Base Metal Stocks Articles

CIS STEEL BILLET: Lack of demand hampers price rises

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

CIS billet producers failed to pass on higher prices to customers this week as demand in the major destinations was weak, Fastmarkets learned on Thursday October 31.CIS-origin billet was offered within the range of $380-385 per tonne fob Black Sea. The material was mainly heard available from Russian mills, particularly Novorosmetal and Abinsk Electric Steel mill, which can ship material quickly a...Read More

TURKEY STEEL BILLET: Prices mostly stable on weak demand

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The price of steel billet in the Turkish market was mostly stable over the past week due to weak demand and the increases already heard last week, sources said on Thursday October 31. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey, was $380-385 per tonne on Thursday, stable week on week. Mills in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region were offering...Read More

EGYPT STEEL BILLET, REBAR: Rebar prices decrease but billet price stable

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The price for steel rebar in Egypt decreased in the week ended Thursday October 31, but the import price for steel billet was stable, sources told Fastmarkets. Egyptian rebar producers reduced their domestic prices on October 9. However, several deals were heard at lower prices this week. Official prices of producers were E ?10,400-10,900 ($643-674) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT. Sales were...Read More

Indonesian nickel ban jitters not supporting China's stainless steel prices

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

A spike in nickel prices as a result of a flip-flop decision in Indonesia regarding an ore export ban of the alloying metal failed to offer any support to China's stainless steel market over the past week.Reports of an immediate commencement of the nickel ore export ban in Indonesia had emerged on Monday October 28, but a day later, Indonesian officials said that the prohibition will only come eff...Read More

Steel industry indexation depends on education, overcoming fragmented market challenges - LME panel

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The widespread adoption of steel price indices used for risk management will depend on educating steel industry stakeholders on the benefits and best practices of hedging while also overcoming the challenges of the fragmented nature of the steel markets, a panel of experts said at the London Metal Exchange's Ferrous Focus Session on Thursday October 31.Educating steel industry stakeholders, in par...Read More

Brazil's Gerdau to halt Ara??ariguama rebar unit for 30 days in December

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will make a maintenance stoppage at its Ara??ariguama unit, located in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, during December, which market participants believe could help boost the domestic rebar price.The plant has capacity to produce 950,000 tonne per year (tpy) of crude steel, and has a 600,000-tpy rolling capacity, Gerdau said. The company expects the maintenance st...Read More

LIVE FUTURES REPORT 31/10: LME copper price slides 1.4% on high turnover; lead dips below $2,200

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 30, settling below the $5,800 per tonne support level against high turnover, while lead futures also closed below nearby support.Copper's three-month price closed at $5,797 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, with some 20,000 lots exchanged over the day. The red metal's outright price fell...Read More

Volatility driven by tough EU trade measures makes Fastmarkets' daily HRC index a must

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.Fastmarkets has concluded that a daily HRC index is necessary because the existing weekly price assessment is not nimble enough to react to the increasingly rapid changes...Read More

Miners make further sharp cuts to manganese ore offers

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Manganese ore market participants are braced for more sharp price drops amid reports on Thursday October 31 of miners cutting offer prices by as much as 15-20% since the weekend. The price drops affect both low and high grade manganese ore prices as parcels of high grade ore were offered at similar prices to low grade prices the previous week, market sources told Fastmarkets. The...Read More

EUROPE HRC: Domestic prices down, "bottom" almost reached

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe decreased over the week due to limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants believe, however, that prices have already reached "bottom" and although demand will not allow to increase prices they are likely to remain stable.Northern EuropeFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?415-...Read More

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from October 31

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 31 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has be...Read More

LIVE FUTURES REPORT 31/10: LME copper price slides 1.4% on high turnover; lead dips below $2,200

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 30, settling below the $5,800 per tonne support level against high turnover, while lead futures also closed below nearby support.Copper's three-month price closed at $5,797 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, with some 20,000 lots exchanged over the day. The red metal's outright price fell...Read More

COKING COAL DAILY: Market awaits settlement of tender for direction

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The seaborne coking coal market was largely steady on Thursday October 31, with participants awaiting the conclusion of a tender in the fob Australia premium segment to gauge the direction of prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $143.45 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $161.53 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.84 per...Read More

CHINA HRC: Mills divided on export strategy

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Chinese steelmakers appear to be divided on the approach to take with exports, with a major mill issuing a significantly lower offer than the rest of its peers on Thursday October 31, though that still failed to stimulate sales.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($496-499) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, unchangedMajor Chinese steelmakers produc...Read More

PRICING NOTICE: Proposal to create a daily HRC index for Northern Europe

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Fastmarkets proposes to increase the frequency of its steel hot-rolled coil domestic Northern Europe price from weekly to daily, and to change the price from an assessment to an index. HRC production in Belgium, Germany and Netherlands is estimated to have totalled 36.1 million tonnes in 2018, or 44% of the EU HRC output, according to Fastmarkets MB research. Northern Europe is the hub of the Euro...Read More

Steel industry indexation depends on education, overcoming fragmented market challenges - LME panel

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The widespread adoption of steel price indices used for risk management will depend on educating steel industry stakeholders on the benefits and best practices of hedging while also overcoming the challenges of the fragmented nature of the steel markets, a panel of experts said at the London Metal Exchange's Ferrous Focus Session on Thursday October 31.Educating steel industry stakeholders, in par...Read More

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from October 31

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 31 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has be...Read More

LIVE FUTURES REPORT 31/10: LME base metals capped by weak China PMI data despite Fed cut

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30 on lackluster China PMI, shrugging off the interest rate cut announced by the United States' Federal Reserve the day before.The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30...Read More

Indonesian nickel ban jitters not supporting China's stainless steel prices

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

A spike in nickel prices as a result of a flip-flop decision in Indonesia regarding an ore export ban of the alloying metal failed to offer any support to China's stainless steel market over the past week.Reports of an immediate commencement of the nickel ore export ban in Indonesia had emerged on Monday October 28, but a day later, Indonesian officials said that the prohibition will only come eff...Read More

Asarco, USW scheduled to meet in mid-November

November 01, 2019 / Staff reporter

A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has been scheduled for November 14, a United Steelworkers (USW) union spokesperson told Fastmarkets."We are scheduled to meet on November 14," Manuel Armenta, a sub-district director for USW told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30."The strike is going on, people are on the picket lines," Armenta added, referring to the ongoing picke...Read More

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