Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday January 22.USAThe US manganese alloys markets continued their uptrend this week while thin available inventory and renewed demand strength continue to drive price strength.Lagging US imports and global production cutbacks have been credited with creating the present shortage of material on the groun...Read More
Latest analysis from recent activity on the CME's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam. Key data Jan 20, 2021, 30 tonnes (10 tonnes each for March ($17.95 per lb), April ($18.00 per lb), May ($18.05 per lb)) Jan 11, 2021, 15 tonnes (5 tonnes each for February, March and April, all at $17.45 per lb)&n...Read More
Buyers of steel scrap in global markets were holding back from purchasing new cargoes in the week to Friday January 22, amid a sharp decline in prices and with more material being offered, and were hoping to re-enter the markets only after they have hit a bottom.Turkish import prices slump following fresh dealsUS sales to Turkey, Bangladesh show weaker pricesLower offers from Japan keep Vietnam bu...Read More
The price range for UK-origin light iron has widened downward in the week ending Friday January 22, with the lower end of the range falling because weaker export prices into traditional markets have put pressure on domestic prices in Britain, trade sources said.This downward pressure was mitigated, however, by relatively tight supplies coming into yards, as a result of reduced arisings from the au...Read More
The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan plunged by more than $50 per tonne on Friday January 22, following a sharp correction in the international scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $430.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $480.38 per tonne a week earlier.There wer...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part down on Friday January 22, after having been up across the board a day earlier, while markets generally seem to be taking a breather after the enthusiasm the US presidential inauguration brought. Republicans in US Congress thought to be willing to work with President Joe Biden on his $1.9 trillion...Read More
Chinese lithium spot carbonate prices have started to move higher and this is likely to underpin a recovery across the whole lithium complex, according to William Adams, Fastmarkets head of battery raw materials research and base metals."The Chinese spot price has led [lithium] prices on the way up and led prices on the way down, with the cif Asian prices and the Europe and North American prices f...Read More
Latest analysis from recent activity on the CME's cobalt metal futures contract, cash-settled against Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam. Key data Jan 20, 2021, 30 tonnes (10 tonnes each for March ($17.95 per lb), April ($18.00 per lb), May ($18.05 per lb)) Jan 11, 2021, 15 tonnes (5 tonnes each for February, March and April, all at $17.45 per lb)&n...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States again edged lower, even as buyers have continued to struggle to find spot tonnage at the domestic mills.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $55.04 per hundredweight ($1,100.80 per short ton) on Friday January 22, down by 0.85% from $55.51 per cwt the previous day and 3.30% lower than $56.92 per cwt a week prior.I...Read More
Import prices for flat-rolled steel in South America softened in the week ended Friday January 22 with some Chinese mills accepting lower bids from clients."Some small-sized, privately owned mills in China are taking lower bids as long as they're in cash payment, in order to fund [their operations]," one trader source told Fastmarkets."Last week and this week," a source at a mill added, "we saw a...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were down slightly on Friday January 22, due to slow trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?711.25 ($863.64) per tonne on Friday January 22, down by ?,?1.75 per tonne from ?,?713.00 per tonne on Thursday January 21.The index was down ?,?...Read More
Poland's rebar producers closed their February rebar sales at increased prices and are now trying to push through new increases but buyers are resisting, claiming that demand is not enough to support it, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was set at 2,950-3,000 zloty ($790-803) per tonne on Frida...Read More
Crude steel output in Germany increased by 10.7% year on year in December 2020, marking the third consecutive month of growth, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Friday January 22. In the last month of 2020, German crude steel production totaled 3.14 million tonnes, up from 2.84 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2019. Steel output from German basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs), which i...Read More
A summary of the 2020 fourth-quarter (October-December) operational results for Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), which also has assets in Europe and the United States.In brief In the fourth quarter, sales to the domestic market dropped to 2.58 million tonnes, down 7% from 2.77 million tonnes in the previous quarter amid lower steel product sales in Russia. Flat steel sal...Read More
Buyers of steel scrap in global markets were holding back from purchasing new cargoes in the week to Friday January 22, amid a sharp decline in prices and with more material being offered, and were hoping to re-enter the markets only after they have hit a bottom.Turkish import prices slump following fresh dealsUS sales to Turkey, Bangladesh show weaker pricesLower offers from Japan keep Vietnam bu...Read More
The price range for UK-origin light iron has widened downward in the week ending Friday January 22, with the lower end of the range falling because weaker export prices into traditional markets have put pressure on domestic prices in Britain, trade sources said.This downward pressure was mitigated, however, by relatively tight supplies coming into yards, as a result of reduced arisings from the au...Read More
The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan plunged by more than $50 per tonne on Friday January 22, following a sharp correction in the international scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $430.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $480.38 per tonne a week earlier.There wer...Read More
Prices for Brazil-origin slab started to stabilize in the week ended Friday January 22, with buyers and sellers seeing a shift in the mood, amid fears that prices could fall in the future.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was unchanged week-on-week at $760-780 per tonne fob on Friday.In the past couple of weeks, producers have raised their slab offe...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet fell by 3,600 rupees ($49) per tonne in the week to Friday January 22, with the prices of both raw materials and finished products showing significant drops in the first half of the week.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on January 22 at 35,200-35,400 rupees ($482-485) per tonne, down by 3,600 rupees p...Read More