The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday January 17, with price action settling comfortably above the $2,400-per-tonne support level despite moderately low turnover across the complex, while a steady incline in LME tin saw prices breach nearby resistance. Zinc's outright price on the LME settled at $2,429.50 per tonne on Friday afternoon,...Read More
Rio Tinto's fourth-quarter copper production sank due to lower ore grades, especially at its Kennecott copper mine, while aluminium production took a hit due to unexpected outages in Iceland and Canada during the second half of 2019.Rio Tinto's 2019 mined copper production of 577,400 tonnes was 5% lower than in 2018, reflecting lower copper grades, which impacted the fourth quarter production at t...Read More
Most aluminium scrap prices rose in the United States this past week, and one of the biggest movers was aluminium-copper radiators, which found support from increased buying interest and higher Comex copper prices.Fastmarkets' assessment of the aluminium-copper radiators buying price, delivered to Midwest secondary smelters, jumped to $1.24-1.28 per lb on Thursday January 16, up by 5 cents from $1...Read More
Liquidity was high for alumina on an fob Australia basis during the week ending January 17, but prices failed to find any long-term support above $275 per tonne.Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $275.18 per tonne on Friday January 17, down only slightly from $275.93 per tonne on Thursday. The index has traded between $275 and $278 per tonne since December...Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged this week, with sources expecting this stability to persist into February on a relatively flat price development in the nickel market, Fastmarkets learned on Friday January 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?2,050-...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) continued to increase this week, with smelters and traders now largely squared for the first quarter. The index on a cif Asia Pacific basis stood at $56.2 per tonne/5.62 cents per lb, up slightly from $56.1/5.61 cents a week ago. Traders are looking to pick up mined tonnages at or around $50 per tonne/5 cents pe...Read More
European zinc premiums for 2020 annual contracts have declined by as much as $15 per tonne compared with last year, multiple sources informed Fastmarkets, with market participants citing lackluster demand and persistent backwardations as a key headwind to negotiations. For 2020 contracts, various deals have been concluded at premiums of $115-120 per tonne on a duty-paid fca basis via Rotterdam and...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and galvanized steel sheet in the United States rose after buyers perceived enough demand to accept a portion of the latest producer hikes. Phasing in a series of five price increase announcements, some sheet mills raised their offers as of January 10 or thereafter, generally by $1-2 per hundredweight ($20-40 per short ton), according to market participants. The higher...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe are expected to rise next week on a lack of competitive import offers and an improvement in demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 17.Fastmarkets' daily steel HRC index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?443.78 ($494.67) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?0.68 per tonne from ?,?443.10 per tonne the previous day. Over the past week,...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet fell by 700 rupees ($10) per tonne in the week ended Friday January 17, with makers of finished steel products reducing their purchases of semi-finished steel in the wake of falling demand for long products such as rebar.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, assessed by Fastmarkets on January 17, fell by 700 rupees per tonne to 29,70...Read More
Prices for Brazilian slab in the export market rose in the week to Friday January 17 on recent deals concluded to North America.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, went up to $430-450 per tonne on Friday from $415-425 per tonne one week earlier.A batch of Brazilian slab was recently sold to a Mexican buyer at $425-430 per tonne...Read More
Import prices of flat-rolled steel in South America made no clear trend for the week while negotiations between sellers and buyers for March shipments intensified and put some markets under pressure ahead of the Chinese New Year break (January 24-30).Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South America at $530-555 per tonne on Friday January 17, up from $52...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), narrowed in response to improving demand in the week to Friday January 17, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand picked up after buyers returned from the year-end holidays, they said.Domestic pricesLocal producers were offering 0.5mm HDG at $640-670 per tonne ex-works, with deals h...Read More
Some flat steel prices fell in Turkey during the week ending Friday January 17, following weakening scrap prices. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey fell sharply by 5.2% to $280.70 per tonne on January 16, from $295.85 per tonne on January 15. Prior to this, the ferrous raw material price had been stable for five daily pricing ses...Read More
Salzgitter Mannesmann Staalhandel, the trading part of Germany's Salzgitter group, has acquired heavy plate specialist trading company Statendam Steel Plates, Salzgitter said on January 16.The acquisition of the Netherlands-based company is effective from December 31, 2019.Statendam Steel Plates supplies customers in the Netherlands in the construction, trading, boiler manufacturing, mechanical en...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Austenitic stainless steel scrap prices in Europe were largely stable this week on relatively stable nickel costs, Fastmarkets heard on Friday January 17.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 316 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,170-1,200 ($1,528-1,567) per tonne on Friday, unchanged week-on-week.The corresponding...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India dropped this week after a sudden sharp fall on the international scrap market had a knock-on effect, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, was $313.61 per tonne on Friday January 17, down from $317.35 per tonne on January 10.This was the first time the price had fallen sinc...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was up by ?5 ($6.53) per tonne in the week ended Friday January 17, tracking higher prices settled for monthly domestic deliveries to British consumers in January while steady export demand buoyed the country's scrap markets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap markets were quiet at the end of the week, as market participants digested the latest sale, which sent prices down by $13 per tonne, sources said on Friday January 17.Late on Wednesday, January 15, a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo of 35,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $295 per tonne cfr. This would put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $288 per tonne, compar...Read More