Export prices for Japanese ferrous scrap continued to fall over the week to Wednesday March 25, but tighter supply offered some support to prices for Shindachi busheling, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Japanese scrap traders expected difficulties in procuring Shindachi material in the short term after carmaker Toyota closed several production lines for 3-9 days from Wednesday. And fellow car...Read More
National lockdowns in India and South Africa raised concerns about supply in the seaborne iron ore market on Wednesday March 25 and caused prices to rise for two consecutive days after a massive drop on Monday. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.34 per tonne, up $3.37 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.82 per tonne, up $3.32 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-gr...Read More
The Iranian export market for steel billet was largely inactive in the week to Wednesday March 25, with a sharp drop seen in demand both in the domestic market and most export outlets, Fastmarkets has heard.The decline in demand was a result of the time given to celebrations of the Iranian new year on March 20-23, and a state of semi-lockdown announced in the country for the next two weeks due to...Read More
Small, induction furnace mills producing secondary billet and rebar in India have started shutting down their meltshops amid the lockdown mandated by prime minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to control the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)."I have received notification from some of these mills that they will stop production," a steel trader handling Indian cargoes said on March 25.Howeve...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices regained some strength on Wednesday March 25 on a pick-up in buying activity amid rising futures. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,470-3,500 yuan ($491-495) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,380-3,400 yuan per tonne, narrowed upward by 20 yuan per tonne A trader in eastern China said his sales volume during the day was about a third higher th...Read More
The trading of metals into India is likely to be severely affected by difficulties in opening letters of credit (LCs) now that the country is locked down to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 25.The Indian government imposed the 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning Wednesday, which includes strict curfew measures on the country's 1....Read More
Prices for hollow steel sections moved down across Europe over the past week, despite trading activity continuing, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?595-620 ($643-670) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?600-630 per tonne one week previous."We are still working and are trying...Read More
Turkish carmakers Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan have all announced production stops this month because of concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)."We [will] gradually and temporarily suspend most of our operations as of March 26, 2020, in Oyak Renault automotive factories. [A] production resumption date will be shared again acc...Read More
Turkish carmakers Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan have all announced production stops this month because of concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)."We [will] gradually and temporarily suspend most of our operations as of March 26, 2020, in Oyak Renault automotive factories. [A] production resumption date will be shared again acc...Read More
German metals distributor Kl??ckner & Co SE has invalidated its outlook for the financial year 2020 because of the effects of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic."Against the background of the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the previous expectation for fiscal year 2020 published in the group forecast by Kl??ckner & Co SE on March 10, 2020, can no longer be maintained...Read More
Emirates Steel, the largest steel producer in the United Arab Emirates, and Hamriyah Steel, a re-roller of rebar in the country, have reduced their rebar prices with effect from Wednesday March 25.Emirates Steel is now offering rebar at 1,690 dirhams ($460) per tonne ex-works, down from 1,853 dirhams per tonne ex-works previously....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Turkish carmakers Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan have all announced production stops this month because of concerns about the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)."We [will] gradually and temporarily suspend most of our operations as of March 26, 2020, in Oyak Renault automotive factories. [A] production resumption date will be shared again acc...Read More
Spot market prices for standard-grade and alloy-grade cobalt stabilized on Wednesday March 25 after weakening downstream demand continued to provide pressure earlier in the week.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $16.15-16.55 per lb midweek, unchanged from Tuesday March 24 and down from $16.30-16.70 per lb on March 20. Fastmarkets' assessment fo...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Metals, mining and alloy producers have been scenario-planning in response to the novel coronavirus. The South African government appears to have just removed all but one option.President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the country's mineral resources industry to shut underground mines and furnaces from Thursday March 26, unless they can be operated remotely. The shutdown will last for three weeks an...Read More
The 2019-nCoV pandemic is definitely a black swan event, one which nobody saw coming. Global business sentiment has taken a massive hit, with major industries grinding to a halt on travel bans, quarantine orders and border controls. Major airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways have grounded their fleets, stock markets have collapsed with exchanges closing and tourism is taking a pun...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has closed its open outcry trading floor and is using its electronic trading platform for price discovery as a precautionary measure amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic.The only other time the 143-year-old metals exchange temporarily closed was during World War II, when - in the absence of electronic trade - the venue was forced to shut entirely. The move to c...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday March 25.Please click...Read More