Market activity has been slow in the European hot-rolled coil market because buyers were holding back from new deals to monitor the situation in the global market and to wait for a decision in the regional safeguard measures case, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 4.Domestic prices have been supported by good order books at European steelmakers, however, and by limited access to overseas coi...Read More
Domestic steel wire rod producers in Poland have nearly finalized June bookings and are yet to quote for July, while prices for imports surged amid strong demand and short supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 4.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 3,700 zloty ($1,009) per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by 50 zloty f...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Friday June 4 amid uncertainty about local government policies in China. As a result, most market participants held back from trading activity to wait for further developments.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $207.35 per tonne, down by $3.64 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $209.20 per tonne, down by $3.61 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grad...Read More
Member mills of China's Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) reduced their output rates of crude steel and hot metal in late May compared to the preceding 10 days, data from the association late on Thursday June 3 shows.May 21-31 output - (change from the 10-day period ended on May 20)Crude steel: 2.29 million tonnes per day, down by 3.92%Finished steel: 2.30 million...Read More
Most base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses went down in the week to Friday June 4, with aluminium recording the largest drop in percentage terms. Aluminium stocks totaled 313,699 tonnes on Friday, down by 15,873 tonnes (4.8%) from 329,572 tonnes a week ago. The largest outflow was from HenanGuochu Gongyi warehouse in Henan province, where volumes were down by 8,050...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market extended their gains on Friday June 4, as the futures prices saw another choppy trading session.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,580-5,630 yuan ($872-879) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 5,520-5,580 yuan per tonne, up by 170-200 yuan per tonne.Friday's small increase in spot prices came with gains...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Friday June 4 on stronger demand ahead of the weekend, ending the week 200-yuan-per-tonne above the previous Friday's close in the eastern region, sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,030-5,060 yuan ($785-790) per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,160-5,200 yuan per tonne, up by 160-170 yu...Read More
Dip-buying activity took most base metals prices higher on the morning of Friday June 4 on the London Metal Exchange, following an average fall of 2.5% on Thursday due to a strengthening dollar and positive employment data from the United States. The dollar index has risen over the past two days, coming to a high of 90.63 on Friday morning, amid concerns about the US Federal Reserve slowing down i...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange have attracted dip-buying this morning, Friday June 4, after weakness on Thursday when prices fell across the board by an average of 2.2%. At the same time, prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker this morning while they reacted to yesterday's weakness on the LME.Thursday's strong US data, including employment data, bodes well for today's...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey, Charlotte...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves.Charlotte Radford and Michael Greenfield in...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam price, which was published incorrectly on Friday June 4 due to an error. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for manganese 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam (MB-MN-0001) was originally published at $3,350-3,475 per tonne on June 4. It should have been $3,350-3,550 per tonne. Fastma...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...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
China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Friday June 4 on stronger demand ahead of the weekend, ending the week 200-yuan-per-tonne above the previous Friday's close in the eastern region, sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,030-5,060 yuan ($785-790) per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,160-5,200 yuan per tonne, up by 160-170 yu...Read More
The world's second-largest copper mine, currently in expansion, will send 40% of its copper concentrate output in Phase 1 to a domestic smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with negotiations to sell their copper output still underway, sources said.Kamoa Copper, operating out of Kamoa Kakula mine, signed a ten-year agreement with Lualaba copper smelter (LCS), of China Nonferrous Metal...Read More
Ukraine's Privat Group, a major producer of manganese alloys, hit a monthly production target for May of almost 59,000 tonnes at its Nikopol ferro-alloys plant, up by about 2,000 tonnes from April amid strengthening European prices this year, an industry source said.Privat is also considering whether to start an additional silico-manganese furnace at Nikopol, which would use low-phosphorus slag as...Read More
The world's second-largest copper mine, currently in expansion, will send 40% of its copper concentrate output in Phase 1 to a domestic smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with negotiations to sell their copper output still underway, sources said.Kamoa Copper, operating out of Kamoa Kakula mine, signed a ten-year agreement with Lualaba copper smelter (LCS), of China Nonferrous Metal...Read More
Chinese exporters of ammonium paratungstate (APT) held their offer prices firm this past week due to expectations for the yuan to continue strengthening against the dollar, even though overseas markets remained quiet.As a result, Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for tungsten APT 88.5%WO3 min, fob main ports China was $265-275 per metric tonne unit (mtu) on Wednesday June 2, unchanged from a we...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday June 3 that are worth another look.Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), will start producing hot-briquetted iron (HBI) and increase its iron ore and pellet output by 2027-2028, the company told Fastmarkets.BHP, the majority owner and operator of...Read More