China's domestic rebar prices decreased on Tuesday December 3 amid bearish expectations for weakening demand but high output over the next two months. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,990-4,020 yuan ($566-571) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,720-3,750 yuan per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonne December and January are seasonally weak months for rebar demand in mo...Read More
While the metal markets have hardly been bullish, United States President Donald Trump undermined confidence across broad markets when he re-imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Argentina and Brazil and threatened France with tariffs too.This has raised concerns that a US-China trade deal may be delayed, especially following Trump's signing legislation supporting protesters in Hong...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during the morning trading session on Tuesday December 3 after a pick-up in global trade tensions dampened market sentiment. On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced via a series of posts on social media platform Twitter that he was imposing new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina."Brazil and A...Read More
Non-haven markets are generally under pressure after United States President Donald Trump said he was prepared to wait until after the 2020 US presidential election for a trade deal with China.This has dented sentiment, sending gold prices and the yen higher, while US treasury yields have weakened. Asian equities are also weaker, led by a 1.6% fall in the Australia’s ASX 200. And the yua...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 10 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Initial Jobless Claims was an increase to 221,000 from 213,000 last week. Actual was 203,000. Consensus for the October U.S. Trade Deficit was $51.5 billion versus $52.5 billion...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) increased at the end of November, with the market busy discussing annual contracts and deals.The Fastmarkets copper concentrates TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific ports was $53.5 per tonne/5.35 cents per lb on November 29, up from $52.2/5.22 cents on November 22.Although some miners and smelters are yet to conclude annual contra...Read More
Base metals' three-month prices on the London Metal Exchange were buoyed by a weaker US dollar index, despite negative macro sentiment brought on by weaker-than-expected US data at the close on Monday December 2.The US dollar index traded down 0.46% at 97.42 this afternoon, exacerbating already negative macro sentiment from poor data in the region.The United States purchasing managers index (PMI)...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) increased at the end of November, with the market busy discussing annual contracts and deals.The Fastmarkets copper concentrates TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific ports was $53.5 per tonne/5.35 cents per lb on November 29, up from $52.2/5.22 cents on November 22.Although some miners and smelters are yet to conclude annual contra...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More
From Monday February 3, 2020, Fastmarkets will publish its price assessments for standard and alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, on a daily basis.Here, Fastmarkets summarizes the feedback received as part of an extensive market consultation and details how that feedback informed the conclusion to increase the publication frequency of its benchmark price assessments.Purely in number, responses s...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap for January shipment at steady prices, but at a slower pace, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 2.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo late on Friday November 29, comprising 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $272 per tonne and 30,000 tonnes of shredded at $277 per tonne cfr.This was the first US deal since November...Read More
Domestic ship scrap prices in Turkey increased over the past week in line with rising imported scrap values, sources said on Monday December 2.One steel mill in the Izmir region raised its buy price for ship scrap by $10 per tonne to $275 per tonne delivered, while three fellow mills were buying the same material at $270 per tonne.Read More
The demand outlook for the metals has improved now that two of China's manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMI) showed manufacturing was in expansion mode. The state PMI moved back above 50 for the first time in seven months in November and the Caixin manufacturing PMI has now shown month-on-month gains for four consecutive months.Asian equities are showing gains this morning, led by a 1.0...Read More
Fastmarkets will publish its price assessments for standard and alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, on a daily basis from Monday February 3, 2020.Join members of Fastmarkets' editorial and pricing team for a discussion on the results from its recent consultation on cobalt pricing frequency, insights from Fastmarkets' pricing database and details on the practicalities of daily cobalt pricing. Cli...Read More
Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its benchmark price assessments for standard and alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, to daily from Monday February 3, 2020.From February 3, Fastmarkets will assess prices for the following two markets on a daily basis: Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb The decision to increase frequency follows an e...Read More
Belgian battery-materials manufacturer Umicore has completed its purchase of cobalt refining and cathode precursor activities in Kokkola, Finland, from Freeport Cobalt for $203 million. The purchase is on a debt and cash-free basis and includes about $50 million of net working capital. It is anticipated that the acquisition will be earnings accretive from 2020 and value accretive from 2021, Umicor...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 2 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and Argentina, he said on social media platform Twitter on December 2.A major Japanese steel mill plans to raise its hot-rolled coil offers to Asian buyers by $50 per tonne on a cfr b...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States went up slightly on consistently and firmly higher offer prices at mills, but the market was largely unchanged compared with the short working week before the national Thanksgiving holiday, celebrated Thursday November 28.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $27.79 per hundredweight ($555.80 per short ton) on...Read More