China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept offering high on Tuesday August 18 based on stable domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,080-4,090 yuan ($588-590) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneOne Shanghai-based trader said the futures price gains continued to improve market sentiment in the spot market, however, the demand mainly came from speculators who w...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap markets due to weak demand for their finished long steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 18.Turkish steel mills paused their deep-sea bookings on August 7, when the price for HMS 1&2 (80:20) reached $285 per tonne cfr for US- and Baltic Sea-origin material.The poor demand for long steel was the mai...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were relatively flat across the board on Tuesday August 18 in a day of muted trading. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $103.49 per tonne, down $0.06 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.07 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $85.02 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking...Read More
Digital financing will ease a lot of strain businesses are facing on liquidity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, DBS Bank group head of trade product management Sriram Muthukrishnan told Fastmarkets in a recent interview. "Quicker and more cost-efficient financing" available to suppliers earlier in the business cycle compared with conventional post-shipment supplier financing programs is especially re...Read More
Market participants believe that the strong demand from steelmakers has prompted seaborne iron ore prices to rise sharply on Tuesday August 18, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.57 per tonne, up $6.63 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.08 per tonne, up $5.58 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $113.15 per tonn...Read More
Iron ore fines prices held steady in the physical market on active trading on Monday August 17, largely due to low mid-grade fines port inventories in China and despite a decrease in Dalian Commodity Exchange futures values, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.94 per tonne, down $0.50 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.50 pe...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up further on Tuesday August 18 amid rising futures, though demand in the spot market was largely flat. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($527-531) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonne Sellers in the spot market raised their prices following the gains in the futures market, but buyers did not raise their procurement rates. High temperatures...Read More
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined there is "a reasonable indication" of injury to domestic silicon metal producers from imports of silicon metal from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, allowing a trade case to proceed.The unanimous ruling, released on August 13, followed a June-30 petition to the commission by the two dominant US producers, Fe...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 applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs...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, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 15.15-15.4 on Tuesday...Read More
A summary of major Chinese vanadium producer Pangang Group Vanadium & Titanium Resources Co's half-year results released on Tuesday August 18. In brief The Shenzhen-listed company reported a net profit of 85.60 million yuan ($12.34 million) for the first half of...Read More
Most of the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating this morning, Wednesday August 19, after the majority of them extended gains on Tuesday; the exceptions were aluminium and tin, while copper was where the main action was this morning.The S&P 500 and Nasdaq established fresh record highs on Tuesday, while Asian-Pacific equities were mixed this morning.Gold prices are consolida...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade. Traders were waiting for an announcement on interest rates at 2:00 PM EDT by the Federal ReserveThe Canadian Dollar slipped 0.05 at US76.02 cents following release of Canada's July Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.4% versus a gain of 0.8% in June. Actual wa...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 17 that are worth another look.The board of directors of Brazil-based miner Vale has approved a project to expand capacity in the miner's Serra Sul iron ore site, in the country's northern Caraj??s region, by 20 million...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange settled firmly above nearby support levels at the close of trading on Monday August 17 after an afternoon of strong buying, while the largest tin inflow of the year prompted the metal's outright price tumble. Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,442 per tonne on Monday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $2,364 per tonne, w...Read More
The aluminium premium at main Japanese ports (MJP) in the fourth quarter of 2020 was unlikely to rise from its level in the third quarter even though the gradual recovery of demand in the country has improved market sentiment in recent weeks, sources have told Fastmarkets.Last week was part of the summer break for the majority of end-users in Japan, but participants said that the MJP market has be...Read More
Liquidity improved in the UG2 chrome ore market in the week to Friday August 14, with current price levels enticing more buyers to be active in the forwards market, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China was stable at $133 per tonne on Friday, after rising by $1 per tonne the previous week.Trading activity picked up signifi...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices increased over the past week in line with strengthening domestic finished steel prices and imported scrap costs, sources said on Monday August 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey was 1,890-2,115 lira ($257-288) per tonne on Monday, up from 1,720-2,045 lira per tonne last week.A number of steel mills ra...Read More
Metal prices were mostly firmer on both the London Metals Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Monday August 17, the exception was the SHFE September aluminium contract that was down by 0.3% while the rest of the metals on both exchanges were up by an average of 1.1%. United States/China trade talks over the weekend were postponed. Japan's preliminary gross domestic product fell by 7.8%...Read More
Chinese lithium producer Tianqi has announced that company president Vivian Wu submitted a written letter of resignation on August 12, according to a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Friday August 14.Wu's term of office was scheduled to end in 2023. She cited "personal reasons" for her decision.Tianqi chairman Jiang...Read More