Prices for steel billet imported into Egypt fell in the week to Thursday May 27, largely due to a lack of demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Global billet prices have been decreasing recently and there was hardly any demand for imports into Egypt, they added.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, was $659 per tonne on May 27, down from $691 per tonne on May 20.Demand for rebar...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were broadly flat day on day, reflecting a lack of trading activity in the spot market while supply is tight, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 27.Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,138.33 ($1,391.57) per tonne on May 27, down by ?,?2.67 per tonne from ?,?1,141 per tonne on May 26. The i...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices made a downward correction in the week to Thursday May 27, having risen steadily since the end of April, market participants told Fastmarkets this week.Turkish steelmakers lowered their rebar export offers to $750-780 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, down from last week's $780-790 per tonne. The downward movement followed a downturn in Asian steel p...Read More
Turkish prices for steel billet have gone down over the past week in line with the falling prices in China, while scrap import values supported the decrease, market sources said on Thursday May 27.Steel billet prices in China have made a downward correction in the past week, which consequently brought a decline in Turkish scrap import prices, because Turkey's billet and finished steel prices had b...Read More
Turkish steel producers again stepped away from the deep-sea scrap market after a downturn in steel billet and finished steel prices, triggered by falling prices in China, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 27.Mills had only just returned to the market on Wednesday, when a Turkish steelmaker booked f 44,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) from the United States at $515 per tonne cfr.Tha...Read More
Russia has decided to increase the duty imposed on steel scrap exports to ?,?70 ($85.57) per tonne in a bid to keep enough material within the domestic market against a background of rising global prices, the country's ministry of economic development said on Wednesday May 26."The percentage [at which the duty is applied] is being kept at 5% of the customs value," the ministry said. "And in order...Read More
Iron ore prices went fell on Thursday May 27, due to limited demand in the seaborne market and at Chinese ports.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $189.73 per tonne, down $3.14 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $190.90 per tonne, down $3.59 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $162.38 per tonne, down $2.64 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cf...Read More
Import prices for steel scrap in China weakened further on Thursday May 27 amid a continued lack of buying interest, sources told Fastmarkets.The continued price drop came despite the most-traded rebar and hot-rolled coil futures contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange inching up on May 27 after more than a week of consecutive losses.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel scrap...Read More
China's relentless "suggestions" to industry that it wants to see stable commodity prices appear to have suppressed speculative behavior and are beginning to cool bullish market conditions, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 27.Rising commodity prices were highlighted for the third time in 14 days, on Wednesday May 26, during the the weekly executive meeting of China's State Council, le...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices climbed up in both the cfr and fob markets on Thursday May 27, with the supply of north American premium hard coking coal to China still limited and more buying activity in the fob market, source told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.76 per tonne, up $12.16 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $262.29 per t...Read More
London Metal Exchange prices rose on the morning of Thursday May 27, with copper and zinc climbing above their recently set psychological levels following year-to-date highs and nickel continuing its stride forward following a 1.5% rise on Wednesday.The LME three-month copper price was $10,038 per tonne at 9am London time, a 0.6% rise from Wednesday's close of $9,979 per tonne. The copper price ha...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning of Thursday May 27, as were broader markets - are these pauses, or early signs of a stall?More US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members seem to be getting off the fence about talking about tapering Chinese yuan continues to strengthen, is China using the yuan to reduce inflationary pr...Read More
The European titanium market for alloy and scrap have dropped in price over the past week as an extended period of quiet prompted profit-taking from some domestic traders as well as cheaper export offer prices from Russia, according to industry sources.European ferro-titanium suppliers dropped their offer prices and concluded deals at lower numbers, both on a spot and longer-term basis, which, in...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...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 standard grade, in-whs...Read More
Four key takeaways from the 6th China International LiCoNi Summit in Changsha, China, on May 20-21, 2021.1. Weak nickel market sentiment now but long-term positive Sentiment remained weak among domestic market participants at the conference because they think both the mild hawkish stance evident in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and the statement from China's State Council that...Read More
Chinese stainless steel sellers lowered their offer prices over the past week to reduce inventories against a bearish outlook for the market.Weakness in nickel prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange led to growing pessimism.The three-month nickel contract on the LME ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $17,198 per tonne, down by $504 per tonne (2.8%) f...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has officially terminated its anti-subsidy case into hot-rolled coil from Turkey without imposing any duties, Fastmarkets understands.This decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Thursday May 27.In April 2021,...Read More
Copper's price is trading at all-time highs - and now the countries where it is mined the most want a piece of the action.The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract recently hit an all-time high of $10,747 per tonne - industrial commodities have broadly rallied on the expectation that government investments in green energy schemes and infrastructure projects after the Covid-19 pandemi...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board while those on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during the morning of Friday May 28. This followed surging prices on Thursday.* Falling initial jobless claims in the United States boosted sentiment* An indefinite strike has started at BHP’s Santiago copper-mining operations center* Asia-Pacific equities upbeat as...Read More