Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 20 that are worth another look.The iron ore market price has broken several records in 2021, with sky high prices for various iron-ore brands emerging even before the half-year mark - such as the iron ore 62% Fe index surpassing $200 per...Read More
Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the United Kingdom increased to as much as ?180 ($254) per tonne over the week ended Friday May 21, a level last seen in April 2012, on firm fundamentals that have encouraged higher offer prices. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-180 ($240-255) per tonne on Friday,...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped the last working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday May 21.Mills booked at least four deep-sea cargoes this week despite the holiday periods that have suspended trade in most of Turkey's local market over the past two weeks.The most recent deal was done on Thursday May 20, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun reg...Read More
The export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States rose further in the week to Thursday May 20 on new sales and bullish offers from suppliers despite an absence of large sales and even while additional volumes appeared in the market. Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $635-655 per tonne on Thursday, up fr...Read More
Iron ore prices plunged on Friday May 21 amid thin liquidity on both the seaborne front and at the Chinese ports, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $200.72 per tonne, down $11.13 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $203.06 per tonne, down $11.01 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $172.75 per tonne, down $8.06 per tonne65% Fe Brazil...Read More
All metals except for zinc and aluminium fell from their recent psychological levels on the morning of Friday May 21, with selling on the London Metal Exchange still present while macroeconomic headwinds continue to affect the complex.Copper's three-month price was down to $9,970 per tonne on Friday at 9am from Thursday's close at $10,048 per tonne, which had been a slight $40 rebound on the previ...Read More
A significant rise in the LME lead price on Thursday May 20, was the outlier in the base metals complex, with its peers having a mixed day following Wednesday's selling session.Lead's three-month price was up by 1.95% at the close on Thursday to $2,217 per tonne, from $2,174.50 per tonne at 5pm on Wednesday, which was the biggest rise on the day and in stark contrast with the rest of the base meta...Read More
The Chilean Copper Commission, Cochilco, raised its average price forecast for this year to $4.30 per lb on May 19, given an expected deficit of refined copper for the 2021-2022 period, it said.Cochilco revised the price up from a prediction of $3.30 per lb in January 2021, with its executive vice president Marco Riveros citing the global deficit together with reduced inventories in metal exchange...Read More
The export price for CIS-origin steel billet rose by 1.16% day on day on Friday May 21 after sellers switched to nearer markets such as Africa and Turkey in the absence of Chinese customers. Interest for imported billet in China remained non-existent amid falling semi-finished and finished long steel prices domestically. This diminishing demand had caused the billet price to fall in every pri...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap into India and Pakistan continued to rise in the week to Friday May 21, despite a souring of market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $517.88 per tonne on Friday, up from$510.55 per tonne one week earlier.One deal was heard at $515 per tonne this week, compared with a...Read More
London Metal Exchange base metals prices sold off in end-of-week trading on Friday May 21, with copper, nickel and aluminium closing at their lowest levels since April. Three-month copper futures closed at $9,881.50 per tonne at 5pm, down $166.50 (1.7%) against yesterday's close. Importantly, the red metal finished the week below the symbolic $10,000 per tonne, coming as the physical market for re...Read More
Automotive manufacturer Ford Motor Co and South Korean energy conglomerate SK Innovation have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture to manufacture battery cells and energy storage arrays for electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States, Ford said.The venture, to be called BlueOvalSK, will produce roughly 60 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually starting mid-decade, with the potent...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday May 20 amid falling steel prices and overall weakened demand, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $211.85 per tonne, down $4.31 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.07 per tonne, down $4.72 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $180.81 per tonne, down $4.90 per tonne 65% Fe Brazil-orig...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index continued to rebound this week with Chinese smelters carrying on purchasing in the mid-to-high $30s and 3 cents, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets copper concentrate TC index, cif Asia Pacfic was at $29.70 per tonne/ 2.97 cents per lb on May 21, its highest level since March 5. Bids came 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
Chinese nickel products provider Lygend Mining has started its first production of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) in Indonesia successfully, the company said on May 19, 2021.Lygend's MHP production project is the first high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) project to reach production in Indonesia, Fastmarkets understands.Both Lygend Mining and its Indonesian partner Harita Group operate the project,...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap into India and Pakistan continued to rise in the week to Friday May 21, despite a souring of market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $517.88 per tonne on Friday, up from$510.55 per tonne one week earlier.One deal was heard at $515 per tonne this week, compared with a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 20 that are worth another look.The iron ore market price has broken several records in 2021, with sky high prices for various iron-ore brands emerging even before the half-year mark - such as the iron ore 62% Fe index surpassing $200 per...Read More
A significant rise in the LME lead price on Thursday May 20, was the outlier in the base metals complex, with its peers having a mixed day following Wednesday's selling session.Lead's three-month price was up by 1.95% at the close on Thursday to $2,217 per tonne, from $2,174.50 per tonne at 5pm on Wednesday, which was the biggest rise on the day and in stark contrast with the rest of the base meta...Read More