Brazilian vehicle production rose by 348% in May 2021, compared with the corresponding period last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to several plant closures and resulted in output plummeting, national carmakers' association Anfavea said on Tuesday June 8.The country produced 192,843 units last month, significantly up from 43,080 units in May 2020. The May volume also represented a 1.01% incre...Read More
The government of Belgium's southern Wallonia region has decided to give a loan to Liberty Steel that will allow the company to run its Liege-Dudelange plants until new owners can be found, according to a statement by the vice-president of the government of Wallonia, Willy Borsus."The objective of the region is to be able to examine all avenues that would allow one or more buyers to come forward,...Read More
Buyers of steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates preferred to wait before placing new orders because of uncertainty about prices during the week ended Tuesday June 8, sources have told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers were expected to announce new prices next week.Local retail prices for rebar were currently lower than those offered by local producers. In any case, most buyers have hi...Read More
Hot-rolled coil import prices to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were mostly stable during the week to Tuesday June 8, but cold-rolled coil prices decreased and the hot-dipped galvanized coil import price spreads to the UAE widened, sources told Fastmarkets.The main reason for the decrease in CRC prices was low prices from China, market participants said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessm...Read More
The current upward momentum in pricing in the steel market should continue in the third quarter with support from short supply and solid demand, buoying an already optimistic market, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said on June 4.EuropeRebar prices reached new highs during the second quarter of 2021 on support from long lead times, strong demand and limited impor...Read More
Imports of steelmaking raw materials into the United States fell by 14.56% month on month in April, primarily due to reduced inflows of direct-reduced iron (DRI) over the period, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau.Raw materials imports totaled 901,825 tonnes in April, compared with 1.06 million tonnes in March and 851,028 tonnes in February.US imports of ferrous scrap...Read More
Ferrous scrap exports from the United States increased by a marginal 1.07% month on month in April, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau.Ferrous scrap exports totaled 1.63 million in April, compared with 1.61 million tonnes in March and almost 1.36 million tonnes in February.Exports to Turkey, usually the United States' biggest customer, dropped by more than half month over month...Read More
ArcelorMittal has made a $10 million investment in renewable energy technology company Heliogen from its innovation fund for sustainability, it announced on Tuesday June 8.The XCarb innovation fund is part of ArcelorMittal's wider sustainability initiative, launched to drive progress toward carbon-neutral steel production.In addition to the $10 million investment, ArcelorMittal and Heliogen have s...Read More
Turkish steelmakers resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases to refresh stocks after some fresh finished steel sales were concluded, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 8.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $501 per tonne and bonus at $511 per tonne cfr. The cargo breakdown was not clear at the time of publication.This was the...Read More
Iron ore prices pushed up on Tuesday June 8, despite sintering restrictions being imposed on steelmakers in China's steelmaking hub Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $209.50 per tonne, up $7.08 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $211.81 per tonne, up $7.63 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $182.87 per tonne,...Read More
A return to trading in Europe's last open-outcry venue might be short-lived, with major brokers skeptical of a future making markets on the London Metal Exchange's "ring" even after the bourse said it would reopen in September.The LME said on Tuesday June 8 that trading would resume on the boisterous London venue, which in various forms has been a center point for global metal marke...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will enhance its off-warrant stock reporting, including limiting the warranting of metal that has not previously been disclosed in off-warrant stock reports, the exchange said on Tuesday June 8.The responses to the LME's discussion paper were generally supportive of the exchange taking a greater physical market role with respect to the off-warrant stock report, the LME sa...Read More
London Metal Exchange chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said he hopes the new changes to the exchange's market structure will increase volumes and be long-term changes."Do I think that we'll be able to get more business as a result of the changes we're making? Yes I do," Chamberlain said on Tuesday June 8. "It's always a little bit speculative in this business, people always say I will t...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market fell slightly on Tuesday June 8, with the futures prices extending their decline in the morning before clawing back some losses in the afternoon.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,450-5,520 yuan ($853-864) per tonne, widening by 10-50 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange touched a one-week low of 5,1...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...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.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
The antimony market weakened further in May amid declining cif prices from China, which were mirrored in Europe. But the market has been showing increasing disparity with some producers offering material at higher levels due to low inventories in Rotterdam for prompt delivery.In China, the antimony price has moved steadily lower since peaking at 69,000-70,000 yuan ($10,833-10,990) per tonne in ear...Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported into China were unchanged on Tuesday June 8 amid scarce spot market activity.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China, which takes into account prices at ports in eastern China, was $510-530 per tonne on Tuesday, unchanged from a day earlier.No new bids were heard on Tuesday, with the latest bid coming in on Mond...Read More
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 in southern China.YICT is one of China's busiest container ports, handling around 13 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each year, according to The Maritime Executive news website.Althoug...Read More