Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest may put a complete stop to slab production at its Azovstal facility in Mariupol if quarantine measures in Italy, where two of the company's rolling mills are located, are extended after April 3, the company said on Tuesday March 31."If measures are prolonged at Italian assets, and the European market remains unstable, Metinvest expects production cuts at its Ukrainia...Read More
Flat steel output in Turkey will decrease in April due to maintenance breaks by two major producers.Colakoglu's flat steel production division will shut down for maintenance from April 13 to 25. The company has capacity for 4.5 million tonnes per year of hot-rolled coil production.Iskenderun Iron and Steel (Isdemir), a company belonging to Erdemir Group,...Read More
Struggling Polish steel platemaker ISD Huta Czestochowa has been recommended for sale by tender, Fastmarkets learnt on Tuesday March 31.The board of creditors of the bankrupt steel mill recommended the plant's sale at the earliest possible opportunity, with bids invited at a starting price of 250 million Polish zloty ($61 million)."The [bankruptcy] trustee has filed a motion for [judicial] approva...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have fallen by around $10-20 per tonne over the past week, with the market very slow because of concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 31.Only one booking for hot-rolled coil was heard, with buyers saying that nobody wanted to place new orders because of the restrictive meas...Read More
The prices for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates have decreased sharply over the past week, with demand very weak amid concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources said on Tuesday March 31.Local rebar producers announced new domestic prices last week.Emirates Steel is now offering rebar at 1,690 dirhams ($460) per tonne ex-works, down from 1,853 dirhams per t...Read More
ArcelorMittal will temporarily stop production at its Romanian facility to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday March 31.ArcelorMittal Hunedoara will stop production from April 1 until April 12 inclusive, a company spokesman said."Production will be stopped, for sure," the spokesman said. "We don't know yet if we are going...Read More
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is petitioning the US Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) to include metals transport in its expanded national emergency declaration, which provides regulatory relief to commercial vehicle drivers amid the Covid-19 outbreak."ISRI is requesting emergency relief for the transportation of ferrous and no...Read More
Nationwide lockdowns and restrictions on activity to contain the Covid-19 pandemic could reduce the supply of iron ore in the seaborne market by around 18 million tonnes this year, according to mining company Vale.The Brazilian company gave its estimate in a presentation filed with the country's securities commission, CVM, on Tuesday March 31.Government actions intended to limit the spread of the...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have gone quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets after the recent sharp fall in prices, with more mills shutting down their operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources said on Tuesday March 31.Two steel mills booked Baltic Sea cargoes late last week at around $206-207 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), which sent the daily scrap indices down by $23.42 per tonne at the beg...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market stabilized on Tuesday March 31 after the prior day's loss of more than $3 per tonne, attributed to a rebound in China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) and a slight boost in trading volumes. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.32 per tonne, up $0.34 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.08 per tonne, up $0....Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices fell across the board on Tuesday March 31, with market participants expecting further price declines due to weak demand outside China. Fastmarkets Indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.17 per tonne, down $1.56 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $154.25 per tonne, down $1.29 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $131.01 per tonne, down $3 per to...Read More
Vietnam will come under a 15-day lockdown from April 1, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday March 31. "The situation is very fluid now and there is no telling what may happen from now on," a ferrous scrap trader in the country told Fastmarkets on Tuesday.All cities in Vietnam will stop public gatherings and shut non-essential public services until April 15. Inbound flights have also been...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall on Tuesday March 31, leaving market participants with the expectation that some flat steel producers would be making losses for some time.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,280-3,290 yuan ($462-463) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,250 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonnePrices fell further during the day...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices decreased further on Tuesday March 31 amid declining futures, though the pessimism among market participants decreased following the release of a higher manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) as well as that for the steel sector. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,420-3,440 yuan ($482-485) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,340-3,370 yuan...Read More
China’s Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was released earlier on Wednesday April 1; it rebounded to 50.1 in March from 40.3 in February, which supports the rebound in the official PMI data released on Tuesday - another sign that purchasing managers reported conditions were just “better” in March than they were a month earlier.But the same was not true in Ja...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 88 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the March ADP Employment Report at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 150,000 versus a gain of 183,000 in February. Actual was a drop of 27,000.AT&T dropped $1.06 to $28.09 after JP Morgan downgraded the stock from Overwe...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 30 that are worth another look.Gerdau has halted price increase attempts in Brazil amid market weakness because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by local investment bank Ita?? BBA from Sunday March 29.The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's also created a problem. The one-two punch demand and supply shock that the virus has created is putting the mining sector under extreme pressure. With banks even more reluctant than before to provide capital to the mining sector amid the tumultuous global financial backdrop, corporates...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange continued its decline at the close of trading on Monday March 30, settling at its lowest level since April 2016, while a steady uptick in lead saw its outright price close at a two-week high. Aluminium's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,530.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its lowest level in just under four years, while turnove...Read More
Zinc concentrate treatment charges (TCs) are dropping in China with smelters and traders scrambling to cover shortfalls in supply feed left by shuttered mines.Countries across South America have brought in stringent lockdown measures to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus with top exporters Peru (2 million tonnes - 2019) and Bolivia (1.1 million tonnes - 2019) among the most restrictive to bus...Read More