A rise in Chinese ferrous prices has reduced the number of billet cargoes offered into Asian markets on Friday May 28.Comments by the Chinese government made in an attempt to cool commodity prices led to falls in ferrous contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, creating a sharp drop in steel billet import bids in the country. Bids for standard 5sp billet were heard at $650-660 per tonne cf...Read More
China's domestic rebar price rebounded on Friday May 28 following futures gains, encouraging buyers to return to the market. Spot market sellers followed suit.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($758-763) per tonne, up by 120 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,000-5,030 yuan per tonne, down by 400-420 yuan per tonne Some buyers increased their pro...Read More
The price range for flat-rolled stainless steel in Europe narrowed upwards this week, reflecting a continued shortage of supply that is likely to become more pronounced with the introduction of anti-dumping duties on material from India and Indonesia. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?3,150...Read More
China's leading stainless steel producers, Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) and Baosteel Group, have lowered their ferro-chrome tender prices for June delivery by 50 yuan ($7.84) per tonne compared with the previous month.The latest high-carbon ferro-chrome tender prices released by Tisco and Baosteel on Friday May 28 were 7,250 yuan and 7,445 yuan per tonne respectively, slightly down from the 7,300...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices fell slightly week on week on Friday May 28 amid a pause in negotiations for shipments to the United States and lower indications for other regions.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $970-990 per tonne on Friday, widening downward from $980-990 per tonne on May 21.With July-shipment deals to the US done in the previous w...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imports into South America mostly decreased in the week to Friday May 28 due to a significant absence of Chinese material in the market, with negotiations starting to shift to August shipment, overall lower offers, and a cautious stance among customers.This was the first time since February 5 this year that the majority of import prices on the continent fell on a weekl...Read More
Global steel scrap prices dropped in the week to Friday May 28 on poor sentiment resulting from a weaker Chinese market and a softening of the Turkish market.Turkey reports latest trades at lower pricesUS East Coast sees trades to TurkeyVietnamese market affected by weaker Chinese sentimentChinese prices remain down despite improving futuresTaiwan prices lower on soft buying interestIndian buyers...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday May 28.Key drivers:Some market participants reported that last week's price rise was fueling a larger number of inquiries this week. Others contend that cobalt remains available below the range, causing...Read More
Nickel's price was up by more than 5% on the London Metal Exchange and tin's was up by 4.3% since the start of the week, with bullish momentum returning to the base-metals complex on Friday May 28 and all metal prices finishing higher than at the start of the week.Prices bounced back following a period of weakness and correction seen at the beginning of the week, after the Chinese government calle...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Friday May 28 amid strong semi-finished and finished steel prices, driven by firmer demand from end users, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $190.51 per tonne, up $0.78 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $192.67 per tonne, up $1.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $162.80 per tonne, up $0.42 p...Read More
China's domestic rebar price rebounded on Friday May 28 following futures gains, encouraging buyers to return to the market. Spot market sellers followed suit.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($758-763) per tonne, up by 120 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,000-5,030 yuan per tonne, down by 400-420 yuan per tonne Some buyers increased their pro...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
Nickel's price was up by more than 5% on the London Metal Exchange and tin's was up by 4.3% since the start of the week, with bullish momentum returning to the base-metals complex on Friday May 28 and all metal prices finishing higher than at the start of the week.Prices bounced back following a period of weakness and correction seen at the beginning of the week, after the Chinese government calle...Read More
Spot interest in overseas blister copper remained low this month in China, with importers continuing to show a preference for top-grade copper scrap while the outright price of the metal remained high. Fastmarkets assessed the blister copper 98-99% RC spot, cif China at $220-240 per tonne for May, up from $185-200 per tonne a month earlier and at its highest since April 2018.Trading remained limit...Read More
Ivanhoe Mines - the developer of the Kamoa Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - is in talks with that country's government about securing a permit to export concentrate, it said.The talks between Canada-listed Ivanhoe Mines and Kinshasa follow news - broken by Fastmarkets this week - of the DRC introducing a ban on the export of copper...Read More
Customs officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have backtracked on a decree made just 24 hours earlier and re-approved the export of copper concentrate and cobalt from the country.In an official letter to extractive companies in Katanga province, the center of cobalt mining in the country if not the world, Bernard Bosele Pilipilithe, provincial director of Customs and Excise for the provinc...Read More
Base metals, with the exception of lead, registered declining inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses in the week to Friday May 28, with tin the biggest faller - down 13%.in stocks totalled 5,241 tonnes on Friday, down by 783 tonnes from 6,024 tonnes a week ago.The largest outflow was from Nanchu warehouse in Guangdong province, where volumes were down by...Read More
Tin was the standout performer on the morning of Friday May 28, reaching a new year-to-date peak of $30,800 per tonne, while other LME futures prices had a more up-and-down start, with some having ended the Thursday session with increases of more than 3%. After reaching $30,800 per tonne during early trading - its highest level since April 2011 - tin was down slightly to $30,605 per tonne at 9am,...Read More
Canadian steelmaker Stelco has agreed with a German battery recycling specialist, Primobius, to work toward creating a lithium-ion battery recycling venture, initially hoped to recycle 20,000 tonnes per year of batteries.The pair "would actively plan for an expanded capacity operation," under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced on Thursday May 27 by Primobius's Australian co-owner, Neome...Read More
Steel billet suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States expect China to resume booking material, albeit at a lower rate than earlier in May, Fastmarkets learned on Friday May 28."It's hard to say, but I think they will resume bookings because no-one cancelled the plan to reduce steel output by the end of the year," one trader said.In northern China's Tangshan city, the country's steelmaki...Read More