Demand dipped in Asia's ferrous scrap markets in the lead-up to major holidays in Vietnam and Taiwan, with steel mills scaling back purchases in preparation for the Lunar New Year.The downward trend for global scrap prices also dampened buying sentiment. Buyers have withdrawn from the market to wait for prices to bottom out.VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scra...Read More
There was thin spot liquidity in the Singapore rebar import market this week due to the looming Lunar New Year holidays.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $455-465 per tonne for the week to Friday January 24, unchanged from a week earlier.There were n...Read More
LME three-month copper fell to its lowest price since December 5 on Thursday January 23, dipping belowthe $6,000-per-tonne support level at the close amid strong turnover, while tin led the complex in terms of losses. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,987 per tonne this afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $6,116 per tonne, while turnover was at its highest l...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit is in financing discussions with a syndicate of banks for its new $3 billion copper smelter and expects the project will be funded by a bank loan. The United States producer, one of the project's joint venture partners, said that the economics of PT-FI's share of the new smelter will be shared by its shareholders according to their respective share ownership perc...Read More
Alumina prices rose in an active week of trading ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holidays starting on January 24 in China, which market participants say will dampen liquidity through the rest of January. Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $277.92 per tonne on Thursday, up from 275.93 per tonne last Thursday. The index has been range-bound so far in 202...Read More
Samancor Chrome plans to reduce annual chrome ore and ferro-chrome production by 29% and 20% respectively due to poor market conditions, it said on Thursday January 23. South Africa's largest ferro-chrome producer provided the update days after confirming proposals to restructure and retrench staff at its mining and smelting operations. It had also warned in December that production cuts were...Read More
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is in the process of placing its Chambishi refinery in Zambia on care and maintenance, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets. "We have taken the difficult decision to suspend operations at Chambishi Metals due to the shortage of both copper and cobalt concentrate feedstock material. It was not possible to locate appropriate feedstock in Zambia. We are in the process o...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices went down once again on the news of a fresh deal for a UK-origin cargo heard on Thursday January 23.The cargo was booked late on January 22 by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region at $277 per tonne cfr for 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20).This transaction compared with the most recent cargo sold at $295 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (95:5) from the United States o...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit is in financing discussions with a syndicate of banks for its new $3 billion copper smelter and expects the project will be funded by a bank loan. The United States producer, one of the project's joint venture partners, said that the economics of PT-FI's share of the new smelter will be shared by its shareholders according to their respective share ownership perc...Read More
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is in the process of placing its Chambishi refinery in Zambia on care and maintenance, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets. "We have taken the difficult decision to suspend operations at Chambishi Metals due to the shortage of both copper and cobalt concentrate feedstock material. It was not possible to locate appropriate feedstock in Zambia. We are in the process o...Read More
Further reductions in the domestic output of hot-rolled coil in Europe, combined with the continuing lack of competitive import offers, has been supporting domestic prices in the region, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 23.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?461.18 ($511.20) per tonne on Thursday, compared with ?,?462.38 per tonne...Read More
With the calendar having shifted to 2020, opportunities and threats abound for steel and steelmaking raw materials markets across the world.In this special report, we take you around the globe to provide you with a...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to change the timing in its fob China export HRC index to 4-8 weeks from the current 4-6 weeks.The proposed amendment reflects the changing situation in the region, where steel mills are now booking orders one or two months ahead, instead of around one month in advance.The amended specification will be as follows:MB-STE-0144 - Steel hot-rolled coil...Read More
With the calendar having shifted to 2020, opportunities and threats abound for steel and steelmaking raw materials markets across the world.In this special report, we take you around the globe to provide you with a...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar and wire rod in Turkey have gone down over the past week amid lower imported scrap values and limited winter demand, sources said on Thursday January 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 2,975-3,030 Turkish lira ($501-511) per tonne, including 18% VAT, on January 23. This was down from the 3,050-3,060 lira pe...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices have continued to fall over the past week in line with softening scrap costs and limited demand, sources said on Thursday January 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $425-430 per tonne on an actual weight basis on January 23, down from the $435-440 per tonne fob of last week.The mills in the c...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices went down once again on the news of a fresh deal for a UK-origin cargo heard on Thursday January 23.The cargo was booked late on January 22 by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region at $277 per tonne cfr for 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20).This transaction compared with the most recent cargo sold at $295 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (95:5) from the United States o...Read More
With the calendar having shifted to 2020, opportunities and threats abound for steel and steelmaking raw materials markets across the world.In this special report, we take you around the globe to provide you with a...Read More