China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output hit a record high in July, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday August 14.July outputCrude steel: 93.36 million tonnes, up by 9.1% from a year earlier, up by 1.9% from JuneHot metal: 78.18 million tonnes, up 8.8% year on year, up by 2% month on month Finished steel: 116.89 million tonnes,...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States during the week ending Friday August 14.ChinaThe UG2 chrome ore market recorded a pick-up in activity over the past week, with buyers procuring at around the current index level, while some sales were reported above this level later in the week ...Read More
Liberty Steel Group, part of the GFG Alliance, is to buy French steel rail business Hayange and the Ascoval steelworks. Liberty Steel Group has committed to providing an initial ?,?65 million ($76.83 million) in new financing for Hayange and Ascoval to enact its industrial plan. Further details of development plans for the sites will be announced in due course, Liberty Steel said on Friday August...Read More
Liberty Steel Group, part of the GFG Alliance, is to buy French steel rail business Hayange and the Ascoval steelworks. Liberty Steel Group has committed to providing an initial ?,?65 million ($76.83 million) in new financing for Hayange and Ascoval to enact its industrial plan. Further details of development plans for the sites will be announced in due course, Liberty Steel said on Friday August...Read More
China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output hit a record high in July, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday August 14.July outputCrude steel: 93.36 million tonnes, up by 9.1% from a year earlier, up by 1.9% from JuneHot metal: 78.18 million tonnes, up 8.8% year on year, up by 2% month on month Finished steel: 116.89 million tonnes,...Read More
Aluminium primary foundry alloy premiums in Germany and Eastern Europe ticked up on Friday August 14, breaking a downtrend that started in 2018.Europe Premiums for aluminium primary foundry alloy in Europe moved up Friday for the first time in two years ahead of 2021 negotiations for annual supply in the region.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium primary foundry alloy silicon 7 ingot premium,...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin slab increased in the week ended on Friday August 14, although few volumes were traded during the period.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil reached $415-425 per tonne on Friday, up by $10-15 from $405-410 per tonne a week earlier.There have been sparse deals for Brazilian slab at increasingly higher prices, within...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets andthe reasons for any price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and the latest price moves.Read More
London Metal Exchange aluminium futures closed at their lowest level in two weeks, but copper, lead, nickel and tin finished the day strongly, rebounding after losses in previous days.The LME's three-month aluminium 5pm closing price was $1,746 per tonne on Friday August 14, down by $7.50 per tonne from Thursday's close and marking its lowest closing level since July 31.Prices were under downward...Read More
Seaborne prices were flat on Friday August 14 amid a silent market, while the ex-China markets showed signs of recovery and Chinese steel mills were stuck with the country's import restrictions on seaborne coking coal, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.84 per tonne, down $0.15 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.09 per tonne, up $0.22 per t...Read More
Base metals prices opened mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange, with stable indications of economic recovery in China helping support prices on Friday August 14. Industrial output in China grew 4.8% in July, flat from the growth rate in June, prompting support for base metals prices. "Industrial output and activity continue to lead the way - it appears that this is enough to get metals price...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the United Kingdom was up over the week to Friday August 14 due to firmer demand from major shredders that supply consumers in the steel sector combined with persistently tight availability, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was assessed at...Read More
The South American flat-steel import market continued on an uptrend in the week to Friday August 14, with customers accepting more expensive offers from several different regions.Clients decided to settle deals for October-shipment cargoes at higher prices, because demand was gradually improving and their supply needs had grown. It had become evident that it was now a seller's market, participants...Read More
London Metal Exchange aluminium futures closed at their lowest level in two weeks, but copper, lead, nickel and tin finished the day strongly, rebounding after losses in previous days.The LME's three-month aluminium 5pm closing price was $1,746 per tonne on Friday August 14, down by $7.50 per tonne from Thursday's close and marking its lowest closing level since July 31.Prices were under downward...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index continued to set new lows this week while smelters' buying levels were consistently below $50 per tonne/5 cents per lb.Market activity has slowed down from last week, with one parcel of Escondida bought by a Chinese smelter at $49/4.9 cents, while other clean qualities had TCs within a narrow range of $47.50-50.50 per tonne...Read More
A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) in the second quarter, according to parent company Votorantim's earnings reported released on Friday August 14.In brief Sales volumes of upstream aluminium products were down in an annual comparison, with weaker demand causing billet sales to drop to 25,000 tonnes in the second...Read More
State-run Chilean copper producer Codelco is resuming work at an expansion of its El Teniente division and the project should reach full capacity "in a couple of months," its chief executive officer Octavio Araneda said on Thursday August 13.The company idled works at the facility - in the central Bernardo O'Higgins region 100km south of the capital Santiago - in early July to contain Covid-1...Read More
Zinc stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell the most in percentage terms by 9.5% or 7,987 tonnes to 76,512 tonnes in the week to Friday August 14. The outflows mainly came from warehouses run by R&S Logistics in Shanghai and Nnachu in Guangdong with declines respectively of 1,386 tonnes and 4,860 tonnes to 12,061 tonnes and 28,549 tonnes. "The import arbitrage window has be...Read More
The European Commission has opened an anti-dumping investigation into certain aluminium flat rolled products originating from China, it said on Friday August 14. This follows a complaint made by European Aluminium, the industry association that represents the aluminium industry in Europe. In a statement released on Friday, European Aluminium urged EC to follow through with appropriate anti-dumping...Read More