EU domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have increased day on day despite lower import offer prices on similar material, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 13.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?479.31 ($522.45) per tonne on Thursday February 13, up by ?,?3.10 per tonne day on day from ?,?476.21 per tonne on February 12.The index was...Read More
The three-month price for lead on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday February 13, nearing the $1,900 per tonne resistance level on a 1.7% uptick, while a positive close for LME copper saw it also approach nearby resistance.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,892 per tonne, climbing from an intraday low of $1,844.50 per tonne, while turnover was mod...Read More
The alumina index, fob Australia remained just above $280 per tonne so far this week amid quiet trading conditions. Fastmarkets calculated the daily benchmark at $281.69 per tonne on Thursday February 13, little changed from $281.61 per tonne the previous day. The index has hovered around $281 per tonne since February 7 and remains close to its highest level since November 7, when it was at $...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have continued to increase with the news of a fresh cargo being sold on Thursday February 13.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $273.50 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $283 per tonne cfr.This compared with a US cargo sold on early Wednesday at $268 per tonne and a Baltic Sea cargo so...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday February 13 that are worth another look.The China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) is seeking the Chinese transport ministry's help to solve logistical problems experienced by steelmakers in recent weeks, especially those affecting the delivery of raw materials, market sources told Fastmarkets.The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) h...Read More
Chinese smelters increased their high-carbon ferro-chrome production over the past year to an unprecedented level that exceeded demand from downstream stainless steel mills, putting pressure on both alloy and chrome ore prices.But with the new year has come a new challenge in the form of a deadly coronavirus, that threatens to exacerbate the weakness in chrome markets by disrupting logistics and d...Read More
The three-month price for lead on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday February 13, nearing the $1,900 per tonne resistance level on a 1.7% uptick, while a positive close for LME copper saw it also approach nearby resistance.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,892 per tonne, climbing from an intraday low of $1,844.50 per tonne, while turnover was mod...Read More
The alumina index, fob Australia remained just above $280 per tonne so far this week amid quiet trading conditions. Fastmarkets calculated the daily benchmark at $281.69 per tonne on Thursday February 13, little changed from $281.61 per tonne the previous day. The index has hovered around $281 per tonne since February 7 and remains close to its highest level since November 7, when it was at $...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Thursday February 13 amid thin trading.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.29 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.73 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $127.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $142.60 per tonne, unchangedAustralian miner South32 said during the day that i...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar and wire rod in Turkey have increased over the past seven days on a weakening lira and rising costs for imported scrap, sources said on Thursday February 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,000-3,040 lira ($497-504) per tonne on Thursday, up from the 2,940-2,950 lira per tonne of last week, including 18% V...Read More
Turkish export prices for steel rebar and wire rod have increased over the past week in line with the latest rebound in the cost of imported scrap, sources said on Thursday February 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $410-420 per tonne on Thursday, widening upward slightly from the $410-415 per tonne of last week.The mills i...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday February 13 that are worth another look.The China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) is seeking the Chinese transport ministry's help to solve logistical problems experienced by steelmakers in recent weeks, especially those affecting the delivery of raw materials, market sources told Fastmarkets.The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) h...Read More
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has not affected China Hongqiao Group's aluminium production, which is operating at its full running capacity of 5.86 million tonnes in Shandong province, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets."Our aluminium production was not impacted by the novel coronavirus. Now we are running at almost 5.86 million tonnes of aluminium and this is our full operating capacity in...Read More
Aurubis copper cathode output dropped 15% in the October-December quarter after the European company conducted planned maintenance at its main smelter in Hamburg, Germany.In what is the first quarter of the company's financial year, cathode output was 234,000 tonnes, down from 274,000 tonnes in October-December 2018. The shutdown negatively...Read More
A summary of South32's earnings, alumina and aluminium production results for the first half of its 2020 financial year ended December 31, 2019. In brief: South32's underlying adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) declined by 48% to $678 million.Profits before tax have slumped 72% to $251 million from $908 million in first half of last year.Company reven...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Thursday February 13, with price action little affected by a 540-tonne inflow into LME-registered warehouses across Malaysia and Singapore, while lead futures gathered momentum over the morning. Tin's underlying price on the LME was recently seen at $16,575 per tonne, while volume was moderately high with...Read More
China imported 48,200 tonnes of tin ore and concentrate in 2019, a decrease of 14% from the prior year, according to data released by the International Tin Association (ITA) on Thursday February 13.Shipments from Myanmar, China's main supplier of tin, accounted for 89% or 42,900 tonnes of that amount, ITA data showed. But this is down by 21% from 2018 levels, with the decline said to be due to dec...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Turkey's largest steelmaking group, Erdemir, for 2019. Earnings fell by 33.50% due to the negative sentiment in Turkey since late 2018. The United States had doubled the tariffs imposed on steel from Turkey in August 2018, leading a sharp fall in the value of the Turkish lira against the US dollar. The duty was reduced back to 25% on...Read More
A summary of German diversified industrial group Thyssenkrupp's financial results for the first quarter of its 2019/20 financial year, ended December 31, including its steelmaking and steel-related divisions.In brief Earnings fall due to "difficult economic environment" and market situation at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe; sales stable despite economic headwinds.Materials businesses affecte...Read More
Turkish domestic and export prices for steel billet have increased over the past week because of rising imported scrap values in the country, sources said on Thursday February 13.A few steel producers were heard selling billet to the local market at around $395-400 per tonne ex-works this week, which compared with offers as low as $390 per tonne last week."The billet prices in the local market hav...Read More