Prices for imported flat steel products have declined further or remained low over the past two weeks, and buyers in the United States have shown renewed interest in booking foreign products for the first time since domestic prices began falling this year, sources said. The biggest reason for such sudden interests in offshore products is the expectation that domestic flat-rolled mills may be able...Read More
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
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
Export prices of rebar from Turkey have decreased over the past week, because of weak demand and deals heard at low prices, sources said on Thursday October 31. The country's mills are offering rebar for export at $410-430 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, compared with last week's $410-420 per tonne. Deals were heard to Africa and several other destinations at $409-410 per tonne...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday October 31, with market participants contemplating a possible change in direction in the coming weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.With no new cargoes booked market participants were uncertain of whether the next bookings would be at similar or even higher prices.One market participant said that demand for scrap was...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices weakened on Thursday October 31 amid losses in the derivatives markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.97 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.79 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.63 per tonne, down $0.97 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $7...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, tender, 63,408 tonnes of 63.34% Fe Lump Ore Carajas, traded at the December average of Fastmarkets' index...Read More
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
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
China's cobalt sulfate price fell in the mid-week pricing session on Wednesday October 30 after coming under pressure from lackluster demand amid an underperformance in the country's electric vehicle (EV) market.Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China at 52,000-55,000 yuan ($7,365-7,790) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne - or 6.1% - from...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 30.Key drivers Low demand has resulted in only very limited activity in the ferro-titanium and scrap markets.Some liquidity was reported at lower prices than the previous range of $4.40-4.60 per kg as some market participants attempted to clear...Read More
China produced 22.49 million tonnes of crude stainless steel in the first nine months of 2019, according to data released by the China Stainless Steel Council on Thursday October 31. This is a 10.5% increase compared with the output over the same period of last year, which it said had been adjusted after verification by...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved higher following release of the October employment report released at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for October Non-farm Payrolls was 75,000 versus an upwardly revised 180,000 in September. Actual was 128,000. Consensus for the October Unemployment Rate was 3.6% versus 3.5% i...Read More
The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Wednesday October 30, falling by more than 2% against tight forward spreads, while aluminium futures closed at their highest level since September 24.Lead's outright price closed at $2,208 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, softening from an intraday high of $2,256.50 per tonne. A little more than 3,500...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 30.Please click...Read More
Three-month base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange mostly failed to make gains in the morning session on Wednesday October 30 amid low volumes traded across the complex, with a weaker dollar index, down by 0.04% at 97.65, failing to stimulate investors' appetites.The global macro picture continues to exert a hold over the metals market while United States-China trade tensions rumble on, a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 30 that are worth another look.The GFG Alliance will consolidate all of its steel businesses into one global group named Liberty Steel Group by the end of this year and align them with a strategy for carbon-neutral operations by 2030.Japanese copper producer Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) has offered its Chinese customers co...Read More
Chinese aluminium producer Xinfa Group has material and production lines prepared for restarting operations at its Jiaokou alumina refinery in Shanxi province, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30.Xinfa's Jiaokou alumina refinery, which has a 2.8 million-tonne-per-year alumina capacity, was ordered to be closed due an investigation of its chemical leakag...Read More
Tsingshan Group has kept its ferro-chrome tender price for November delivery unchanged at a time when upstream chrome ore prices have been under pressure. The eastern China-headquartered stainless steel mill announced on Wednesday October 30 that its November high carbon ferro-chrome tender price will remain at 6,396 yuan ($906) per tonne, unchanged from October. The latest tender price from Tsing...Read More
China's imports of cobalt intermediates, including cobalt hydroxide, surged by 24.5% in July-September versus the prior quarter amid extensive procurement from Chinese consumers, who looked to take advantage of falling cobalt raw material prices during the period.China imported 85,571 tonnes of cobalt intermediates in the third quarter of this year, up from the 68,717 tonnes shipped in April-June...Read More