Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will invest around 1 billion Reais ($179 million) to modernize and expand production capacity at its special steel division in Brazil amid an expected recovery in demand from both the automotive and capital goods industries, the company said on Monday April 19.The bulk of that investment is aimed at its unit in Pindamonhangaba, in southeastern S??o Paulo state. Gerdau a...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to push for lower deep-sea scrap prices, while suppliers in the Baltic Sea and United States continued to maintain higher offers, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 20.At least three deep-sea cargoes were booked on Friday April 16.The most recent was heard after the indices closed on Monday April 19.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Euro...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the frequency of its India ferrous shredded scrap index to twice each week because of continued price volatility in the market.The steel scrap shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, is subject to continuous fluctuations in the market as a result of factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the global shipping crisis. This means that the index, currently c...Read More
Spot prices for imported ferrous scrap to China remained largely stable on Tuesday April 20, while cargoes of scrap booked in recent weeks have been gradually clearing customs, sources have told Fastmarkets.A steelmaker in north China had its first shipment of imported scrap successfully clear customs at Tianjin port on April 14, while a Chinese metals and minerals trading company had a cargo clea...Read More
The export market for steel billet in the Commonwealth of Independent States became quiet early in the week to Tuesday April 20, with limited numbers of inquiries coming from the majority of outlets."There is no demand and there are no offers for the moment," one trading source said, adding that demand from Latin America and Asia was covered by last week's deals. Several cargoes of Ukraine-origin...Read More
Prices for long steel products in the United Arab Emirates have gone up during the week ending Tuesday April 20 despite demand being low, sources have told Fastmarkets.The Islamic holy month of Ramadan started on April 12, and the traditional reduction in working hours meant that demand was weak in the country. Rebar producers in the UAE rolled over their prices again with effect from April 16....Read More
Egypt's ministry of industry and trade has imposed an anti-dumping duty on pre-stressed concrete steel strands from China, Turkey and Tunisia, imported under HS code 73089010, Egyptian sources have told Fastmarkets.The product is mostly used by the cable industry.The anti-dumping duty, which took effect...Read More
Sales volumes from flat-steel distributors rose 22.65% in March, compared to figures from the same month in 2020, amid resilient demand and a stronger performance, national distributor association Inda said on Tuesday April 20.Additionally, domestic prices were extremely competitive in comparison with imports despite recent increases applied by mills in April, according to the association.Flat-rol...Read More
Brazil's apparent steel usage grew by 50.15% in March compared with the same month in 2020, with imports outgrowing domestic sales from mills, according to data from national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil published on Tuesday April 20.Steel consumption reached 2.45 million tonnes in March, up from 1.63 million tonnes a year earlier, A??o Brasil data showed. In March of last yea...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's iron ore results for the first quarter of 2021 as stated in its latest production and sales report released on Monday April 19.In brief Production of iron ore fines increased by 14.2% year on year, supported by gradual resumption of operations in Timbopeba, Fabrica and Vargem Grande complexes, a stronger performance in Serra Norte and lower rainfall in January.T...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 20 that are worth another look.Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will invest around 1 billion Reais ($179 million) to modernize and expand production capacity at its special steel division in Brazil amid an expected recovery in demand from both the automotive and capital goods industries,...Read More
Sales volumes from flat-steel distributors rose 22.65% in March, compared to figures from the same month in 2020, amid resilient demand and a stronger performance, national distributor association Inda said on Tuesday April 20.Additionally, domestic prices were extremely competitive in comparison with imports despite recent increases applied by mills in April, according to the association.Flat-rol...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday April 20.Please click...Read More
Brazil's apparent steel usage grew by 50.15% in March compared with the same month in 2020, with imports outgrowing domestic sales from mills, according to data from national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil published on Tuesday April 20.Steel consumption reached 2.45 million tonnes in March, up from 1.63 million tonnes a year earlier, A??o Brasil data showed. In March of last yea...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 20 that are worth another look.Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will invest around 1 billion Reais ($179 million) to modernize and expand production capacity at its special steel division in Brazil amid an expected recovery in demand from both the automotive and capital goods industries,...Read More
Paul Crone has joined alternative asset management firm BlueCrest Capital Management in a London-based portfolio manager role.Crone was most recently head of proprietary trading for the metals division of Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP), which was spun off from the commodities trading business...Read More
Japan's aluminium seaborne spot market has rebounded strongly after a quiet 2020 that was characterized by thin spot trading volumes and buyers asking to defer deliveries - and the benchmark premium could keep rising.Activity has picked up dramatically in the second quarter of 2021, with constrained domestic supply propelling spot trades as high as $170 per tonne.Last week, a spot deal was heard a...Read More
A widening price gap between UG2 chrome ore and Turkish chrome ore in China has emerged since mid-March, when persistently high port stocks and falling domestic ferro-chrome prices weighed on the UG2 market, while the Turkish market has been supported by limited supply, rising costs and good demand, participants said. Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China...Read More
The price of nickel was $16,038 per tonne at the close of trading at 5pm on Tuesday, its lowest closing price for three weeks, while most other futures prices on the London Metal Exchange also fell off their recent gains on Tuesday April 20.Nickel's three-month price was down by 0.5% from Monday's closing price of $16,121 per tonne, and at its lowest since March 31, when it closed at $16,068 per t...Read More
Base metals prices on London Metal Exchange were stronger across the board this morning, Tuesday April 20, but those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, as were broader markets, following weakness on Wall Street on Monday.The US Dollar Index continues to trend lowerBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were up by an average of 0.7% this morning, once again led by a 1.2% rise in co...Read More