Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices for both hot-rolled and cold-finished products soared in the United States in April due to rising demand, mill base price increases and higher raw material costs. Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled special bar quality 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US was at $57.50 per hundredweight ($1,150 per short ton) on Friday April 16, up by 12.75% from...Read More
Liberty Steel's management has promised Ostrava steelworks in Czech Republic will retain its carbon emissions allowances, addressing trade union's fears they will be lent to another mill, Fastmarkets has learned. On Wednesday April 14, OS KOVO trade union warned of a readiness to strike at Liberty's Ostrava plant amid concerns stemming from market chatter and international media that implied...Read More
United Arab Emirates-based rebar producers Emirates Steel and Conares Steel have rolled over their rebar prices, effective from Friday April 16.The country's largest producer, Emirates Steel, is offering rebar at 2,535 dirhams ($690) per tonne ex-works, unchanged since February 24.Conares Steel is offering rebar at 2,530 dirhams...Read More
Ongoing growth in finished flat-steel products prices, both domestically and in the main customers' markets, spurred slab producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to increase offers again, sources said.Turkish producers - one of the main buyers of CIS slab - sold hot-rolled coil (HRC) at $1,020-1,030 per tonne fob to North Africa and at $1,020-1,050 per tonne fob to the United Sta...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly steel slab export, fob Black Sea, CIS assessment, which was published incorrectly on Monday April 19 due to a reporter error. The steel slab export, fob Black Sea, CIS (MB-STE-0016) price should have been $850-870 per tonne instead of $860-870 per tonne as published initially. This has now been corrected in Fastmarkets' pricing database, MinD. For more inf...Read More
Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) was able to continue to operate normally at its coal and container terminals at the port of Itagua?- over the weekend despite an order from local authorities to suspend its activities.The closures at Itagua?- port, in Brazil's southeastern Rio de Janeiro state, were ordered by the city authorities but CSN was able to ensur...Read More
Turkish steel producers returned to the deep-sea scrap import market at the start of the week, booking cargoes from a range of locations at lower prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday April 19.At the end of the last week, a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo at $417 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).And a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Venezuelan...Read More
Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices have inched downward over the past week thanks to the recent recovery in the value of the country's currency, while ship scrap prices remained fairly stable, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday April 19.Domestic prices for long steel products and, therefore, auto bundle scrap in Turkey typically decrease in line with a stronger Turkish lira beca...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged up slightly on Monday April 19.In the cfr market, imported coking coal prices were supported by positive market sentiment due to expectations of short supplies and rising domestic coking coal and metallurgical coke prices, while buying interest has started to revive after falling offer prices in the fob market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets ind...Read More
Iron ore prices in the seaborne market surged on Monday April 19, supported by active trading at Chinese ports and demand from steel mills ahead of the Labor Day holiday. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $181.80 per tonne, up $3.37 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $182.55 per tonne, up $3.99 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $157.49 per...Read More
Seaborne iron ore pellet and concentrate prices increased in the week to Friday April 16, amid growing demand driven by the ongoing emissions restrictions in the Chinese steelmaking hub of Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $206.96 per tonne, up $6.90 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $231.12 per tonne, up $2.14 per ton...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange this morning, Monday April 19, while broader markets were generally upbeat, save in India where a surge in Covid-19 infections is weighing on equities. Strength in gold, the yen and weaker bond yields could suggest a pick-up in haven demand......but there are few signs of nervousness in equity markets...Read More
British speciality chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (JM) has secured long-term supply agreements for both cobalt and lithium with major producers, while scaling up its battery materials business in Europe, it said on Monday April 19.JM also announced a strategic partnership with Finnish Minerals Group for the construction of a second cathode manufacturing plant in Finland.The nameplate capacity of t...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...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
Key data from the pricing session in Shanghai on Friday April 16.Key drivers China's domestic bismuth price continued to decline amid weak demand. Output cuts at some plants in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces due to ongoing environmental inspections failed to provide support to the market. Market...Read More
The European ferro-silicon market seems set to test the March 2018 price range of ?,?1,650-1,700 per tonne, with suppliers reporting several sales of standard-grade material for prompt delivery already done at ?,?1,620 per tonne.One regular trading company said it is not offering any such material below ?,?1,600 ($1,916) per tonne, although the bulk of sources suggest a range between ?,?1,500-1,60...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 lower.Base 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...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 16 that are worth another lookBrazil was a net importer of finished steel during the first quarter of 2021 for the first time since 2014 amid a domestic supply-demand imbalance, according...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 16 that are worth another lookBrazil was a net importer of finished steel during the first quarter of 2021 for the first time since 2014 amid a domestic supply-demand imbalance, according...Read More