Export prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil, and heavy plate from the Commonwealth of Independent States have continued to increase over the past week, in line with increasing raw material prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $395-405 per tonne on Monday November 25, compared with $390-405 per tonne fob a week ago.Russi...Read More
Brazilian rebar suppliers ArcelorMittal and Gerdau have announced a price hike of up to 12% for January orders, Fastmarkets understands. Steelmakers have been trying to increase the price of rebar in the country since September, with Gerdau pushing for a 7% rise in that month. But the market only started to recover in October and the hike was lower than suppliers expected. Fastmarkets' most recent...Read More
Steel producers in the Middle East asked for more protectionism against cheap imports in 2019 and this trend is expected to continue in 2020.GCCThe Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries started a safeguard investigation on several steel products in October this year. The investigation covers the period from January 2014 to June 2019 and focuses on hot-rolled flat products, rebar, wire rod, sec...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in Asia continued to gain last week, but some buyers in Vietnam have started to delay making further purchases amid expectations that the market could start to pull back.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel HRC import, cfr Vietnam, which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam, was $450-460 per tonne cfr Vietnam&...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices gained on Monday November 25, with trading robust amid low inventory.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,730 yuan ($528-530) per tonne, up 30-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,670 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneTrading across the nation has been robust, with inventory remaining low, several sources said."End users are being forced to re...Read More
Turkish steel producers made no deep-sea scrap purchases on the first working day of the week, but are still expected to buy more cargoes for December delivery, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday November 25.Mills booked four deep-sea cargoes last week at steady prices. The latest bookings were from the Baltic Sea region and sold at $260 per tonne and $261 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20)."I thin...Read More
Scrap prices in the Turkish domestic market remained stable over the past week, in line with steady imported scrap values, sources said on Monday November 25.Steel producers in the country kept their buying prices unchanged for both domestic auto bundle scrap and ship scrap over the past seven days.One scrapyard in Izmir, Kili??lar Hurda, changed its buy price...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose further on Monday November 25, with the 62% Fe index getting back above $90 per tonne cfr for the first time in over a month.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.92 per tonne, up $2.84 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.95 per tonne, up $2.84 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.31 per tonne, up $2.84...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Monday November 25, as participants stayed on the sidelines to gauge direction following last week's increase.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.66 per tonne, down $0.10 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $145.39 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $120.70 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Ji...Read More
Seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellet prices rose last week amid a general rebound in the market. ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao rose by $6.58 per tonne to $100.55 per tonne last Friday November 22. The daily Fastmarkets index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao averaged $98.30 per tonne last week, up $4.80 per tonne from an av...Read More
After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets MB has discontinued its fortnightly publication of the mercury 99.99%, in-whs global locations, $/flask assessment.Global mercury trade has reduced since the 2017 Minamata Convention on mercury - a legally binding international agreement aimed at tackling mercury pollution - came into force. The Convention has reached more than 100 party ratifica...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday November 22.ChinaKey driversThe price of antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China, dipped for the third consecutive week on November 20 after some suppliers continuous cut their offer prices to attract sales in an attempt to generate cash before the year-end.Trading activity remained limited, with the market in a stalem...Read More
The European ferro-silicon spot price jumped by more than 7% in the past week, breaking a three-week run of stability on increased trading activity. Ferro-silicon lumpy basis 75% Si (scale pro rata), delivered Europe rose to ?,?950-1,000 ($1,047-1,102) per tonne on Friday November 22, compared with ?,?900-920 per tonne the week before. Most buying interest was reported on an inter-merchant ba...Read More
Risk appetite should improve this week The latest reports about progress towards a US-China trade agreement suggest that a phase one deal is back on track. If history is a guide, interest in risk assets, including the base metals, should rebound while this remains the case. Equity markets have led the way so far. Aluminium: Looking for a short-term rebound Aluminium’s price action is demonstr...Read More
Room to rally again if risk appetite continues to improve Over the weekend, China appears to have reached a compromise position that could boost the probability of a 'phase one' trade deal with the US. China announced that it will raise penalties for intellectual property rights theft, meeting one of the many stringent demands from the US. Barring any further negative developments, risk appetite s...Read More
Aluminium With no sign of aggressive selling pressure, the LME aluminium price was able to produce a higher low on Monday November 25. Also, the metal closed positively though the limited upside momentum continues to indicate prices remain in consolidation mode from the recent low. Still, aluminium carries short-term upside risks, with the daily RSI and stochastic lines in oversold territory...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we discuss the main trends of the global copper market so far this year, based on the latest ICSG statistics. All the percentage changes discuss are on a year-on-year basis, unless stated otherwise. Refined market balance The ICSG estimates that the refined copper market was in an “apparent” deficit of 330,000 tonnes in January-August 2019, compared with a s...Read More
Correction leads to consolidation Lead prices consolidated last week, mainly in the $1,950-2,000 per tonne range, but have drifted closer to $1,900 per tonne so far this week. This comes after undergoing a correction of 13.8% or $313.50 per tonne price from the highs of late-October at $2,265 per tonne. ILZSG reports an 83,000-tonne supply deficit in Jan-Sep The fact that prices are below where th...Read More
Higher demand, weaker supply restored global deficit in September There has been plenty of fresh fundamental nickel data published in the past week, including the INSG’s latest monthly bulletin on Thursday. After reporting last month a mere 100-tonne global supply deficit in August, almost bringing to an end the run of 26 consecutive monthly deficits, the INSG reported a more meaningful 3,200...Read More
In this week’s analysis, we highlight the latest WBMS estimates about supply/demand of the tin market and discuss our own fundamental assessment. Refined market balance The WBMS estimates that the refined tin market was in an “apparent” deficit of 4,100 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, significantly smaller than the deficit of 9,000 tonnes over the same period of last year....Read More