Northern European flat steel producers increased their official hot-rolled coil offer prices on Monday January 13 and transaction prices are also expected to rise, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?442.93 ($492.35) per tonne on Monday January 13, up from ?,?442.43 per tonne on January 10.Monday's index was calcul...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases on Monday January 13, due to weak rebar markets and firm scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Steelmakers in the country booked only one deep-sea cargo last week, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 10,000 tonnes of shredded and 15,000 tonnes of bonus...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 13 that are worth another look.Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week.International auditing and advisory...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange improved during morning trading on Monday January 13, with upward momentum supported by a fresh cancelation of some 4,434 tonnes, while continued outflows did little to move a steady aluminium price. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen up by 0.5% at $14,295 per tonne, while trading volumes topped the complex over the mornin...Read More
China's new policy to rename certain copper scrap, brass scrap and aluminium scrap as "recyclable raw materials" will take effect in July 2020, according to an official document seen by Fastmarkets. The criterion for eligibility has been approved by bureaus including the State Administration for Market Regulation and will be publicly announced in the next 20 days. Well informed sources told Fastma...Read More
An increase in demand for secondary aluminium from both Europe and abroad has fueled a jump in European scrap prices, according to markets sources.One of the main drivers of the increase in prices is the return of market participants in China and other Asian countries looking to Europe for scrap supply. That trend was sparked by the announcement of new aluminium scrap quotas for China in Dece...Read More
With the exception of aluminium and nickel, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were little changed at the close of morning trading on Monday January 13.The complex exhibited mixed but limited movements this morning while reacting to underwhelming December employment data out of the United States at the end of last week. Data out on Friday showed that non-farm payrolls increased by...Read More
Rising ferrous scrap costs have nudged special bar quality (SBQ) steel spot prices upward in the United States, while sentiment among market participants has been weak to start the year, Fastmarkets has learned. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US rose to $35 pe...Read More
Steel plate prices in the United States held steady for a fourth consecutive week after a December producer price hike did not materialize in transaction prices in the first full working week of 2020.Plate mills issued a $40-per-ton ($2-per-hundredweight) price increase in early December, their third round of hikes since early November. Prices strengthened in the first two weeks of December but st...Read More
Ukrainian steel billet producer Dneprovskiy Dzerzhinsky Metallurgical Plant (DMKD) has restarted its 900,000-tonnes-per-year No12 blast furnace at its steelmaking facility in the port city of Kamianske on the Dneiper river.Trial pig iron production was started at the end of 2019 and normal operations resumed on Saturday January 4, the company said on January 10. Currently, the daily...Read More
Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week."[But] we have to keep in mind the possibility that any trade deal may prove to be elusive," the association added in its January 2020 Short Ra...Read More
China may continue importing steel billet after the Chinese New Year holiday (January 25-30) due to the expected pick-up in seasonal downstream demand and prices post-holiday, market sources told Fastmarkets.China was not heard to have imported any steel billet in January due to the holiday lull in the domestic markets. Quiet JanuaryCurrent billet import offers are around $450 per tonne cfr China...Read More
A number of factors came together in the second half of 2019 to create a situation of high volatility in the market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which covers almost two-thirds of global exports.On one hand, weaker prices for finished steel products and scrap put pressure on the pig iron market, while on the other hand suppliers redirected pig iron away fr...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in most global markets dipped on weaker demand during the week ended Friday January 10, but the Indian market remained strong.Turkish market dips on fewer trades United States prices unchanged Limited buying sees Vietnam prices drop Taiwan prices down on weaker demand Indian prices continue to increase TurkeyPrices for ferrous scrap into Turkey fell this week, with only o...Read More
Sentiment in the Turkish domestic scrap market turned negative over the past week due to weakening local finished long steel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday January 13.Domestic long steel prices fell slightly due to the recent strengthening of the Turkish lira against the US dollar.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic,...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Monday January 13 amid concerns that shipments from Australia would be disrupted by another cyclone. 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $95.93 per tonne, up $2.01 per tonne. 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.97 per tonne, up $2.01 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.20 per tonne, up $1.17 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $81.1...Read More
Operations at Australia's Curragh coal mine have been suspended following a fatal accident over the weekend, the miner said on Monday January 13. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $155.26 per tonne, up $1.73 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $160.87 per tonne, up $2.77 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $125.01 per tonne, up $2.68 per tonneHard...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil market remained subdued on Monday January 13, although a weakening dollar appeared to give some support to export prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,890 yuan ($561-562) per tonne, narrowed by 10 yuan per tonne on both endsNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,600 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneSources in both eastern and northern China said that trading...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices fell further on Monday January 13 on softening demand, though those in the northern region held up amid a lack of selling pressure.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($527-532) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, unchangedDemand continued to weaken during the day with less than two weeks to go before the start...Read More
Silicon metal prices in the United States' spot market resumed their downward trend this month due to weak spot demand, with buyers working through annually contracted material priced even lower than spot silicon.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the price for silicon, ddp US, was at $0.91-0.94 per lb on Friday January 10, down from $0.92-0.95 per lb one month earlier and off from $1.16...Read More