Domestic prices for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Europe were steady in the week to July 15, with buying activity starting to slow down due to the traditional summer slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?425-440 ($485-4502) per tonne on July 15, stable week on week.The ass...Read More
Steel rebar prices in Europe have remained fairly stable over the past week with trading activity starting to scale back in some regions for the seasonal summer slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 15.In Southern Europe, trading activity was moderate this week, with rebar prices holding firm, sources said.They added that producers this year might take shorter-than-usual summer holi...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Russia's largest steelmaker, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), which also has assets in Europe and the United States, for the second quarter of 2020.In brief In the second quarter, sales to export markets grew by 51% quarter on quarter and by 71% year-on-year, to 2 million tonnes. This was supported by increased sales of hot-rolled coil, slab and pig iron, mainly to...Read More
The Turkish scrap import market was quiet on Wednesday July 15 because of the Democracy Day national holiday. A deal was heard late on Tuesday July 14, however, at slightly elevated price levels compared with the other deal reported that day (after normalizing for differences in grade). A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10)...Read More
Polish coking coal miner Jastrzebska Sp??lka Weglowa (JSW) is looking for financial aid to support operations badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Wednesday July 15.The company is asking for 1.75 billion zloty ($443.85 million) of government anti-crisis funding "to minimize the... past and future effects of Covid-19 on its liquidity," JSW said.JSW's quarterly...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices observed rangebound movements on Wednesday July 15 amid uncertainty surrounding the near-term demand on steel because of the flooding caused by heavy rainfalls in southern China.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.30 per tonne, down $0.18 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $114.11 per tonne, down $0.15 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grad...Read More
China's worst flooding in 20 years is taking its toll on the domestic ferrous supply chain from steelmaking raw materials all the way through to finished steel products.High water levels in the Yangtze River after weeks of torrential rain have affected the transportation of materials and products, with steel mills along its banks in the cities of Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei all being affected.The wat...Read More
Premium hard coking coal prices edged down on Wednesday July 15 on negative market sentiment, with participants in wait-and-see mode, Fastmarkets was told.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.85 per tonne, down $0.26 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $120.60 per tonne, down $0.97 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $91.42 per tonne, down $0.83 per tonneHard...Read More
Prices for bulk cargoes of Japan-origin scrap have increased over the past week on strong demand from buyers in South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 15.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?23,000-23,500 ($214-219) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?500 per tonne week on week.One cargo of Japanese H2 scr...Read More
A stress test carried out by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on central clearing counterparties (CCPs) has shown European clearing houses are resilient to market shocks, but highlighted some abnormalities for the London Metal Exchange. The test is an assessment of the reliance of CCPs to adverse market developments - covering both credit and liquidity risk. ESMA's report, rele...Read More
China's domestic prices dropped slightly on Wednesday July 15 due to weak demand caused by persistently heavy rain in the country, though market participants are not expecting the market to experience any sharp drops anytime soon.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,590-3,610 yuan ($513-516) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneEastern China continued to experience wet weather during the day, which...Read More
Trading activity in China's hot-rolled coil market weakened on Wednesday July 15 amid reluctance among buyers to pay prevailing prices, which are deemed as high, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,890-3,900 yuan ($556-557) per tonne, unchangedHRC prices in eastern China have risen to their highest level since January 10 after sellers raised their offers steadily since las...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices consolidated near recent highs in the morning session on Wednesday July 15, becoming firmer on macro rhetoric after a price drop following the previous day's sell-off."It seems the market has been able to overlook reports of rising Covid-19 infections rates and growing US-Sino tensions," Fastmarkets research analyst Andy Farida said. "News of a...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam 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...Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam 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, at...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets andthe reasons for any price moves.Read More
The provincial government of Yunnan, China, has announced details of incentives for companies that purchase base metal products. The incentives came into effect on July 10, according to an announcement on the Yunnan Commerce department website. Major Yunnan corporates are being subsidized to stockpile: 110,000 tonnes of copper cathodes, 70,000 tonnes of lead ingots,...Read More
Asian-Pacific equities were mixed this morning, Wednesday July 15, with markets in China and Hong Kong lower, while other markets in the region and pre-market major western equity markets were firmer.The base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange gave a similarly divergent performance; three-month base metals prices on the LME mostly edged higher this morning, wh...Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Key data from the pricing session in Europe on Wednesday July 15. Key drivers Deals were done around the low end of the latest assessment of the ferro-titanium market. There were lower offer prices and deals reported because of the seasonal summer slowdown that has started in heavy industry in Europe. Steelmakers are taking extended closures due to slumps in end-user steel product industries...Read More