China's premium for imported nickel full-plate moved slightly lower amid minimal spot trading due to a big arbitrage loss while European premiums held flat in thin spot trading and US premiums were little moved after market-caution arose following price volatility on exchanges, sources told Fastmarkets. China nickel market premium dips after holidayPremiums unchanged in Europe and US amid thin tra...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States set a new record for the third day in a row, passing the $77-per-hundredweight ($1,540-per-short-ton) threshold for the first time on Wednesday May 12. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $77.06 per cwt ($1,541.20 per ton) on May 12, up by 0.59% from $76.61 per cwt on Tuesday May 11 and by 4.01% from $74.09 per c...Read More
A summary of German steelmaker Salzgitter's financial results for the first quarter of 2021, running January to March.In brief A sustained steel market recovery and rising steel prices benefited the company's performance over the period. While almost all sectors reported a steady increase in their monthly results over the quarter, increased earnings for the period were especially attributable to t...Read More
ArcelorMittal has increased its official offer prices for all coil products across Europe by ?,?50 ($61) per tonne, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 12. This will be the sixth consecutive week that ArcelorMittal Europe has increased its coil offer prices. Its new offers for HRC have now reached ?,?1,100 per tonne ex-works, while prices for downstream flat steel products - cold-rolled and...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe continued to rise on Wednesday May 12, with the rise in feedstock material costs showing no sign of slowing, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,190-1,220 per tonne ($1,446-1,482) per tonne on May 12, up from ?,?1,120-1,190 per tonne on May 5."I had thought...Read More
Prices for steel wire rod in the north of Europe have jumped upward over the past week, backed by limited domestic supply, costlier scrap and increased offers from overseas suppliers, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday May 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?720-750 ($875-911) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?670-690...Read More
The prices paid for deep-sea scrap cargoes by Turkish steel mills continued to rise in the wake of recent changes in Chinese tax policy that have seen billet and long steel demand increase, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday May 12.A mill in the Izmir region booked a cargo from the UK comprising 6,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $499 per tonne and 18,000 tonnes of shredded scrap at $519 per tonne.A m...Read More
Brazilian iron ore and flat steel producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) has secured funding for the expansion of its Casa de Pedra mine at Congonhas in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the company said on Wednesday May 12.A key element of the plan is a switch to the dry processing of tailings from the mine.CSN currently has capacity to produce 33 million tonnes per year of iron ore...Read More
Pig iron import prices in the United States increased during the week to Friday May 7, following the uptrend in the global market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $620-635 per tonne on Friday, up from $585-595 per tonne the previous week. A cargo of Brazil-origin pig iron with 0.12% phosphorus content was bought at about $620-625 per tonne...Read More
Canadian iron ore exploration and development company Black Iron will negotiate offtake rights and financing with US commodities supplier Cargill for its Shymanivske iron ore project in Ukraine, Black Iron announced on Monday May 10.The offtake rights will involve the initial 4 million tonnes per year of production from the mine, while the financing will be for a $75 million facility to be used fo...Read More
The jump in Kanto Tetsugen auction prices has led to another increase in the Japanese export price for steel scrap over the past week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 12.Tuesday's auction by Kanto Tetsugen, which is a cooperative of scrap dealers in the Tokyo region, closed its monthly H2 grade scrap export price at an increase of ?5,899 ($54) per tonne month on month, with the h...Read More
Exports of ferrous materials from India could become more logistically challenging in the coming weeks while the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic, market participants have told Fastmarkets.The worst may still be to come for steel exports out of Covid-hit eastern India, sources said, because of a lack of available stevedores, forces majeures at ports and reduced steel output at certain plants....Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported into China continued to rise on Wednesday May 12 amid limited offers from major suppliers.Many sellers remain reluctant to offer cargoes because of the volatility in the downstream steel billet and finished steel markets, with offers mainly around $560-570 cfr China.Bids for imported HRS101-grade scrap were heard at $530 per tonne cfr northern China, which sources s...Read More
Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday May 12 because of the strong price performance for steel products, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $237.57 per tonne, up $8.64 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $240.00 per tonne, up $10.19 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $207.22 per tonne, up $7.15 per tonne 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, c...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange edged higher across the board during morning trading on Wednesday May 12, after dipping earlier this week due to increasing concerns of inflation. "Industrial metals remained in risk-on mode, along with rising inflation expectations as 1 year breakeven inflation climbed further to just shy of 3%," Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy at ING...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in China held steady for a second day despite steady gains in the futures market, with destocking pressure keeping any upward momentum from taking hold.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 6,000-6,030 yuan ($933-938) per tonne, unchanged Some sellers raised their offers by 10-20 yuan per tonne upon seeing the gains in the futures market, but buyers snubbed these. Instead, they w...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed and consolidating this morning, Wednesday May 12, this after some choppy trading in recent days.Traders wary of contagion from weaker equity markets Asia-Pacific equities mainly weaker, especially in Taiwan Markets focused on Wednesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from United States Base metalsLME three-month base metals pric...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday May 12.Key drivers The European ferro-titanium spot market price range narrowed lower over the week, with the top end dropping below $8 per kg for the first time since December 15. Persistently quiet business conditions for several weeks has gradually eroded alloy prices, with firm sales to the United States and Asia tightening Euro...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...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 Rotterdam, $/lb at 20.00-20.50...Read More