Taiwan will defer the imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on five Chinese steel and stainless steel products, the island's customs administration said last week. The decision to delay the tariffs was made after considering the recommendation of Taiwan's International Trade Commission (ITC), the impact on Taiwan's economic interests and the global economic situation, Taiwan's Custo...Read More
The price of steel billet in the Turkish market has remained stable over the past week while the steel mills in the country mostly focused on the markets for finished steel products, sources said on Thursday October 10.Suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region continued to offer material to Turkey at $365-370 per tonne cfr, but bids from Turkish customers...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for rebar and wire rod have gone up over the past week, while the country's lira weakens against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday October 10.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey, was TRY2,790-2,800 ($477-478) per tonne on Thursday, up from the TRY2,730-2,780 per tonne of last week.Steel mills in the Izmir region...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 10, nearing the $2,400 per tonne resistance level against a continued drawdown of LME stocks, while copper breached nearby resistance amid moderate turnover.Zinc's outright price closed at $2,388 per tonne in the afternoon, its highest price since August 1, while volumes traded were high...Read More
Vedanta's Skorpion zinc refinery will shut for four months from November due to a lack of local concentrate feed, the company told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 10. Skorpion is an integrated zinc mining and smelting operation located in Namibia, which produced 90,000 tonnes of refined zinc in 2018. It had been scheduled to produce 130,000 tonnes in 2020. But the smelter will soon not have enough...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 10 that are worth another look.The queue to remove metal from London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses operated by H&M Metal in Busan, South Korea rose to 30 days at the end of September, according to the latest LME data.New customs declaration procedures could be put in place by European Union member states if the Uni...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
Following a flip in global steel and ferrous trade flow trends last year caused by economic jitters in Turkey, trade defenses by the United States and production cuts in China, this year it is steel prices that are turning upside down. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices are now below rebar prices in a phenomenon rarely seen outside of the Chinese domestic markets. HRC import prices in Vietnam have...Read More
The whole battery supply chain will benefit from lithium benchmark pricing, Fastmarkets head of battery raw materials research William Adams says as he explores what is driving auto manufacturers to support this pricing mechanism. The auto industry is going through a period of unprecedented change due to companies introducing electric vehicles (EV) into their portfolios alongside internal combusti...Read More
Cindy Guan has joined TradeCloud as a marketing executive to solidify its presence in China and South Korea, the company said on Monday September 30.Launched in October 2017, TradeCloud is a digital metals trading platform where producers, consumers and traders can meet to exchange information, negotiate contracts and conclude business. Guan will be based in Shanghai, China....Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 10, nearing the $2,400 per tonne resistance level against a continued drawdown of LME stocks, while copper breached nearby resistance amid moderate turnover.Zinc's outright price closed at $2,388 per tonne in the afternoon, its highest price since August 1, while volumes traded were high...Read More
The connection between physical demand fundamentals and futures price action has broken, say market participants, pointing to nickel stocks on the London Metal Exchange at an 11-year low and the benchmark cash/three-month spread in a backwardation of over $160 per tonne. There have been unprecedented daily drawdowns of LME nickel stocks, which are at their lowest since 2008 at 102,696 tonnes on Th...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Thursday October 10 following a big decline a day earlier, thanks to gains in the futures markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.68 per tonne, up by $2.62 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.23 per tonne, up by $3.89 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.08 per tonne, up by $2.33 per tonne.58% Fe fi...Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have fallen quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets following political developments that have raised concerns in the market, sources said on Thursday October 10.The most recent confirmed transaction was done from the United States on October 9. A Turkish steel producer booked a cargo comprising 23,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $233 per tonne and 17,000 tonnes of shredded at...Read More
Any hopes the United States might relax its sanctions on Turkish steel exports appear to have been scuppered after Turkey launched an air and ground assault on Kurdish-held northern Syria. On Wednesday October 9, Turkey launched 'Operation Peace Spring' east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders, after the US army retreated from the region. And on Thursday, the head of the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 10 that are worth another look.The queue to remove metal from London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses operated by H&M Metal in Busan, South Korea rose to 30 days at the end of September, according to the latest LME data.New customs declaration procedures could be put in place by European Union member states if the Uni...Read More
Workers at Asarco's copper mines and processing facilities in Arizona and Texas may vote to go on strike due to disagreements over the renewal of work contracts, a United Steelworkers (USW) union representative confirmed to Fastmarkets.The union is holding informational member meetings to discuss the contract negotiations with Tucson, Arizona-based Asarco.Three meetings were scheduled to take plac...Read More
The queue to remove metal from London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses operated by H&M Metal in Busan, South Korea rose to 30 days at the end of September, according to the latest LME data.The 30-day queue at the warehouse is for aluminium, copper, lead and zinc. This is up from 10 days at the end of August. The original queue built up due to fresh cancellations in Busan. From August 23 to...Read More
The connection between physical demand fundamentals and futures price action has broken, say market participants, pointing to nickel stocks on the London Metal Exchange at an 11-year low and the benchmark cash/three-month spread in a backwardation of over $160 per tonne. There have been unprecedented daily drawdowns of LME nickel stocks, which are at their lowest since 2008 at 102,696 tonnes on Th...Read More