Steel slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States region showed some signs of softening in the week to Tuesday June 1, despite the fact that mills have not been active in the market."It is too early. [According to what I have heard,] they will not make any offer before June 10," one trader said.A producer from Russia said that it was not offering any material at the moment, but if it w...Read More
Operations at one of Vale's largest nickel mines - located in Sudbury, Ontario - will be disrupted following a partial impasse in negations with the United Steelworkers (USW) union, the Brazilian miner said on Tuesday June 1."United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500, representing production and maintenance employees in Sudbury, voted to reject the company's offer of a new five-year collective bargaini...Read More
Austria Metall AG (AMAG), a producer of aluminium cast and flat rolled material has shipped its first aluminium certified under the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) chain of custody standard, the company has said, with the customer being German carmaker Audi.The metal has been sent to the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, and will be used for the outer body sheet of the tailgate for the A6...Read More
London Metal Exchange prices were mostly unchanged on the first trading day of this month, but maintained the bullish tone they struck at the end of May at the close on Tuesday June 1, given a release of positive economic data."A short-lived pullback seen in the base-metals complex suggests that underlying sentiment remains very bullish, with dip buyers welcoming lower prices with open arms," Fast...Read More
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have reaffirmed their commitment to fair trade and criticized the use of subsidies that create excess capacity, including in steel and aluminium.In a joint statement issued at the virtual G7 Trade Track meeting on May 28, the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States called for the start of talks to d...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices held above $80 per hundredweight ($1,600 per ton) for the sixth consecutive business day after market participants said that there continues to be more demand than the spot market can supply in the next couple months.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $80.08 per cwt ($1,601.60 per short ton) on Tuesday June 1, a decrease of 0.46% fr...Read More
German carmaker Volkswagen will halt production at two sites in Brazil for 10 days due to the global semiconductor chip shortage, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 1.Units in S??o Jos?(C) dos Pinhais, a city in the southern state of Paran??, and in Taubat?(C), in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, will cease activities for a 10-day period starting on June 7, the company said."A signi...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the EU increased in the week to Friday May 28, supported by continuing coil shortages and good demand.The mood in the market, however, has changed due to a decline of prices in China.Sentiment in the European coil segment has turned from bullish to mixed, with buyers starting to believe that a recent price correction in China might put an end to the price ris...Read More
Prices for steel billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to slide amid limited trading activity during the week to Tuesday June 1.The downtrend was driven mainly by the absence of activity in China, which has been one of the major outlets for CIS-origin billet recently.Few bookings were heard concluded in Italy and Turkey late last week because most customers prefe...Read More
Brazil exported 26.66 million tonnes of iron ore in May, a 24.25% year-on-year rise from 21.46 million tonnes, the country's ministry of economy said on Tuesday June 1.May 2021 had 21 working days, one more than in the same month a year before, which contributed to the rise. Daily average exports also grew, by 18.33% to 1.27 million tonnes from 1.07 million tonnes in the same comparison.Reven...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap market and instead continued to focus on finished steel, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 1.The most recent deep-sea trade was done at the end of last week, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $503 per tonne and shredded scrap at $513 per tonne cfr.The US cargo resulted a furth...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal price in the cfr market jumped on Monday May 31, with a deal heard done at $275 per tonne cfr China, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.89 per tonne, up $1.09 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $284.65 per tonne, up $21.19 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.95 per tonne, unchangedHard cokin...Read More
Import prices for steel scrap in China remained unchanged on Tuesday June 1, despite Monday's suggestion that steelmaker emissions cuts in the steelmaking hub of Tangshan could be eased to 20-30% from 30-50%.Buyers continued to hold mixed views for the imported scrap market on June 1. Some buyers in north China started to show more interest in booking scrap cargoes compared with last week, after t...Read More
Seaborne hard coking coal prices increased on Tuesday June 1 following Monday's jump in the premium hard coking coal cfr price and with support from a lack of spot volumes. And sources said that major mills in east China have proposed a first round of coke price cuts this year by 120 yuan ($19) per tonne.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.44 per tonne, down by $0.45 per to...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Tuesday June 1 continuing the upward trend from Monday amid firmer demand and a return of liquidity to both the physical spot market and at the Chinese ports, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $208.67 per tonne, up $9.84 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $211.04 per tonne, up $9.78 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cf...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market traded in a wider range on Tuesday June 1, following the choppy trading in the futures market while market participants looked closely at the production curbs in Tangshan, sources said.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,430-5,600 yuan ($852-879) per tonne, widening downward by 70 yuan per tonne.HRC trades across China's eastern region were weak on...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices retreated on Tuesday June 1 following a proposal from local authorities in Tangshan to lower the rates of steel mills' emission cuts to 20-30% from the current 30-50%. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,900-4,920 yuan ($769-772) per tonne, down by 100-110 yuan per tonne While the proposal has not yet been approved by Hebei's provincial government, it led to sentiment...Read More
Most prices on the London Metal Exchange were up on the morning of Tuesday June 1, following a steady end in May and notable stock movements for lead and aluminium in LME warehouses.The LME three-month copper price rose to $10,333 per tonne on Tuesday morning, up from $10,258 per tonne on Friday - a further 4% rise on the Monday May 24 close. The possible supply disruptions out of South America -...Read More
The municipal government of Tangshan - China's steelmaking hub in the northern region - has suggested that basic oxygen furnaces no longer come under production restrictions due to the low level of pollutants that they emit.In a notice released late on Monday May 31, it also suggested a relaxation of the rates of emissions cuts by steel mills in the city to 20-30% from the more stringent 30-50% cu...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More