The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK domestic market widened upwards on slightly firmer nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?750-790 ($972-1,024) per tonne on Friday, up...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes at the end of the week to replenish their low stock levels, sources said on Friday February 7.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo at $260 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), although the cargo breakdown was not clear at the time of publication.This compares with a previous US cargo sold at a similar price on Thursd...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India dropped further this week, although trading was more active, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $284.44 per tonne on Friday, down from $291.99 per tonne one week before, marking the fourth consecutive week of price decreases.This week, deals ha...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices continued to be buoyed by cyclone-led port impacts in Western Australia on Friday February 7, while doubts remained among Chinese market participants about steelmaking demand. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.59 per tonne, up $0.42 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $82.92 per tonne, up $0.42 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cf...Read More
Trading activity in the seaborne coking coal market suggested that prices for the steelmaking raw material were still holding up despite bearish sentiment in China for steel demand due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $151.58 per tonne, up by $0.93 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.61 per tonne,...Read More
Contract cancellations amid an ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China and beyond are making for a buyer's market for ferrous scrap in Asia. VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam was $267-269 per tonne cfr on Friday February 7, down by $11-16 per tonne from $278-285 per tonne cfr Vietnam a week earlier.Deep-sea bulk carg...Read More
Australia's Port of Dampier in Western Australia state is being shut down at noon local time on Friday February 7 in preparation for a potential impact from a tropical cyclone that is expected to intensify during the day.The Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) said during the day that its cyclone response procedure has been activated and with it, the Port of Dampier will be shut down, having already bee...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices remained unchanged on Friday February 7 amid weak trading despite an expected rise in construction activity from next week.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,360-3,400 yuan ($481-487) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, unchangedMany construction projects in Shanghai are scheduled to resume work next week, though a few of them have put o...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped further on Friday February 7 amid thin trading in the domestic market, which led at least one mill to export at prices much lower than the market average to draw down stock levels.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,540-3,550 yuan ($510-512) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,250-3,270 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneMost s...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month zinc price was trading down 1.2% on the previous day's close at around $2,179.50 per tonne during the morning session on Friday February 7, following a 10,100-tonne fresh inflow of the metal into LME-approved sheds in Vlissingen in the Netherlands.This was versus a much lesser 375-tonne outflow of material from Rotterdam and Vlissingen, leaving LME global zinc...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
A summary of the financial results for Belgian battery-materials manufacturer Umicore in 2019.In brief The company grew revenues and recurring earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) in catalysis despite the global recession in the automotive market, resulting from market share gains in light duty gasoline applications and increasing penetration of gasoline particulate filters in Europe and Chin...Read More
Moving into 2020, cobalt metal, salts and hydroxide prices have been well supported in January on solid demand and producers' firm offers, while spot activity in China has slowed since mid-January due to the Lunar New Year holiday and Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.Price movesTraders and consumers actively restocking boosted the benchmark standard-grade cobalt prices at the very beginning of January,...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday February 7. China Coronavirus-related raw material supply disruptions and road transport restrictions pushed up domestic price. Tightened road transport measures made it hard to find trucks to deliver alloy from smelters to stainless steel mills, sources said. Trading activity in U...Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market remained unchanged this week, despite weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7. Many market participants expect prices to fall in March because of recent weakness in the nickel market (despite nickel prices actually moving up slightly this week). But this expectation...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday January 6, with price action holding above the nearby $13,000-per-tonne support level against a seven-day low in daily trading volumes, while zinc futures similarly held ground. Nickel's outright price on the LME settled at $13,060 per tonne this afternoon, with turnover low at just over 5,400 l...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Thursday February 6, witha fresh inflow of some 3,475 tonnes pressuring its price action, while copper was little moved despite a fresh cancellation of 10,250 tonnes.Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $2,192 per tonne, a drop of 1.2% from Wednesday's closing price of $2,213 per tonne.&...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has opted to keep its traditional open-outcry format for closing prices after receiving negative feedback from its electronic nickel trial, the exchange said in a note to members on Wednesday February 5.With the decision made not to permanently change its closing price process, the LME's trade-at-settlement function (TAS), which allows participants to buy or sell a contra...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday February 6 that are worth another look.Chinese domestic prices suffer heavy falls on building steel inventory levels and persistent first-quarter demand worries, with rebar facing the toughest challenge.Chinese copper smelter Guangxi Nanguo has recently declared force majeure on shipments of copper concentrates, citing logistic...Read More
Restricted access to ore already in ports presents the threat of alloy shutdowns, both of which could provide short-term price support for ore and alloy, but the accompanying ore stockbuild in ports is expected to offset gains longer term. Supply and stocks Ore supply from South Africa and Australia has not been much affected much by the coronavirus outbreak so far, although there are talks o...Read More