chinese investors into Kamoa Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have signed offtake agreements for phase 1 output, operator Ivanhoe Mines said on Wednesday June 9.CITIC Metal (HK) Limited and Zijin Mining's subsidiary Gold Mountains (HK) International Mining Co will each have access to 50% of Kamoa Kakula's copper concentrate and blister copper, Ivanhoe said The offta...Read More
Trafigura's head of metals and minerals, Amin Zahir, is leaving the trading company, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday June 8.The move will mean that Trafigura's metal unit heads - Kostas Bintas, Socrates Economou, Philippe Muller and Gonzalo De Olazaval - will report directly to chief executive officer Jeremy Weir, who himself has a background in metals.Trafigura made record profits last...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories from Tuesday June 8 that are worth another look.A rise in Covid-19 cases in China's Guangdong province in recent weeks has led to tighter controls and rigorous testing at the huge Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), causing extended delays...Read More
Several provinces in China have been hit by power cuts in the past two months due to electricity shortages and energy controls, resulting in reduced production and price fluctuations for metals and ferro-alloys, including aluminum, zinc, silicon metal, ferro-chrome and silico-manganese. Supply of thermal power, the major method of power generation in the country, has been affected after coal price...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States in the week to Tuesday June 8.ChinaRecent power cuts in Inner Mongolia and Guangxi provinces limited the availability of domestic ferro-chrome and supported the spot market.The spot market strength domestically and in other parts of Asia spurred positivity in the imported charge chrome market, although liquidity issues remain...Read More
Tin was the best performer on the London Metal Exchange on June 8 due to its constrained global supply situation being set to worsen amid disruption from MSC, while the rest of the complex finished positively on afternoon US trade despite a broader consolidation.LME tin's three-month price closed at $31,223 per tonne on Tuesday, jumping up by 2.3% from Monday's closing price of $30,525 per tonne,...Read More
Strong demand and tight supply supported aluminium premiums at recent multi-year highs across the globe on Tuesday June 8, although levels for those in South Korea were unchanged for two months.End-user interest and insufficient supply offset London Metal Exchange backwardation in Rotterdam Japanese premium holds at two-year high on fresh deals South Korea stable for eight weeks amid little market...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories from Tuesday June 8 that are worth another look.A rise in Covid-19 cases in China's Guangdong province in recent weeks has led to tighter controls and rigorous testing at the huge Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT), causing extended delays...Read More