China's imports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products increased by more than eightfold on a year-on-year basis in August, according to Chinese customs data released on Wednesday September 23.This follows a more-than-sixfold increase in the country's light metal imports in July.Copper imports also...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board this morning, Thursday September 24, while risk-off gathered pace on concerns that the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading aggressively again. US central bankers also warned on Wednesday that the US economy remained in a "deep hole" of joblessness and weak demand. Base metals prices on the LME are all dropping from high ground,...Read More
German metals distributor Kl??ckner & Co has upgraded its originally negative earnings forecasts for both the third quarter and the full year of 2020 due to the steel market's recovery from the effects of Covid-19, the company said on Thursday September 24.Gradual recovery in the demand for steel in the company's core markets in Europe and the United States, along with improving pricing, especiall...Read More
Imported billet prices in Egypt fell this week because of lower offers in the market, while local rebar prices remained unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday, September 24.However, no bookings have been heard over the past seven days due to weak end-user demand.Demand has been hit by a slowdown in construction activity stemming from the government's building ban...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices weakened over the past seven days in response to limited demand and falling imported scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 24.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have reduced their offer prices to Turkish buyers to $430-435 per tonne cfr, with the highest bid heard this week coming in at $420 per tonne.Several...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices increased in the week to Thursday September 24 due to a weakening lira, with demand still only limited, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 4,100-4,120 lira ($534-536) per tonne, including 18% VAT, on Thursday September 24, up from 4,000-4,010 lira per tonne last week.S...Read More
Turkish export prices for long steel products have softened over the past week due to falling scrap values and sluggish demand, sources said on Thursday September 24.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $455-460 per tonne on Thursday, compared with the $455-465 per tonne of last week.The country's steelmakers lowered their offers...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil market gained some strength on Thursday September 24, which motivated buyers in Vietnam to pay higher prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,850 yuan ($565-566) yuan per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said sellers in the city were able to secure orders at slightly higher prices on Thursday after rising futures improved...Read More
Brazilian ferrous scrap association Inesfa expects further decreases in export volumes from the levels seen in August, with demand rising among local steelmakers amid a heated steel market, the group's president, Clineu Alvarenga, said on Wednesday September 23.This strengthening of domestic demand granted more pricing power to scrap suppliers, resulting in higher domestic prices, Alvarenga told F...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices maintained their uptrend on Thursday September 24 amid active trading, although not as strongly as on Wednesday, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.86 per tonne, up $0.09 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $143.39 per tonne, up $1.70 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.76...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
Iron ore prices rebounded on Thursday September 24, aided by mills' need to restock ahead of a holiday in China, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $114.67 per tonne, up $0.86 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.46 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $107.75 per tonne,down $0.10 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin...Read More
Novolipietsk Steel (NLMK), the largest steel producer in Russia, has resumed iron ore concentrate output at its Stoilensky mining and processing plant after two weeks of downtime due to an accident, the company said.Stoilensky GOK resumed operations on September 22 in a hot trials mode after output at the asset was stopped on September 7 following an accident, NLMK said.The restoration works laste...Read More
Fastmarkets today launches two new prices for import containerized scrap and one for deep-sea bulk scrap, all on a cfr Bangladesh basis.The new prices will build on the success of Fastmarkets' price reporting on the Bangladesh import market for HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap, which started on Thursday March 19.During Fastmarkets' coverage of the import deep-sea bulk market for HMS 1&2 (80:20), several mark...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices stopped dropping on Thursday September 24 with mills in several regions, including the northern region's production hub of Tangshan, reducing their output. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,600-3,640 yuan ($528-534) per tonne, unchangedSteel mills in Tangshan were reported to have suspended some of their steelmaking equipment as required by local authorities who hav...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 transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it...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 transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade,...Read More
The initial public offering (IPO) by Chinese battery materials producer CNGR Advanced Materials Co Ltd has been approved, according to a document filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday September 23. CNGR has been given the greenlight to be listed on the second-board market and the company plans to sell up to 56.97 million shares to domestic investors. The battery materials producer expe...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Shanghai on Wednesday September 23. Key drivers Domestic producers raised their offers in response to an increasing number of inquiries.Lingering uncertainty over when it might be possible to obtain available ore from abroad also encouraged producers to increase their offers.Many consumers returned to the market to restock antimony metal upon noticing...Read More
Prices for Chinese stainless steel softened over the past week on weak demand, while the wider East Asian market came under pressure from news of South Korea starting an anti-dumping probe on flat-rolled products in the segment from mainland China, Taiwan and Indonesia.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 14,300-15,100 yuan ($2,099-2,217) per tonne, widened downw...Read More