Strong interest in imports of steel billet among Chinese customers supported a further uptick in the CIS export billet price in the week to Wednesday April 28.A cargo of around 40,000 tonnes of Ukraine-origin billet was reported sold to China at $655-660 per tonne cfr early this week, Fastmarkets heard. Market participants said that the price would be equivalent to $605 per tonne fob Black Sea.Bul...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for June shipments on Wednesday April 28, with prices edging ever higher, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea at $432 per tonne cfr.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a second Baltic sea cargo of 17,000 tonne of HMS 1&2 (80:20)...Read More
A summary of Latin American steel group Ternium's financial results for the first quarter of 2021, as stated in its earnings report published on Tuesday April 27. In brief Sales volumes growth at Mexican operations was outpaced by a strong recovery in Argentina, Ternium said. Shipments from the Argentinian unit are expected to remain stable on a quarterly basis in April-June, supported...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged on Wednesday April 28, with tight supply in the cfr market, especially for premium hard coking coal materials.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.21 per tonne, down by $1.25 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $225.00 per tonne, up by $2.28 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.62 per tonne, do...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices eased on Wednesday April 28 amid weaker demand, especially at Chinese ports, according to market sources.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $192.52 per tonne, down $2.79 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $194.23 per tonne, down $2.12 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $169.86 per tonne, up $0.95 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-o...Read More
Import prices for ferrous scrap in China were steady on Wednesday April 28 amid approaching holidays in the country as well as its major supplier, Japan.Demand from Chinese buyers is expected to weaken during the Labor Day break, however. China is observing a public holiday over May 1-5 to mark the occasion.Bids for imported heavy scrap were heard at $500 per tonne cfr northern China on Wednesday....Read More
China is planning sweeping changes to its tax regimes for ferrous raw materials from May 1, its Ministry of Finance said on April 27.The changes are designed to guarantee the supply of steel making raw materials and continue to drive the steel industry toward high-quality growth, the ministry said.There will be no import tariffs for pig iron, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials, ferro-c...Read More
There may be significant swings in the prices and trade flows in the steelmaking raw materials market if the Covid-19 situation in India continues to worsen, sources told Fastmarkets.India has had a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks - breaching the 300,000 mark several times over the week to April 27 - while vaccinations fail to stem the tide of infections.Higher pellet pric...Read More
The Malaysian Smelting Corp (MSC) will only return to pre-pandemic smelting levels at the end of the year and will restrict its ore intake "both in respect of quantity and quality" in the coming months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told suppliers this week.In a note to suppliers sent on Monday April 26, MSC said that the pandemic had "severely affected" its smelting capacity and that i...Read More
Chinese copper smelters with tolling licenses have begun to export copper cathodes due to the emergence of an export arbitrage window between London and Shanghai, sources told Fastmarkets.The arbitrage window started to become viable in the latter part of last week, with the copper price on the London Metal Exchange strongly outperforming its counterpart on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The LME t...Read More
Nickel's three-month price was at $17,265 per tonne at 9am, making it the only base metal to register a gain of over 1% in the morning of Wednesday April 28 on the London Metal Exchange, while the rest of the complex eased from their highs achieved on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the United States' Federal Reserve statements to be made on Wednesday. the nickel price was up by 1.8% on Wednesday morn...Read More
Most aluminium premiums were stable in the week to Tuesday April 27, apart from the US Midwest premium, which surged to an all-time high on sturdy demand and short supply. US premium at all-time high but still not attracting overseas unitsRotterdam premium rises $5 per tonne at the top end of the range week on week; market stabilizingMJP premium stays unchanged on short covering, South Korea deman...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday April 28.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market is stabilizing after losses in the week prior amid renewed consumer demand while a steelmaker in Asia looks to settle a tender for several hundred tonnes of alloy, trade sources said. A persistent acute shortage of titanium scrap turnings underpins both scrap and...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) 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 hydroxide p...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...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...Read More
A recent downturn in the spot price for cobalt was not causing alarm among sellers because they were still seeing plenty of demand from customers with long-term contracts, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' latest price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $20.50-22.00 per lb on Monday April 26. This compared with $15.40-16.00 per lb a year earlier.Prices have risen...Read More
The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne 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.Read More
China will reduce the export rebate rates for some steel products from May 1, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday April 28.Steel products with HS codes 7205-7307 will be affected, which includes hot-rolled coil, rebar, wire rod, hot rolled and cold-rolled sheet, plate, H beams and stainless steel, the ministry said.Market chatter about the cancellation of steel export rebate rates have...Read More