Two new gold futures contracts launched by CME Group and the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) made their debut on Monday October 14. The two new financially-settled contracts, denominated in US dollars and the offshore Chinese yuan, are based on the SGE Shanghai Gold Benchmark PM price. The move is to connect global market participants to the Chinese physical gold market. The SGE also launched a new T...Read More
Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States fell again across the cold-finished and hot-rolled grades due to declining ferrous scrap prices, and demand from key end markets is expected to remain tepid for the rest of 2019.The price decrease stems from the $40-per-gross-ton decline in Chicago No1 busheling, a key feedstock for SBQ production. Fastmarkets understands that S...Read More
Steel plate prices in the United States did not move during the week to Friday October 11, while market participants stayed on the sidelines, fearing that prices could soon follow the steep drops that have taken place on the domestic ferrous scrap and hot-rolled coil markets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US, held at $33.50 per hundredweight ($67...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Egypt's biggest steelmaking group, Ezz Steel, for the first half of 2019, between January 1 and June 30.In briefEarnings were down due to "the falling price of steel products and the rising costs of iron ore pellets. This pressure was increased by the exceptionally high costs of funding and energy in Egypt," Paul...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia fell during the past week, with market participants remaining bearish due to the ongoing plunge in downstream hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets."Margins for steel mills in Southeast Asia have been squeezed because of the decline in HRC prices, which has led to demands for lower slab prices," a source in Southeast Asia said...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore resumed their downtrend over the past week due to ample supply.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $420-425 per tonne for the week to Monday October 14, down $10 per tonne from a week earlier.Qatari rebar offered at...Read More
Chinese import demand for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Asia failed to support upward movement in spot prices on Monday October 14. Fastmarkets' steel HRC import, cfr Vietnam assessment, which mainly looks at Chinese 2-3mm re-rolling-grade SAE1006 HRC and equivalent products sold into Vietnam, was $425-430 per tonne cfr for the week ending Monday October 14, down by $15 per tonne from a week earlier.&n...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices strengthened on Monday October 14 amid steady demand, making export transactions challenging even though the country reached some form of a truce with the United States last Friday amid an ongoing trade spat.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,600 yuan ($505-508) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,550 yuan per tonne, up 30 y...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices remained flat on Monday October 14 despite China and the United States making some progress in trade talks late last week. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,700-3,730 yuan ($522-526) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,570-3,600 yuan per tonne, unchangedThe US will be delaying the imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth o...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices remained stable over the past week with the mills keeping their buy prices unchanged, sources said on Monday October 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was TRY1,300-1,430 ($221-243) per tonne on Monday,...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes changing the publication times of its weekly global pig iron and hot-briquetted iron price assessments from 3pm to 4pm London time.The CIS export, fob main port Black Sea and fob main port Baltic Sea, price assessments, along with the pig iron import, cfr Italy, and HBI, cfr Italian ports assessments will be published at 4pm Lo...Read More
Physical iron ore prices dropped on Monday October 14 following losses in the derivatives markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.49 per tonne, down $2.27 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.03 per tonne, down $0.22 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.17 per tonne, down $2.73 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qing...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices moved up on Monday October 14 after Chinese end users returned to the spot market for the first time after a holiday in the first week of the month to mark China's National Day.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.62 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.36 per tonne, up $4.86 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13...Read More
Pig iron import prices in the United States stopped falling last week, despite weak scrap and hot-rolled coil prices, due to limited availability caused by suppliers focusing on the more lucrative Chinese market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $290-300 per tonne on October 11, unchanged week on week."The pig iron price should go down, considering whe...Read More
Seaborne iron ore concentrate continued to see narrower discounts after China's week-long National Day holiday in early October, while the pellet market remained weak.ConcentrateFastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao stood at $99.88 per tonne last Friday October 11, up $3.43 per tonne from the numbers for the previous two weeks.Fastmarkets' daily index for iron ore...Read More
The metals market remains cautious because there still seems a long way to go before a United States-China trade deal can be reached.Weak Chinese trade data highlights how the global economy is suffering - China's US dollar-denominated exports fell by 3.2% in September year on year, while imports dropped 8.5% in the same comparison.Asian equities are firmer across the board because at least some p...Read More
Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during morning trading on Monday October 14, with the complex largely shrugging off news of a "partial" trade deal being struck between the United States and China at the end of last week. There was fresh optimism in global markets on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced negotiators from China and the US had reached a substa...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe in the week to Friday October 11. China Key drivers The price for antimony, MMTA standard grade II, ddp China gained 3.2% after domestic suppliers raised their offer prices in response to resumed buying interest from consumers returning from the week-long National Day holiday (October 1-7). Many antimony producers were reluctant...Read More
Trade log for cobalt sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are yuan per tonne on an ex-works basis.The cobalt sulfate, Co 20.5% basis, China ex-works, adjustment to the standard-grade cobalt low-end price is on a $ per lb basis.Fastmarkets MB prices Click here for Fastmarket MB's price assessment for cobalt sulfate,...Read More
China's cobalt metal price consolidated gains made since late August on Friday October 11 due to weak demand and falling futures prices following the week-long national holiday break. Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, exw China dropped to 295,000-310,000 yuan per tonne (approx $16.72-17.57 per lb, China-VAT free) on Friday, down by 2.4% from the midweek pricing session. Spot de...Read More