Treatment charges (TCs) for spot lead concentrates have continued to rise, with smelters cherry-picking deals with terms as high as $200 per tonne.Fastmarkets assessed the lead spot concentrate TC, high silver, cif China, at $180-200 per tonne on Friday February 28, up $30 from $150-170 per tonne the previous month. The corresponding assessment for lead spot concentrate TC, low silver, cif China,...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices declined in morning trading on Monday March 9, with fears over the economic effect of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) leading investors to hedge exposure to risk assets, while nickel futures took the biggest hit.Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,360 per tonne, down over 3.6% from Friday's closing price of $12,840 per tonne...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have fallen to a 12-week low due to mounting anxiety over the growing economic impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and a free fall in oil prices, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.58 per hundredweight ($571.60 per short ton) on Monday March 9, down by 5.4% from $30...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable over the past week, with minor fluctuations indicating buyers' uncertainty about the future direction of price movements.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?484.64 ($547.15) per tonne on Friday March 6. This was down by ?,?0.26 per tonne week on week from ?,?484.90...Read More
The recent extension of the health quarantine area in the north of Italy will not affect steel production or deliveries, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.On March 8, Italian authorities ordered a lockdown across the whole of Lombardy and in 14 provinces in the regions of Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont and Marche in an attempt to control the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus.A large...Read More
Weak sentiment persists in the Asia hot-rolled coil markets, with spot price negotiations trending down amid talk of transactions being concluded at lower prices, market participants said.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel HRC import, cfr Vietnam, which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam, was $465-470 per tonne cfr for the week ending...Read More
Prices for rebar imports into Singapore were stable over the past week because of thin trading activity, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $440-445 per tonne for the week to Monday March 9, unchanged from a week earlier.B...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained out of the deep-sea scrap markets at the start of the week, but expect to resume purchases soon, market sources said on Monday March 9.There have been no new bookings so far in March. The last cargo was sold on February 24, which put the price of Baltic Sea- and United States-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at around $280 per tonne cfr.Suppliers, especially those in the US, hel...Read More
Auto bundle scrap prices in the Turkish domestic market dropped over the past week on the strength on the local currency against the US dollar, while ship scrap prices were stable, sources said on Monday March 9.The Turkish lira has regained some ground against the US dollar, following the news that Turkey and Russia had agreed a ceasefire in Idlib, Syria, which took effect on Thursday March 5, ac...Read More
Futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Exchange were downon Monday March 9, with physical seaborne market trading muted while buyers take a wait-and-see approach. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.96 per tonne, down $2.23 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.27 per tonne, down $2.01 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More
Seaborne coking coal market saw little trading activity on Monday March 9, with Chinese participants expecting prices to retreat.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $158.65 per tonne, up $0.24 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $169.44 per tonne, down $1.11 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $144.01 per tonne, up $2.50 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $15...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices largely edged up in the week to Friday February 28, with the exception of Turkey, as a result of mainly increased freight rates. Many market participants reported weak trading activity during the week.Limited purchases by TurkeyExport prices in United States West Coast fall, but East Coast quietSentiment deteriorates in Asia on ample Japanese supplyImport prices in Indi...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday March 9 due to selling pressure and early losses in the futures market, though sentiment remained positive with more construction projects restarting work after an extended break after the Chinese New Year.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($486-490) per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,260-3,300 yuan per tonne, down...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices dropped on Monday March 9, with sellers making attempts to destock.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,490-3,500 yuan ($503-505) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,280-3,300 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonneWith inventories at high levels, sellers lowered their prices to generate buying interest to draw down on...Read More
Key data from the March 9 pricing session in LondonKey driversThe price for standard-grade cobalt increases on the top end of the range; sellers hold firm with offers and are in little rush to drop them for low-volume inquiries. The alloy-grade price holds firm, with several sellers citing market tightness on good demand being reported in the aerospace, medical implant and other downstream ma...Read More
Key data from the Friday March 6 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Export price for China-origin electrolytic manganese flake plunges after exporters lower their offer prices in a quiet market. Overseas...Read More
German chemical conglomerate BASF, Russian miner Nornickel and Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum have signed a letter of intent for a battery recycling cluster in Harjavalta, Finland, serving the electric vehicles (EV) market. The joint venture aims to foster the production and use of responsibly produced recycled raw materials in the battery market, using closed-loop recycling to re-use t...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday March 6. China The UG2 chrome ore price hit its lowest level since April 2016 in its third consecutive week of decline. Spot Chinese ferro-chrome prices steady due to the market awaiting March tender prices from...Read More
US non-ferrous scrap export volumes in January increased by only 1% compared with a year previous, according to data from the US Department of Commerce. Volumes totaled 233,878 tons in January, up from 231,593 tons in January 2019.Of the six scrap metal categories tracked by Fastmarkets - aluminium, used beverage cans (UBCs), copper, lead (other than lead-acid batteries), nickel and zinc - UB...Read More
The Chinese government has announced a fourth quota for copper scrap imports, which importers must apply for to bring scrap material into China.A total of 3,520 tonnes of copper scrap will be allowed to enter into China under the latest quota, according to a release on Saturday March 7 from the China Solid Waste & Chemicals Management Bureau, which is part of the Ministry of Ecology and Environmen...Read More