An already-volatile nickel market will continue to face uncertainty in 2020 while demand wanes and stocks rise amid slowed growth expectations from both the stainless steel and electric battery sectors, market participants predicted.It is widely acknowledged that nickel demand will be driven by the stainless steel and electric vehicle (EV) battery markets, but many analysts expect stainless steel...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange settled at a two-month high at the close of trading on Wednesday January 8, climbing by just under 2% and breaching the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level against the highest daily trading volumes since September 2019.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,403 per tonne, its highest closing price since November 13, while daily turnover...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were driven upward by Chinese buying activity on Wednesday January 8.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.26 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $157.35 per tonne, up $4.82 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.02 per tonne, unchangedLow-vol PCI, fob D...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Wednesday January 8, with prices retreating below the $14,000-per-tonne threshold, while further outflows failed to support aluminium's outright price.Nickel's underlying price on the LME was recently seen at $13,845 per tonne, easing from a morning high of $13,935 per tonne.Turnover in LME nickel was hig...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange settled at a two-month high at the close of trading on Wednesday January 8, climbing by just under 2% and breaching the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level against the highest daily trading volumes since September 2019.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,403 per tonne, its highest closing price since November 13, while daily turnover...Read More
Uncertainty was weighing on the CIS export market for steel billet in the week ended Wednesday January 8, with market participants returning from their year-end holidays and waiting for mills to announce offers of February-rolling material.At the same time, there was a degree of pessimism among many customers, because of the lack of demand for finished long steel products.Adding to the negative se...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday January 8 that are worth another look.Escalating tensions between the United States and Iran have not affected appetite in Southeast Asia for Iranian steel products, sources told Fastmarkets.Limited buying interest ahead of national holidays has dragged the Shanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years, whi...Read More
In what some market participants called a short-term move, the nickel briquette premium crept up in the United States on Tuesday January 7, while all other regions had a slow return to business after year-end holidays. Some US sales pushed up the US nickel briquette premium incrementally Europe welcomes a return to contango in the London Metal Exchange nickel forward price spread Shangha...Read More
China's environmental ministry announced on Wednesday January 8 a second round of import quotas for copper, aluminium and ferrous scrap, but the volumes that will be allowed are significantly smaller than in the first tranche.The latest announcement for imports in 2020 made provisions for 26,566 tonnes of copper scrap, 7,544 tonnes of aluminium scrap and 3,180 tonnes of ferrous scrap.But the perio...Read More
Brazil's Atlantic Nickel started producing around three months ahead of schedule, and expectations of achieving full capacity have also been brought forward to the second quarter this year, chief executive officer Paulo Castellari told Fastmarkets in an interview on Tuesday January 7.The company, owned by the Brazilian branch of Appian Capital Advisory, originally forecast nameplate capacity to be...Read More
Vijay Natarajan has become executive vice president of trading at non-ferrous metals company Metal Exchange Corp, effective January 1. He will be responsible for the company's global trading division and will be based at its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. Additionally, Natarajan will oversee Metal Exchange Corp's international footprint,...Read More
Limited buying interest ahead of national holidays has dragged theShanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years, while copper premiums are stable in Europe and the United States with minimal spot activity for the first week of 2020.Limited buying interest ahead of the national holidays has dragged the Shanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years Copper prem...Read More
Escalated tension between the United States and Iran has not yet had any direct effect on steel export trade from the Middle East country, Fastmarkets has learned. "China and Southeast Asia take the majority of Iranian material, so the situation will largely depend on traders [selling into these markets]," an Iranian industry source said."[The] market just reopened after holidays. We need sev...Read More
The price of steel mesh-quality wire rod was unchanged week on week in Europe with activity still slow after the Christmas and New Year holiday period, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday January 8.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?450-460 ($503-514) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous week.Meanwhile, Fastm...Read More
The price of steel rebar in Europe was unchanged this week with the market beginning to emerge from the Christmas and New Year holiday period, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday January 8.Market participants were keeping a close eye on ferrous scrap prices, which have been largely flat since mid-December, for clues about how rebar prices will move next.Yet some producers said that they were targeting...Read More
The price of steel H-beams across Europe remained unchanged on Wednesday January 8 with a public holiday at the start of the week keeping trading activity low, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?550-570 ($614-637) per tonne on January 8, unchanged week on week.Trading remained subdued this week, with January 6...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained silent on Wednesday January 8, with mills still in negotiations for cargoes to be shipped in February, sources told Fastmarkets.Mills in Turkey have been mostly quiet in the deep-sea scrap import markets since the middle of December due to year-end holidays, but resumed their purchases at the end of the last week.They booked four deep-sea cargoes on J...Read More
Seaborne iron ore index increased on Wednesday January 8, after steelmakers in China started restocking activities.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.22 per tonne, up $1.11 per tonne62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $95.31 per tonne, up $1.11 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.87 per tonne, up $1.15 per tonne58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingda...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were driven upward by Chinese buying activity on Wednesday January 8.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.26 per tonne, up $1.28 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $157.35 per tonne, up $4.82 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.02 per tonne, unchangedLow-vol PCI, fob D...Read More
The Singapore Exchange's (SGX's) 65% Fe iron ore futures experiencing a surge in interest, with 10,430 lots - or 1.043 million tonnes - of the contract being cleared by Tuesday January 7.This is already around 12.2% higher than the total volume cleared in January last year. A total of 1.99 million tonnes of the contract were traded last month, up 4.6% from December 2018 when it was launched.In the...Read More