China's domestic rebar prices were largely flat on Friday October 25, while billet and futures both moved up.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($507-511) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,550-3,600 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonneRebar futures rose after a data release on Thursday showed a sharp drop in inventories, sources said. Prices in the spot market...Read More
Persistently weak demand and sliding manganese ore prices have combined to drag down Indian silico-manganese prices to a level last seen on October 16, while the Europe market was also lower for similar reasons, according to European and Indian industry sources on Friday October 25.The Indian market showed a drop in export prices for the eighth consecutive week, with more losses expected, given th...Read More
The price of stainless steel in Europe was unchanged this week and alloy surcharges for November also appeared likely to remain largely unchanged, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 25.Finland-based stainless steel mill Outokumpu announced this week that its alloy surcharge for grade-304 flat products in November will be ?,?1,703 ($1,894) per tonne, an increase of ?,?3 per tonne from October.Luxe...Read More
A group of metals and mining companies including Glencore and Anglo American have joined forces with the World Economic Forum to explore the use of blockchain technology to accelerate responsible sourcing of raw materials. The Mining and Metals Blockchain Initiative will explore the building of a blockchain platform to address transparency, the track and tracing of materials, the reporting of carb...Read More
A declining rebar market in China coupled with elevated prices for scrap have put a squeeze to the profit margins of electric-arc furnace operators in the country since September.Amid a pessimistic outlook for demand and prices, market participants are expecting these EAF operators - which account for close to a third of the supply of the long steel product in China - to cut their output soon.EAF...Read More
Vale saw its adjusted earnings grow by 6.4% year on year in the third quarter amid higher prices and lower expenses related to the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster early this year.The Brazilian miner's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) for the July-September period totaled $4.60 billion, which compares with $4.33 billion a year earlier.Vale's reported...Read More
Persistently weak demand and sliding manganese ore prices have combined to drag down Indian silico-manganese prices to a level last seen on October 16, while the Europe market was also lower for similar reasons, according to European and Indian industry sources on Friday October 25.The Indian market showed a drop in export prices for the eighth consecutive week, with more losses expected, given th...Read More
The price of India-origin hot-rolled coil for export in the week ended Friday October 25 was down by $25 per tonne following aggressive price cuts by local mills in the wake of short-selling of the commodity in the Southeast Asian markets.The price of steel HRC (commodity), export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $400-405 per tonne on Friday, down from last week's assessment at...Read More
The price of stainless steel in Europe was unchanged this week and alloy surcharges for November also appeared likely to remain largely unchanged, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 25.Finland-based stainless steel mill Outokumpu announced this week that its alloy surcharge for grade-304 flat products in November will be ?,?1,703 ($1,894) per tonne, an increase of ?,?3 per tonne from October.Luxe...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices on the global markets continued to move up during the working week ended Friday October 25, with a positive Turkish market adding to the stronger sentiment. Turkish import prices continue to move up on fresh booking US export prices up again on new Turkey cargoes Taiwan import prices increase on continued tight supply Vietnam import prices higher following global trend Indian...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 24 that are worth another look.Trade wars, slowing economic growth, Brexit... the storm clouds are gathering for metals markets around the world. How has the new protectionism, born of geopolitical competition, affected metal markets - and how might it affect them in the future? To focus on different aspects of thi...Read More
Bearish macroeconomic signals and oversupply have put minor metals and ferro-alloys prices variously under pressure over 2019; the structure and terms of contracts agreed over the coming weeks will show how market participants are accounting for those signals ahead of 2020. A slowing global economy alongside uncertainty over the China-United States trade dispute and Brexit have slowed minor metals...Read More
A declining rebar market in China coupled with elevated prices for scrap have put a squeeze to the profit margins of electric-arc furnace operators in the country since September.Amid a pessimistic outlook for demand and prices, market participants are expecting these EAF operators - which account for close to a third of the supply of the long steel product in China - to cut their output soon.EAF...Read More
Bearish macroeconomic signals and oversupply have put minor metals and ferro-alloys prices variously under pressure over 2019; the structure and terms of contracts agreed over the coming weeks will show how market participants are accounting for those signals ahead of 2020. A slowing global economy alongside uncertainty over the China-United States trade dispute and Brexit have slowed minor metals...Read More
The protracted United States-China trade war has deterred trading in many minor metals for most of 2019, with bismuth in particular taking a hit. The trade dispute between the two largest global economies has directly resulted in the introduction of import tariffs in both China and the US, making it more expensive to trade and causing oversupply because of slower downstream consumption.The US intr...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday October 25, settling above the $5,900 per tonne level for the first time since September amid thin turnover, while zinc futures similarly closed higher. Copper's outright price closed at $5,925 per tonne on Friday, climbing by around 1.2% from its intraday low of $5,862 per tonne and settling at...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has set out its requirements for responsible sourcing, outlining three routes to compliance. The requirements will be underpinned by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) due diligence guidance. The exchange's announcement on Friday October 25 follows the close of a market-wide consultation on June 30 into the introduction of responsible sour...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Friday October 25 to the surprise of some participants following several weeks of robust buying activity from China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.40 per tonne, down $6 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $161.53 per tonne, down $2.54 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.36 per tonne, down $0.69 per tonne.Hard co...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday October 25.China The seaborne manganese ore prices in China continued to fall amid aggressive offer prices and persistently weak market sentiment. Higher grade offer prices fell but liquidity was light indicating many buyers anticipated the market would soften further. Port-side manganes...Read More