Brazilian flat steel producers have fully applied a price increase of around 10% to their domestic markets and a second 10% price increase was being planned for next month.All flat steel products were already being sold domestically at prices 10% higher than last month, in line with an announcement in February, with the exception of heavy plate, for which the increase was only 5%.Fastmarkets' pric...Read More
Trading activity in the export market for CIS-origin long steel products was nonexistent in mid-March because the market uncertainty caused by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic undermined demand that was already modest.And buying activity in the major sales outlets was reduced due to recent heightening of the political tensions in the Middle East, particularly in Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.The Egyp...Read More
The United States' International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce have launched separate investigations into imports of common alloy aluminium sheet from 18 countries, the Aluminum Association told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.The investigations follow petitions filed by the Aluminum Association's Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Working Group on March 9.The Aluminum Association, alo...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange continued its descent at the close of trading on Monday March 16, settling at its lowest level since November 2016 after breaching key support levels throughout the day.The rest of the base metals complex similarly depreciated over the day's trading.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,290.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, l...Read More
Daniel Hisshion has joined Hong Kong-based minor metals company Fortis Metals as business development director, he confirmed to Fastmarkets. Fortis Metals, headquartered in Hong Kong, has a sister company Kite Metals in Europe, owns United States-based minor metals refiner and recycler Atlantic Metals & Alloys as well as Fortis Metals (Shenzhen) for operations in China.Hisshion - with over 25 year...Read More
Key data from the alumina index, fob Australia pricing session on Monday March 16. Key drivers: Fastmarkets' daily fob Australia alumina index falls 2% on Monday March 16 from $303.71 per tonne on Friday March 13. One recent deal for 30,000 tonnes of Western Australian alumina concluded at $294.75 per tonne, with laycan between April 20-29.Market participants...Read More
Demand for secondary aluminium is likely to be adversely affected after German automaker Volkswagen announced, on Sunday March 15, that it will suspend output at its European production hub in Bratislava, Slovakia on March 23.VW's move came after the Slovakian government declared a state of emergency earlier on Sunday due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-CoV).There were reports of...Read More
Rio Tinto has slowed work on the underground project at its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia because of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak but it continues to operate and ship copper concentrates from the mine's open pit. Since January the movement of goods and people in Mongolia have been restricted within and across its border; this has further escalated recently after the first case of...Read More
Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States were flat across the cold-finished and hot-rolled grades during March, with market participants reporting continued soft demand offsetting rising ferrous scrap costs amid mounting concerns over the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).On the hot-rolled side, Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inc...Read More
Steel plate prices in the United States fell after the public-health fight against Covid-19 inflicted more financial and economic turmoil, convincing buyers to assume a more cautious stance on inventory.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US fell to $30.50 per hundredweight ($610 per short ton) on Friday March 13, down from $31 per cwt ($620 per ton) o...Read More
The automobile industry in the United States is on the edge due to the fast spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) across the western hemisphere, which has caused multiple auto plant closures in hard-hit European countries."All options related to protecting against exposure to the virus are on the table," according to a task force formed by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, Gener...Read More
Hot-rolled coil pricing in the United States rose slightly on Monday March 16, with mills maintaining their asking prices while pointing out that upcoming outages will reduce supply.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.73 per hundredweight ($574.60 per short ton) on Monday, up by 1.7% from $28.25 per cwt on Friday and a 0.5% increase from $28.58 pe...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the south of Brazil were stable in new sales heard during the week that ended on Friday March 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, was $320-325 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.One sale was reported at $324-325 per tonne fob for May shipment to a trader in the United States market.But the majority of marke...Read More
Cadence Minerals is poised to become a 20% shareholder in the Amap?? iron ore project in Brazil once the mine's current owner reaches a settlement agreement with its secured bank creditors. The London-based company and its joint-venture partners, Indo Sino Pte Ltd, have been in their own negotiations with the creditors and have offered a settlement involving a discount on the amounts owed by curre...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices across the global markets moved downward during the working week to Friday March 13 on lower confidence and reduced trading because of the continuing container shortage.Market stasis ends with lower prices in TurkeyUS export market expecting lower pricesPrices slip in Taiwan, VietnamIndian markets falter on poor conditions.TurkeyPurchases of cargoes from the deep sea market fi...Read More
Turkish steel producers were absent from the deep-sea scrap markets at the start of the week amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in the country, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 16.The mills in Turkey resumed their deep-sea bookings at lower prices last week after a long period of silence.The most recent booking from the Baltic Sea region at the end of last week put the HMS 1&2...Read More
Turkish domestic auto bundle scrap prices continued to soften over the past week in line with the falling scrap import values, sources said on Monday March 16.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, was $272.97 per tonne on Friday March 13, compared with $279.45 per tonne on March 6.In a response to the downturn in the imported scrap values, some steel...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped marginally on Monday March 16, with market participants taking a wait-and-see approach amid macro-economic concerns over the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.88 per tonne, down $0.83 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.14 per tonne, down $1.38 per tonne 58...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Monday March 16 despite a flurry of trades, with Australia's Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) removing the force majeure declaration after the weather improved over the weekend.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $163.05 per tonne, up $0.92 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.77 per tonne, up $0.09 per tonneHard coki...Read More
UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers have increased their prices for the latest monthly settlements to be delivered in March, marking a choppy period for the market so far this year, a trend that looks set to continue in April, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.March contracts were up by ?10 ($12) per tonne after dropping by ?25 per tonne in February, which partiall...Read More