An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets and their latest price moves in Asia, Europe and the United States on Tuesday November 9.China The domestic spot ferro-chrome market weakened with suppliers lowering their offer prices in an attempt to profitably destock. The weaker ferro-chrome spot market also fed into the imported charge chrome market However, Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) and...Read More
Ukrainian scrap metal industry association Vtormet has said that a proposed increase in the export duty applied to ferrous scrap should not go ahead without public discussion, in a letter sent to Ukraine's economy ministry on Monday November 8.In an earlier letter to the association dated November 2, the ministry confirmed its intention to impose an increase in the export duty on ferrous scrap to...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
The Russian Federation's Ministry of Finance is preparing a list of machine-building plants to be excluded from a liquid steel excise tax, Aleksey Sazonov, Russian Federation deputy minister of Finance said on November 8 during a State Duma committee meeting on budget and taxes."A number of Russian machinery-building plants have their own small steelmaking capacities...They will be excluded from e...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday November 5, with buyers passing on minor price adjustments to certain grades.Scrap sellers were putting strong pressure on clients, trying to apply price increases after the United States market reached settlements for November with increases of $20 per gross ton in prime scrap grades, and $40-60 per gross ton on most obsole...Read More
Brazil's automotive production dropped by 24.8% year on year in October amid a global microchip shortage and a stoppage of truckers in the Port of Santos, S??o Paulo.Light vehicle production totaled 177,900 units last month, compared with 236,500 units a year earlier.Anfavea, the national association of motor vehicle manufacturers, said that production was affected by suspensions among carmakers b...Read More
Sellers of physical copper are holding out for a higher premium for 2022 contracts in the United States.No major deals were reported by the end of the American Copper Council (ACC) fall meeting in Miami, Florida this past week, although there was talk of a US copper premium in the 10-cents-per-lb range.In the US, Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9 cents...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil across Europe were fairly stable on Tuesday November 9 due to limited trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Despite slow market activity, bullish sentiment prevails in the market, particularly for material produced and delivered in the first quarter of 2022. Upward sentiment has been supported by higher energy, transportation and emission costs faced by European ste...Read More
Base metal futures prices were largely down across the London Metal Exchange complex at the 5pm close of trading on Tuesday November 9, despite gains made on Monday.Prices reversed across the board on the LME, initially trending higher before eventually scaling back by the close.The US Dollar Index rose throughout the day, supporting this price move. It was up to 94.05 by 5pm, from 93.96 at 9am.Th...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States weakened after market participants said lead times are narrowing and service centers are not as hungry for inventory this month.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $93.17 per hundredweight ($1,863.40 per short ton) on Tuesday November 9, a decrease of 1% from $94.11 per cwt on Monday and down by 0.7% from $93...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday November 5, with buyers passing on minor price adjustments to certain grades.Scrap sellers were putting strong pressure on clients, trying to apply price increases after the United States market reached settlements for November with increases of $20 per gross ton in prime scrap grades, and $40-60 per gross ton on most obsole...Read More
Prices for steel rebar and billet imports into the United Arab Emirates increased during the week ended Tuesday November 9, although offer prices for billet were higher than the rebar deal prices because of a shortage of the semi-finished material, sources have told Fastmarkets.The reason for the high billet price, compared with rebar, was that most billet producers in Oman have sold large quantit...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday November 9 that are worth another look.Carbon offsets and trading are an effective and quick way to contend with a future global ecosystem of green taxes, or the "green taxonomy," a sustainability consultancy said.Growing consumer appetite for sustainable products...Read More
Domestic demand for rebar in China weakened further on Tuesday November 9, causing prices to narrow downward. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,900-4,940 yuan ($766-773) per tonne, narrowing downward by 40 yuan per tonneMany traders lowered their rebar offers on losses in the futures market with the exception of a few, who maintained theirs.But both approaches failed to generate interest among...Read More
The International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) continues to believe that prospects for global long steel markets remain good and indicate a satisfactory first quarter of 2022.The global long steel products market is stable at the moment and should remain so in the next quarter despite many uncertainties including power shortages and costs, logistical challenges, the Evergrande...Read More
Alumina export volumes from Brazil increased by 84.73% in October 2021 compared with the corresponding month in 2020, with both the Alunorte and Alumar refineries shipping more material, according to data published by the coutnry's ministry of economy on Monday November 8.Brazilian alumina exports totaled 901,012 tonnes in October, a significant rise from 487,742 tonnes a year before.Cargoes shipp...Read More
Carbon offsets and trading are an effective and quick way to contend with a future global ecosystem of green taxes, or the "green taxonomy," a sustainability consultancy said"Companies need to realize that states are very actively preparing tax and duties plans to favor green products, and this will result in new barriers to entry," carbon specialist and Keops Consulting founder Milena L??pez told...Read More
Denis Reuter, chief operating officer of major German recycler TSR, has been appointed as president of the Bureau of International Recycling's (BIR) ferrous division.Reuter succeeds outgoing president Gregory Schnitzer of Sims Metal Management, who had been appointed to the post in November 2018.In his capacity as division president, Reuter will become a member of the BIR executive committee and w...Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More