The gap between the prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States reached the highest since 2008 in the second half of April due to a combination of a flat steel products shortage in the global market and strong demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $639 per tonne fob at the midp...Read More
All base-metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up by 1% or more at the 5pm close of trading on Monday April 26, with overarching bullish sentiment toward economic recoveries taking hold of the complex throughout the day.Copper and aluminium were the leaders of the rally on Monday, both reaching new 2021 highs during the day at $9,765 and $2,407 per tonne respectively.They closed at 5pm u...Read More
A cargo of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend iron ore fines was traded on Monday April 26 at a price of $194.40 per tonne cfr China on a trading platform, a record high since Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao, was introduced in August 2018.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $193.58 per tonne, up by $7.33 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $194.40 pe...Read More
Copper's price reached $9,705 per tonne in the morning, while the rest of the London Metal Exchange base metals also started the week with higher prices on Monday April 26. Copper's price was up 1.6% on Monday morning to a new 2021 high - and its highest level since July 2011 - following a 1.9% rise over last week, when it closed at $9,551 per tonne on Friday. There were more than 11,000 lots...Read More
The European Commission will set definitive duties on hot-rolled coil from Turkey at marginally lower levels than for preliminary duties, sources told Fastmarkets. The EC imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of 4.80-7.60% in early January 2021. Both European and Turkish market sources said that the EC has sent letter to the interested parties with definitive duties that have been calculate...Read More
Flat steel prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow continued to increase over the past seven days, supported by a strong export market and good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 26.Hot-rolled sheetHot-rolled sheet offer prices for May from Severstal were heard at 92,000 roubles ($1,228) per tonne for stockists, the same as last week.Other key suppliers to the regio...Read More
Copper's price reached $9,705 per tonne in the morning, while the rest of the London Metal Exchange base metals also started the week with higher prices on Monday April 26. Copper's price was up 1.6% on Monday morning to a new 2021 high - and its highest level since July 2011 - following a 1.9% rise over last week, when it closed at $9,551 per tonne on Friday. There were more than 11,000 lots...Read More
Copper led the London Metal Exchange base metals higher this morning, Monday April 26, and most of the base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up too, while the market continued to benefit from the strong purchasing managers' index (PMI) data that was out on Friday. US markets managed to shake-off concerns about US President Joe Biden's tax plans Base metalsLME three-month base metals pr...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have soared above $72 per hundredweight ($1,440 per short ton), setting another historic high, with market participants expecting additional price increases due to continuing tight spot supply.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $72.67 per cwt ($1,453.40 per ton) on Monday April 26, up by 1.37% from $71.69 per cw...Read More
Liberty Steel Dudelange-Liege has been canceling orders and shipments to customers that had agreed deals for cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil, sources have told Fastmarkets.Liberty Dudelange-Liege comprises three production sites - at Fl?(C)malle and Tilleur in Belgium and at Dudelange in Luxembourg - each producing cold-rolled coil, HDG and tinplate."[Liberty Steel] has canceled or...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export rebar and wire rod prices increased over the week to Monday April 26 after customers accepted higher levels in recent sales, sources said.A strong domestic market in Russia rendered support to local producers, which, therefore, increased their asking prices for long steel products abroad, Fastmarkets heard.In the middle of last week, one Russia-b...Read More
German steelmaker Salzgitter has upwardly revised its full-year forecast for 2021 after posting positive preliminary results for the first quarter due to improving steel market fundamentals.In its preliminary first-quarter report, published on Friday April 23, Salzgitter said it expected pre-tax profits of ?,?117.30 ($141.90) million, "thereby exceeding current market expectations" - a signif...Read More
Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) is planning to export 300,000 tonnes of steel billet by the end of the third quarter of 2021, a source from the company told Fastmarkets on Monday April 26.The company loaded 10,000 tonnes of billet to be exported to Syria earlier this week and will load another cargo of around 10,000 tonnes next week to be exported to Europe,...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market was quiet on Monday April 26, with sources reporting there were still suppliers with cargoes available for June shipments.The most recent deep-sea transactions were heard on Wednesday April 21, when two Baltic Sea suppliers secured bookings at $426-427 per tonne cfr on a heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) basis, while a European supplier sold a mixed cargo at...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have remained fairly stable over the past seven days, with most mills keeping their buy prices unchanged week on week, market participants said on Monday April 26.Long steel producers in the Izmir region continued to buy domestic auto bundle and ship scrap at stable prices over the past seven days.Only two mills in the Marmara region cut...Read More
A cargo of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend iron ore fines was traded on Monday April 26 at a price of $194.40 per tonne cfr China on a trading platform, a record high since Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao, was introduced in August 2018.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $193.58 per tonne, up by $7.33 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $194.40 pe...Read More
As the current surge in coronavirus cases in India takes hold, Fastmarkets looks at the possibility that the steel industry could lose its impressive growth.New cases of coronavirus in India have surpassed 350,000 per day and steel plants in the country have been supplying liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to hospitals because of the ongoing shortage of available oxygen. Diverting supplies of oxygen awa...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices climbed up in both the cfr and fob markets on April 26 Monday, with Fastmarkets' premium hard coking coal index at a three-year high point of $221.61 per tonne cfr Jingtang, China on April 26, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.78 per tonne, up $0.64 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $221.61 per tonne, up...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets and concentrate surged in the week ended Friday April 23 due to strong demand for high-grade products amid ongoing measures to cut emissions in China and supply concerns due to India's deteriorating Covid-19 situation.Fastmarkets iron ore indices65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $252.38 per tonne, up $21.26 per tonne.66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $21...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices surged on Monday April 26 to reach their highest since July 2008, after local authorities in Tangshan, the country's steelmaking hub in the northern region, ordered steelmakers to limit production rates to curb emissions until Tuesday.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,740-5,780 yuan ($884-890) per tonne, up 150-170 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based trad...Read More