An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
The price of stainless steel in Europe was stable in the week to Friday May 22, but mills are expected to announce significantly higher alloy surcharges for June next week after Outokumpu published higher figures on its website this week.Outokumpu, which traditionally is the first to announce new surcharges each month, said its June alloy surcharge for grade-304 flat products will be ?,?1,363 ($1,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More
The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK has been steady over past week and unchanged in May, supported by lower scrap arisings and material being delivered into yards amid a slowdown in heavy industry manufacturing, sources said.Market support looks likely in the near term as competition for scrap looks firmer among some major shredders for feed. While there is slower trade at...Read More
Traders dealing in containerized steel scrap are battling expensive freight rates, while holiday banking closures in Pakistan are causing additional concerns in the market.Container freight rates for scrap have continued to increase in recent months due to factors such as a renewed tightness of containers following bottlenecks at ports, together with shipping lines looking to recoup some of their...Read More
Prices for heavy melting scrap (HMS) imports in Taiwan have risen only slowly over the past seven days and may have peaked, sources said in the week to Friday May 22.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan, was $230-232 per tonne cfr on Friday, unchanged from Thursday May 21 having widened at the h...Read More
Demand for ferrous scrap imports in Vietnam faded toward the latter part of this week after sellers raised their offers from Thursday May 21 onward.Bids for bulk cargoes of Japanese H2 scrap were at $245 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam this week, with offers at $250 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam at the start of the week.There was a transaction at $248 per tonne cfr southern Vietnam to a Vietnamese...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 21 that are worth another look.The recently opened anti-dumping investigation into Turkish exports of hot-rolled coil to the EU fails to comply with the principles of the Customs Union and Free Trade Agreements between Turkey and the European Commission (EC), the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) told Fastmarkets on...Read More
Copper stocks in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Rotterdam have been steadily rising over May, indicating weak European copper consumption during a period of heightened economic uncertainty. And with manufacturing in the region still reeling from the effect of Covid-19 on supply chains, market participants are pessimistic that improvements will come this year. Total LME stocks in Ro...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange tumbled at the close of trading on Thursday May 21, losing some 3.6% in an afternoon downturn, while a fall in US unemployment claims failed to boost market sentiment.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $1,983.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $2,048 per tonne, while turnover was strong at more than 9...Read More
Global refined zinc production exceeded consumption by 240,000 tonnes in January-March this year in large part due to a rise in Chinese smelting of the metal, the International Lead & Zinc Study Group said in its latest market roundup. Refined zinc production the world over rose to 3.314 million tonnes in the first quarter, up from 3.212 million in the same period of 2019. Meanwhile, usage for the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 21 that are worth another look.The recently opened anti-dumping investigation into Turkish exports of hot-rolled coil to the EU fails to comply with the principles of the Customs Union and Free Trade Agreements between Turkey and the European Commission (EC), the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) told Fastmarkets on...Read More
Spot payables for cobalt hydroxide continued to edge up in the first half of the week, which saw active inquiries and steady procurement from consumers. Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China rose to 63-65% against the standard-grade cobalt price on Wednesday May 20, up 1.2% from 62-64.5% on Friday. Many suppliers are holding back from sales due to tightened av...Read More
Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings as expected on Thursday May 21, but prices rapidly increased because of the improving demand, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $254.50 per tonne, 7,000 tonnes of shredded at $257.50 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $262.50 per tonne cfr....Read More
Trading activity in the Bangladesh import ferrous scrap market has ground to a halt in a week that has featured the continued Ramadan lull and the emergence of category-2 Cyclone Amphan over the country, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 21."No deals have been done recently. The market is very quiet because we are going into a long holiday for the eid festival," one South Asian...Read More
Broad markets were weaker this morning, Thursday May 21, this after strong gains in recent days on high hopes that the recovery will gain momentum while economies move out of lockdowns and with ultra-loose monetary policy adding fuel. The danger is that some countries are relaxing lockdowns for economic reasons even though the Covid-19 virus is not under control, and that runs the risk of the viru...Read More
The United States is uniquely positioned to keep a leadership role in energy independence while it transitions to a low-carbon footprint, the chief executive officer of Enertopia Corp (ENRT) has said.According to Robert McAllister, the large landmass of the United States is ideal for wind-power generation and for high solar isolation, a requirement for peak solar photovoltaics production.These geo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 21 that are worth another look.The recently opened anti-dumping investigation into Turkish exports of hot-rolled coil to the EU fails to comply with the principles of the Customs Union and Free Trade Agreements between Turkey and the European Commission (EC), the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) told Fastmarkets on...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have moved down slightly due to poor trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 21.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?409.17 ($448.48) per tonne on Thursday, down by ?,?0.83 per tonne from ?,?410 per tonne on Wednesday.Thursday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat product prices outperformed our expectations over the past month. In an attempt to lend the market confidence that sheet prices had reached a floor, US steel mills announced price increases of $50-60 per ton at the end of April. In the announcement, mills cited the expectation of higher scrap prices, tight domestic s...Read More