CIS billet producers raised their export offer prices this week due to reduced availability and in response to rising scrap costs.The move came in response to last week's rise in imported scrap prices in Turkey, with billet harder to source in the absence of some Ukrainian mills.Some Russian producers also reported that they had filled their November order books last week and h...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices dropped on Tuesday October 15 due to subdued demand and weakening futures, while those in the north held steady. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,670-3,700 yuan ($519-523) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,570-3,600 yuan per tonne, unchangedSome traders stopped restocking due to narrowing margins. This, coupled with weak futures, weighed...Read More
China's ferro-silicon market has been stable since participants returned from a week-long national holiday in the country on October 1-7, with prices hemmed between tighter supply amid production cuts and weaker demand.In Europe, prices increased for the first time since the start of August amid supply worries after a recent announcement of cuts to domestic production combined with low trader stoc...Read More
US President Donald Trump said on Monday October 14 that he will impose a 50% tariff on imports of steel from Turkey in response to that country's military actions in northeastern Syria.However, market participants believe such a move will have a minor impact on the Turkish steel sector, because Turkey's steel exports to the United States are already limited because of weak demand.BilletA trader f...Read More
As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More
Tom Bird, the head of Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), will leave his position as the chief operating officer of Chiho Environmental Group in November, Fastmarkets learned on Sunday October 13.Chiho Environmental is China's largest scrap metal recycling company. It runs 700 yards globally with extensive operations in the recycling of ferrous...Read More
US President Donald Trump said on Monday October 14 that he will impose a 50% tariff on imports of steel from Turkey in response to that country's military actions in northeastern Syria.However, market participants believe such a move will have a minor impact on the Turkish steel sector, because Turkey's steel exports to the United States are already limited because of weak demand.BilletA trader f...Read More
Export prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States fell again despite expectations that prices had bottomed, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 15.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $380-395 per tonne on October 15, down from $400-410 per tonne a week earlier."Scrap prices stopped falling and buye...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday October 15.Please click...Read More
Nickel rallied on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday, with the market seeing the continued decline in exchange stocks as price-supportive, although it failed to close above resistance at $17,000.The three-month nickel price rose 2.6% to close at $16,995 per tonne on Tuesday October 15 from the previous day's closing price of $16,550 per tonne. Still, it t closed below the psychologically signifi...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday October 15 that are worth another look.China's sustained presence as a buyer in Southeast Asia's spot billet market has been boosting prices in the region, sources told Fastmarkets.An oversupply of manganese ore weighed on seaborne manganese ore prices cif China, causing some producers to make multiple lower offers to attra...Read More
The world's largest low-grade iron ore producer has confirmed that it will bid for two blocks at what is considered the world's largest untapped high-grade ore resource, a move that reiterates what the industry has been saying over the past few years - that demand for green iron ore or high-grade ore is a structural change in the making."Following the release of information at a public meeting hel...Read More
Edward Meir has joined international financial brokerage firm ED&F Man Capital Markets as a senior commodity independent consultant.Until recently, Meir - who runs Commodity Research Group, a consultancy specializing in metals and energy research - was at INTL FCStone in New York.He joined INTL in 2011 after nine years primarily in Man Group's base metals and energy team.Prior to...Read More
China's sustained presence as a buyer in Southeast Asia's spot billet market has been boosting prices in the region, sources told Fastmarkets. At least two cargoes involving close to 80,000 tonnes of Indian billet and 55,000 tonnes of Russian billet were booked at $395-400 per tonne cfr China after the country's October 1-7 Golden Week to commemorate its 70th National Day."The major buyers are re-...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures slipped 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved slightly lower following release of September Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a revised gain of 0.6% in August. Actual was a drop of 0.3%. Excluding auto sales, consensus was an increase of 0.2% versus no change in August. Actual was...Read More
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday October 14, falling by more than 4% over the afternoon against high turnover while the majority of the base metals complex followed that downtrend.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16,600 per tonne, falling by more than 4% from an intraday high of $17,545 per tonne, while more than...Read More
Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA)."At first, no company is really aiming to charge a higher premium for 'greener' aluminium," CBA's primary aluminium director Luis Jorge Nunes told Fastmarkets in an exclusive...Read More
There has been a significant rise in the number of Western Australian alumina cargoes imported into China over the past few weeks due to a widening arbitrage that has made it profitable to bring overseas material into the country. Market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 14 that they have heard a number of negotiations taking place to bring cargoes of Australian alumina into China. The la...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 14 that are worth another look.Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA).The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) will advocate for a Ch...Read More
There has been a significant rise in the number of Western Australian alumina cargoes imported into China over the past few weeks due to a widening arbitrage that has made it profitable to bring overseas material into the country. Market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 14 that they have heard a number of negotiations taking place to bring cargoes of Australian alumina into China. The la...Read More