Spot trading of copper concentrate slowed in the week ending Friday May 7 with Chinese and Japanese market participants away for holidays. Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index rebounded, with deals to smelters reported at low-to-mid $30s. Spot buying interest was not particularly high because several major Chinese smelters are carrying out maintenance in May...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices rose during the week ended Friday May 7 as sellers seized the opportunity to raise prices given low supply and strong demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was $900-940 per tonne on Friday, up by $20 per tonne on the high end from $900-920 per tonne the previous week. Early in the week, offers were reported between the...Read More
South American flat steel import prices rose during the week to Friday May 7 as Chinese mills were only beginning to return from the country's 5-day Labor holiday, and material from elsewhere was sold at higher levels.Only a few firm offers were provided to clients in South America, according to market participants. Most were price indications for residual June shipments and initial assessments fo...Read More
Coated coil prices in Turkey increased during the week to Friday May 7 on strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Most coated coil producers were fully booked until late August, with some accepting orders for September production.Demand was strong in domestic and export markets because of limited stock levels.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil...Read More
Indian mills have increased domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil by 4,500-7,000 rupees ($61-95) per tonne for sales this month, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Mills have also curtailed the supply of HRC to the domestic sector in order to ensure that the price increase will be absorbed by the market."Mills are supplying very little [HRC] material to the...Read More
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to set definitive safeguard duties for a number of steel products for a period of three years, it is said in a document issued by the Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti Injurious Practices in International Trade (GCC-TSAIP) seen by Fastmarkets on Friday May 7. In February this year, GCC-TSAIP said that it found recent and sudden increases in imports o...Read More
Flat steel prices increased further in Turkey during the week to Friday May 7, with mills almost fully booked until the end of September, sources told Fastmarkets.Some mills have received requests for October production, but are unable to announce prices because they are yet to book their raw materials for October, Fastmarkets heard.The latest scrap bookings by Turkey were made for June shipping a...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil increased across Europe on Friday May 7, and ArcelorMittal raised its offers even further, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?1,042.00 ($1,254.34) per tonne on May 7, up by ?,?21.17 per tonne from ?,?1,020.83 per tonne on May 6.The index was up by ?,?34.86 per tonne week on we...Read More
Prices in the CIS export billet market continued to rise in the second half of the week as customers from Turkey and China accepted higher levels in fresh deals.There was a revival in interest in imported billet in Turkey after the recent uptick in imported scrap costs.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was calculated at $488.83 per tonn...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 6 that are worth another look.Recent changes in Chinese tax policy have resulted in significant rises in the prices for steel billet and finished long steel products from the CIS and...Read More
The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK increased this week on an uptick in nickel costs and persistently strong market fundamentals, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 7.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,200-1,260 ($1,668-1,751) per tonne on Friday, up from ?1,150-1,230 per tonne a week previously.Th...Read More
Global steel scrap prices surged in the week to Friday May 7 and could well break through the $500 per tonne cfr mark, starting in Asia, market sources have told Fastmarkets.This was due to the continued demand for steelmaking raw materials and the current high prices for alternative iron ore feedstock, they said.Turkish scrap import prices spikeSentiment in US remains bullishPossible $485 per ton...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States rose further in the week to Thursday May 6 due to the bullish sentiment of suppliers and strong markets in the supply chain. Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $575-590 per tonne on Thursday, up from $555-565 per tonne a week earlier. "Pig iron prices are dep...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into South Asia continued to rise on Friday May 7 but buyers were hesitant about booking material, sources have told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $478.96 per tonne on Friday, up from $468.83 per tonne one week earlier.There were no deals heard on the market this week, but offers...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices continued to rise in the latest bookings agreed for June shipments, market sources said on Friday May 7.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo late on Thursday, consisting of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $488 per tonne and shredded and bonus at $498 per tonne cfr.This compared with deep-sea bookings done earlier the same day at $479-480 per tonne cf...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward momentum on Friday May 7, supported by strong demand, and ending the week with a rise of 240-250 yuan per tonne in the east and further growth in the north.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, ex-whs Eastern China, 5,420-5,450 yuan ($837-842) per tonne, up by 40-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) week...Read More
All base metals stocks - bar aluminium - at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses gained in the week to Friday May 7 with tin recording biggest increase in percentage terms. Tin stocks totaled 8,256 tonnes this week, up by 593 tonnes or 7.7% from 7,663 tonnes a week earlier. Nanchu warehouse in Guangdong province recorded the largest inflow at 604 tonnes, while SIPG Logistics...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose further on Friday May 7 with continuing support from bullish steel prices, refreshing the iron ore indices' record highs again.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $212.25 per tonne, up by $10.37 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.20 per tonne, up by $11.33 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $185.29 per tonne, up...Read More
Copper's futures price reached an all-time high in early trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday May 7 and aluminium breached the $2,500-per-tonne mark on bullishness in the market caused by supply concerns and firm demand.The red metal's three-month price peaked at $10,253 per tonne on Friday morning, surpassing its previous high of $10,190 per tonne set in February 2011. This was a rise o...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part stronger this morning, Friday May 7, as were broader markets.Friday's United States employment report is in focus because it could prompt Federal Reserve to change tackDow Jones Industrial Average sets new highs after US initial jobless claims fell below 500,000 on Thursday for the first time s...Read More