Indian steel producer Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has reported a huge increase in steel exports for April 2020, despite the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown significantly reducing the steel output of other domestic producers.India entered a 21-day lockdown on March 25 - which has since been extended twice and now runs to May 18 - to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with man...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe have been stable day on day on Tuesday May 5 in a slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?423.00 ($462.10) per tonne on Tuesday May 5, down by only ?,?0.13 per tonne day on day from ?,?423.13 per tonne on Monday.Tuesday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices a...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decreased, with the market still very slow amid concerns over the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus as well as the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources said on Tuesday May 5.No deals were heard during the week while steel consumption was very slow amid Ramadan - when steel consumption traditionally falls be...Read More
Some of the prices for steel billet and rebar in the United Arab Emirates decreased over the past week, with demand weak because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday May 5.Authorities in the United Arab Emirates announced a curfew from 10pm until 6am local time for the Ramadan period, which started on April 23.Market participants in...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained quiet with the mills seeking lower prices amid weak finished steel markets, sources said on Tuesday May 5.The most recent cargo deal was recorded on Friday May 1 when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $236 per tonne cfr and 7,000 tonnes of bonus at $246 per tonne cfr, sendi...Read More
The trend for China to actively import relatively cheap iron metallics and semi-finished steel products seen in 2019 continued into the first quarter of this year, but can this be sustained? The answer to this question will come down to the price-competitiveness of the products, as Fastmarkets' research team detailed in the 2020 preview series earlier in the year. As the chart below illustrat...Read More
The Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivatives contract registered another strong month with 3.3 million tonnes traded in April, according to SGX data published on Tuesday May 5. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.04 per tonne, unchanged. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $86.70 per tonne, unchanged. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qing...Read More
Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest redirected its merchant pig iron production to hot-rolled coil output in the first quarter of this year, the company said on Monday May 4.In January-March, the company produced just 108,000 tonnes of merchant pig iron. This was 74% less than in the October-December quarter of 2019, when the corresponding output was 416,000 tonnes.This tonnage was produced at Ilyich S...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were unchanged on Tuesday May 5 in the absence of Chinese market participants observing a holiday for Labor Day, but pessimism is growing amid a negative outlook for Indian demand.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $107.12 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $117.33 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $93.26 per to...Read More
The spread of the Covid-19 virus is causing disruption to immediate supply chains and future demand forecasts across the technology and consumer electronics sector. Since the outbreak gathered pace in January 2020, companies including Apple and Samsung have closed plants, shifted production, and in some cases, revised revenue forecasts. The far-reaching effects of the virus on the global economy a...Read More
US President Donald Trump is threatening to abandon a preliminary trade deal leading to an easing of trade tensions with China, citing the Covid-19 virus.On April 30 Trump said a trade agreement signed in January between the United States and China was "secondary to what took place with the virus." And during an interview with Fox news on May 3, Trump laid the blame for the...Read More
Kazakh company YDD Corp is targeting sales of ferro-silicon into North America this year, with the first shipments planned for next month, according to its output distributor on the project, Swiss trading house Helvetia Resources. YDD started cold commissioning three furnaces at its new Karaganda ferro-silicon operation in Kazakhstan at the end of 2018, with the aim of exporting ferro-silicon...Read More
The price spread for Europe-origin high-carbon ferro-chrome widened by a couple of cents per lb to $0.17 per lb in the week ended Friday May 1.This came after deals were reported at higher prices following the increase in the ferro-chrome and charge chrome benchmark for shipments in the second quarter of 2020. The gap was $0.20 per lb between the highest and lowest reported deal prices in the week...Read More
Broader markets were mixed this morning, Wednesday May 6, while base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board. Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed following Chinese participants’ return to the market after the country’s Labor Day holiday (May 1-5).* Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices were mixed this morning.* Markets...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 12 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:15 AM EDT of the April ADP Employment report. Consensus was a decline of 20.20 million versus a decline of 27,000 in March. Actual was a decline of 20.2 million.General Motors gained $1.04 to $22.30 after repor...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday May 4 that are worth another look.Flat-rolled steel import prices were mostly stable week on week in South America on Friday May 1, after deals became scarce and negotiations for June-shipment cargoes finished with low interest from clients.The European Commission's (EC) antitrust authorities granted Europe's largest copper smelter...Read More
The three-month price of copper on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday May 4, pushing above nearby resistance levels despite the lowest daily trading volumes since April 6, while tin similarly staged a modest recovery in afternoon trading.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,123 per tonne, recovering from an intraday low of $5,060 per tonne, while just...Read More
Copper stocks at Shanghai bonded warehouses fell in April amid an increase in import activity due to expectations of a cut to China's VAT rate in May and the opening of the arbitrage window between Shanghai and London.Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded copper stocks at 291,000-301,000 tonnes on Thursday April 30, down by 12.7% from 334,000-344,000 tonnes on March 23. "The rumor of a VAT cut enti...Read More
The latest ferro-vanadium and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe and China.To view the latest price assessments, follow the links below:Europe- Ferro-vanadium basis 78% V min, 1st grade, ddp Western Europe, $/kg V- Vanadium pentoxide 98% V2O5 min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb V2O5China- Ferro-vanadium 78% V min, fob China, $/kg V- Vanadium pentoxide 98% V2O5 m...Read More
April's UG2 chrome ore price rally was capped in the week to Friday May 1 after China's major stainless steel mills all raised their ferro-chrome tender prices by a lower-than-expected amount, while the charge chrome assessment ticked up slightly. Fastmarkets' South Africa UG2 concentrates index, basis 42%, cif China held at $147 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week. The inde...Read More