Export prices for Japanese steel scrap fell heavily over the past week with exporters reducing rates to stimulate fresh bookings, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 24.Asian buyers shunned Japanese scrap offers last week, citing the fact that prices were too high, and instead concentrated on booking material from other sources such as the United States West Coast.Fastmarkets' price...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market remained quiet on Wednesday June 24, with mills continuing to push for lower prices due to weakening finished long steel demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Seel producers in the country have been staying away from deep-sea scrap purchases since the beginning of last week, when demand for rebar, especially in the local market, started to weaken.Prices for...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal price in the China cfr market leapt by 3.4% day on day on Wednesday June 24 due to deals agreed at higher prices, while demand for seaborne coking coal in Japan is increasing gradually, market participants told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.79 per tonne, up $0.86 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $122...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Wednesday June 24 amid active trading ahead of the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival holidays from June 25-27.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $103.34 per tonne, up $2.72 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $106.49 per tonne, up $2.27 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $92.84 per tonne, up $1.56 per tonne....Read More
Fastmarkets' daily and weekly prices for steelmaking raw materials and billet in Asia will not published on Friday July 10 due to the Singapore general election, which falls on that day. The weekly prices will be published on July 9 instead.The following daily prices will not be published:Iron ore 58% Fe fines high-grade premium index, cfr Qingdao, $/tonne Iron ore 58% Fe fines high-grade premium,...Read More
Spot lead demand in Southeast Asia is still lackluster despite lockdown easing across Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, while interest in spot zinc units was minimal in all regions, which left premiums unchanged in the week to Tuesday June 23. A backlog of uncleared lead cargoes sit in Indian ports in the fourth week of June, a time that typically would have been a peak production period for batter...Read More
Domestic and export prices for Chinese stainless cold-rolled coil decreased slightly over the past week, with sellers maintaining their efforts to draw down their stock levels.Falling nickel prices also weighed on the stainless steel market.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended Wednesday June 23's official trading session at $12,592 per tonne, down by $382 per tonne fr...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices weakened in the domestic market on Wednesday June 24 ahead of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 25-27, while importers started to worry about the delivery of goods from India after the border clash between the two countries last week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,750 yuan ($526-531) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneSell...Read More
Spot cobalt hydroxide payables edged higher in the first half of the week, supported by tight supply and firm bids.Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China rose to 65-67% of the standard-grade metal price (low-end) on Wednesday June 24, compared with 65-66.5% on June 19. Spot liquidity was thin ahead of China's Dragon Boat Festival holiday (June 25-27), though a numbe...Read More
Cobalt continued to trade around 10-month lows in the first half of the week, with sellers happy to take lower prices to keep material flowing through their books. Fastmarkets' price assessments for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, and cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, both held at $14.15-14.65 per on Wednesday June 24, stable from the previous day, but both down from $14.15-14.75 per...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.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...Read More
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 into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt alloy grade,...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday June 24 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Cobalt metal price in China falls amid persistently weak spot demand, while sentiment was dented following sharp falls in local futures prices so far...Read More
Broader markets were consolidating this morning, Wednesday June 24, underpinned by better economic data, but conversely held back by concerns about how the spread of the Covid-19 is accelerating in some regions; the spread in some mining countries is now a potential threat to supply.Tuesday's flash June purchasing managers' index (PMI) data shows the global economy is recovering at a better rate t...Read More
Broader markets were generally weaker this morning, Thursday June 25, with those equity markets that were open in the Asian-Pacific region mainly weaker by between 1% and 2%.* Pre-market major western equity index futures were down this morning, following Wednesday’s weakness. * Gold prices hold up in high ground around $1,760 per oz.* International Monetary Fund (IMF) cuts world growth forec...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly higher following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 1,350,000 versus 1,508,000 last week. Actual was.1,480,000. Consensus for first quarter annualized real GDP was a drop of 5.0% versus a gain of 2.0% in the four...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 23 that are worth another look.A recent resurgence of Covid-19 infections in Beijing led to some jitters in China's steel sector in the initial stages of the outbreak, but market participants do not expect this second wave to leave much of an impact on the industry.The aluminium duty-paid market in Europe is set to come under...Read More
Hong Kong's Noble Group notched a $206 million loss in the first quarter of 2020, with the company citing the breaking of supply chains due to the Covid-19 outbreak as the key reason for the slump, the trading group announced on Tuesday June 23."Q1 was dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had far-reaching implications for every business and sector, including ours," Noble cha...Read More
The LME three-month copper price maintained slim gains made during the day, closing up 0.4% on Tuesday June 23, with high turnover buoyed by US financial stimulus optimism, while stock outflows added further price support. The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held above the $5,900 per tonne psychological level to close at $5,905 per tonne this afternoon, up from $5,880.50 per tonne o...Read More