Pig iron export prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased during the week to Thursday April 1, amid new sales to neighboring markets and suppliers' bullish mood. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $535-542 per tonne on Thursday, up from from $520-530 per tonne a week before.The most-recent sales of Ukr...Read More
The pig iron import market in the United States was slow during the week to Thursday April 1 due to the large gap between the workable price estimates for buyers and from suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States.Consequently, Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $555-565 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged week on week."The US is the only market w...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil were stable in the week ended Thursday April 1, with most sellers already sold out of May-shipment volumes, but are mulling over new price increases for April.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $780-810 per tonne fob on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Next week, sellers are considering price increases o...Read More
A global shortage of steel slab is a key factor in rocketing flat steel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.Reduced CIS suppliesCustomers from Italy and Turkey have noticed a reduction in the availability of steel slab originating in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region in the second half of March."Some Italian re-rollers cannot produce much coil and plate due to missi...Read More
China is signaling a new stance on environmental inspections and production curbs with a new policy which will see inspectors trawling the steel sectors in eight provinces.Inspectors will visit Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunan to ensure that China continues to meet environmental protection policies and reduce emissions as well as checking the performance and implem...Read More
European titanium scrap prices have increased by more than 5% over the week to Wednesday March 31 while the range for ferro-titanium is narrowing, applying a squeeze on margins for producers of the alloy, according to industry sources. Scrap markets for turnings are over $2 per lb cif Europe, with suppliers increasing their offer prices amid a persistent downturn in the aerospace sector; aircraft...Read More
Zinc producer Trevali has begun trucking ore concentrate at its mothballed Caribou mine in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the company said on Tuesday March 30.The activity follows the producer reopening the Caribou mine in mid-January. It had been on care and maintenance from March 2020.The Caribou mine's last full year of activity was 2019, when it recorded 34,017 tonnes of zinc producti...Read More
China is signaling a new stance on environmental inspections and production curbs with a new policy which will see inspectors trawling the steel sectors in eight provinces.Inspectors will visit Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunan to ensure that China continues to meet environmental protection policies and reduce emissions as well as checking the performance and implem...Read More
Cadence Minerals has started the shipment of iron ore from stockpiles at its joint venture Dev Minera????o's, in Brazil's northern Amap?? state, the company said on Monday March 29.The shipment, which is the first since the site was closed in 2015, is for 45,000 tonnes of iron ore that due to sail this week. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao was calculate...Read More
The rally in the antimony price reached a celling and began to trend downward with no signs of a rebound for the time being, with producers in China and traders in Europe destocking material at lower levels amid little buying appetite.That said, external factors, such as upcoming environmental inspections in Hunan, China, and delays caused by the blockage of the Suez Canal could halt the decline,...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil were stable in the week ended Thursday April 1, with most sellers already sold out of May-shipment volumes, but are mulling over new price increases for April.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $780-810 per tonne fob on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Next week, sellers are considering price increases o...Read More
The import market for flat-rolled steel came to a stop in South America in the week to Thursday April 1, with mills in China mills mostly withdrawing from exports, or refraining from offering to the region.The trigger for this was the doubt in the East Asian country about its final decision on an export tax rebate cut, market participants told Fastmarkets.Some Chinese steelmakers did offer exports...Read More
The price of alloy-grade cobalt has risen above that for its standard-grade counterpart for the first time in six weeks, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 1, with cheap standard-grade parcels available from sellers looking to take profit.This situation bucked a recent trend where standard-grade metal had been trading mostly at a premium due to strong demand for briquettes downstream.Broken catho...Read More
The Shanghai Futures Exchange's plans to list ferro-chrome futures, potentially this year, will bring welcomed hedging opportunities and may weaken the dominance of China's stainless steel mills in the ore and alloy markets, participants told Fastmarkets.While no definite date or specifications of the ferro-chrome futures have been announced, Fastmarkets asked participants what changes these contr...Read More
Usually after a London Metal Exchange discussion paper there is a decent idea of what the outcome is likely to be. But this time around, it seems much harder to tell which path the LME will take. The proposals under debate include the permanent closure of the exchange's open outcry trading floor, known as the ring, which dates back to 1877. They also include the incentivization of electronic trade...Read More
When considering the prospects for the new Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) copper contract, a senior executive at one of the world's largest metals trading companies quoted Hamlet's soliloquy in the Shakespearian play of the same name."In terms of promotion of the internationalization of the renminbi and weakening of the pricing power of the [London Metal Exchange] and CME: 'To be or...Read More
A global shortage of steel slab is a key factor in rocketing flat steel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.Reduced CIS suppliesCustomers from Italy and Turkey have noticed a reduction in the availability of steel slab originating in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region in the second half of March."Some Italian re-rollers cannot produce much coil and plate due to missi...Read More
Aluminium's and nickel's prices bounced back slightly at the close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday April 1 from Wednesday's figures, but aluminium and zinc showed losses over the week of nearly 2%, while other base metals continued to consolidate.Nickel's three-month price showed the biggest increase in the base-metals complex on Thursday, up by 0.9% to $16,214 per tonne, back...Read More
Iron ore prices went up on Thursday April 1, largely due to support from rising steel prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $167.60 per tonne, up $2.45 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $168.52 per tonne, up $1.94 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $150.19 per tonne, up $3.20 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, c...Read More
Zinc producer Trevali has begun trucking ore concentrate at its mothballed Caribou mine in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the company said on Tuesday March 30.The activity follows the producer reopening the Caribou mine in mid-January. It had been on care and maintenance from March 2020.The Caribou mine's last full year of activity was 2019, when it recorded 34,017 tonnes of zinc producti...Read More