The price of steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was stable week on week, while buying remained slow due to the Covid-19 restrictions, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 20.Activity in construction, the key rebar consuming sector, slowed down gradually, while a majority of construction sites have been closed since April 13, sources said."Only strategic projects suc...Read More
Defaults among overseas buyers have become a problem for Chinese steel exporters in recent weeks, with falling prices and weakening demand triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic leading to an increase in export credit insurance claims.When contacted by Fastmarkets two weeks' ago, a source at a steel mill in northern China said he was having to deal with a shipment of 5,000 tonnes of hot-dipped galvani...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 20 that are worth another look.Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday, they did.Iron ore fines output at Brazil-based miner Vale fell by 18.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, while the company has cut its guidance of iron ore and pellet production for 2020, the company...Read More
Turkish steel producers exited the deep-sea scrap import market on Monday April 20, after booking seven cargoes last week, sources told Fastmarkets.The seven deep-sea scrap cargoes totalled almost 220,000 tonnes."I think Turkish steel producers have booked enough cargoes for now. This week will probably be slow for trading," a source in Turkey said.Another...Read More
Turkish domestic auto-bundle scrap prices increased over the past week due to rising imported ferrous scrap costs, sources said on Monday April 20.Deep-sea scrap import prices increased by more then $15 per tonne at the beginning of last week because of the limited supply coming from Europe and the United States, sources said.Following the upturn in the deep-sea scrap values, auto bundle scrap...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices softened on Monday April 20 on lower trading activity amid declining futures. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,460 yuan ($485-489) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,450-3,470 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonne Downtrending rebar futures sapped buying interest in the spot market, which pushed down spot prices.But...Read More
Turkey has increased the import duties on a number of steel products, including hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, coated coil, angles and sections and stainless flat steel, effective from Saturday April 18.The new duties are in effect until July 15, 2020, as per a decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the country's official gazette.The import duty for semi-finished stee...Read More
Steel billet prices in most major regions around the world climbed in the week to Friday April 17, tracking gains seen in the bellwether Turkish ferrous scrap import market. Scrap prices in the world's largest importer of the steelmaking raw material have increased by close to $50 per tonne since plunging to April 2's three-and-a-half-year low of $208.10 per tonne. CIS, Turkey, EgyptTrading activi...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 20 that are worth another look.Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday, they did.Iron ore fines output at Brazil-based miner Vale fell by 18.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, while the company has cut its guidance of iron ore and pellet production for 2020, the company...Read More
Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday April 20, they did.The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell as low as minus $37.63 per barrel, the first time ever that the price of the commodity has entered negative territory. By contrast, the June WTI contract is trading at around $20 per barrel, marking the biggest perce...Read More
Chinese domestic portside manganese ore prices of both high and low grades registered significant increases in the latest assessments on Friday April 17, after the country's ore traders raised offer prices notably in response to a 14-day extension of the lockdown in South Africa. On April 9, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he would extend the nationwide lockdown in place sin...Read More
Some automakers in Turkey resumed production on Monday, April 20, with some other producers announcing dates to resume, Fastmarkets understands.Several Turkey-based carmakers stopped production initally over March because of the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic.The Honda, Hyundai Assan, Karsan, Otokar, and Mercedez Benz Hosdere facilities all restarted production...Read More
The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has revised downward India's steel demand growth forecast for 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and the subsequent lockdown. The association, which represents some of the country's biggest steel companies, said predictions of steel demand growth of 5.1% this year - made in February - have now been revised down to -7.7%. The main downstream...Read More
Some automakers in Turkey resumed production on Monday, April 20, with some other producers announcing dates to resume, Fastmarkets understands.Several Turkey-based carmakers stopped production initally over March because of the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic.The Honda, Hyundai Assan, Karsan, Otokar, and Mercedez Benz Hosdere facilities all restarted production...Read More
The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has revised downward India's steel demand growth forecast for 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and the subsequent lockdown. The association, which represents some of the country's biggest steel companies, said predictions of steel demand growth of 5.1% this year - made in February - have now been revised down to -7.7%. The main downstream...Read More
Iron ore fines output at Brazil-based miner Vale fell by 18.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, while the company has cut its guidance of iron ore and pellet production for 2020, the company said on Friday April 17.Iron ore fines production came to 59.6 million tonnes in the January-March period, down from 72.87 million tonnes the year before, and just below the company's revised guidanc...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 20 that are worth another look.Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday, they did.Iron ore fines output at Brazil-based miner Vale fell by 18.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, while the company has cut its guidance of iron ore and pellet production for 2020, the company...Read More
Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday April 20, they did.The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell as low as minus $37.63 per barrel, the first time ever that the price of the commodity has entered negative territory. By contrast, the June WTI contract is trading at around $20 per barrel, marking the biggest perce...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have dropped again due to low market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?445.00 ($483.66) per tonne on Monday, down from ?,?453.33 per tonne last Friday.Domestic HRC prices in the region have fallen due to poor demand, and the negative price...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout metal at the close of trading on Monday April 20, while the rest of the base metals complex remained pinned down amid broad risk aversion. Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $12,505 per tonne on Monday afternoon - its highest closing price since March 13 - with daily turnover notching a three-week high w...Read More