Special bar quality (SBQ) prices in the United States declined after ferrous scrap costs dropped in September while demand remained muted. Plentiful inventory and weak end-use markets including the domestic oil-and-gas industry and automakers ensured that SBQ producers could not sustain August prices, according to market participants. "The market is languishing," a mill source said. Fast...Read More
Bargain-hunting buyers in Singapore buyers are indeed turning to Turkish rebar after prices for ferrous scrap in Turkey fell to their lowest in close to three years over the past week.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 $440-450 per tonne for the week...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of the current week, digesting the latest cargo transacted from the United States, sources said on Monday September 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo at the end of last week, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $240 per tonne, 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $245 per tonne and 2,000 to...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone down over the past seven days on weakening imported scrap values, sources said on Monday September 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was TRY1,400-1,575 ($245-276) per tonne on Monday, down from last week's TRY1,445-1,650 per tonne.Steel mills and a major scrapyard have decreased their buy...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Monday September 16 amid inactive trading after China returned from a three-day weekend to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.45 per tonne, down $0.85 per tonne. 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.84 per tonne, down $0.85 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.94 per ton...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices increased on Monday September 16 following a strong showing by steel futures following an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,750 yuan ($525-530) per tonne, up 70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,640-3,670 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneThe most-traded November crude oil contract on the Shan...Read More
The pellet segment of the seaborne iron ore market is starting to show signs of moving from annual contracts to shorter-term ones.The recent drop in iron ore prices amid improvements in Brazilian and Australian supply and a weak global steel market have led to buyers renegotiating the premium they had agreed with Brazil's Vale under annual contracts for pellet shipments to be made in the last thre...Read More
The proposal by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEX) to buy the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has raised a number of questions among metals market participants, most of whom are skeptical that the deal will go through during a time of political upheaval.HKEX's ?29.6-billion ($36.5-billion) proposal to acquire the LSEG was announced on Wednesday September 11, and comes seven years a...Read More
Eastern China's Shagang has raised the list prices for its rebar and wire rod booked in mid-September.The mill is selling its HRB400 16-25mm rebar at 3,820 yuan ($537) per tonne over the September 11-20 period, up 100 yuan per tonne from its...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in New York, London and Shanghai in the week ending Friday September 13.United StatesKey drivers Spot silicon fell below $1 per lb on the low end for the first time in three years in the United States, on excess supply and the undercutting of domestic material by overseas suppliers.Consumers are themselves said...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday September 16, below nearby support levels, while a continued sell-off in nickel futures saw that commodity's outright price fall by 2.6%.Volumes traded in copper over the afternoon were moderate, with some 17,000 lots exchanged by the close, while the red metal's closing price of $5,870 per tonne...Read More
The Turkish steel producers went quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of the current week, digesting the latest cargo transacted from the United States, sources said on Monday September 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo at the end of last week, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $240 per tonne, 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $245 per tonne and 2,000 to...Read More
Nickel mining operations across four unspecified sites in the Philippines' Tawi-Tawi region will be halted indefinitely to facilitate the implementation of the country's Bangsamoro Responsible Mining law, Environment, Natural Resources and Energy Minister Abdulraof Abdul Macacua said on Monday September 16. The suspension will further reduce the country's declining nickel output, which fell by 16....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday September 16 that are worth another look.Brazilian multi-metal and mining company Vale has announced plans to build a further two nickel smelters in Indonesia in joint ventures with China and Japan, the deputy chief executive officer of Vale Indonesia said in a Saturday September 14 news interview.Newmont Goldcorp has suspen...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
Asia's hot-rolled coil markets are now seeking bright spots after price falls in the region eased.Prices have rebounded in the past week in the key regional market China of while the monsoon season in India is approaching its end."It is possible that the price drops have stopped and the bottom has been reached," a buyer source in Vietnam told Fastmarkets on Friday September 13.Supply of Indian HRC...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday September 16, below nearby support levels, while a continued sell-off in nickel futures saw that commodity's outright price fall by 2.6%.Volumes traded in copper over the afternoon were moderate, with some 17,000 lots exchanged by the close, while the red metal's closing price of $5,870 per tonne...Read More
London Metal Exchange Week, the largest annual gathering of metals and mining figures in the world, is set to begin on Sunday October 27. Below is a list of the events and functions scheduled for the week. Please be aware that many events are private entry and admission is strictly by invitation only. Sunday 27 October 6:45pm - Marex Spectron Dinner, The Savoy Hotel, Strand, WC2R 0EZ Monday 28 Oct...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market remained quiet on Monday September 16 despite the return of Chinese participants after a long weekend due to the Mid-Autumn Festival last Friday.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $148.15 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $131.75 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $15...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone down over the past seven days on weakening imported scrap values, sources said on Monday September 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was TRY1,400-1,575 ($245-276) per tonne on Monday, down from last week's TRY1,445-1,650 per tonne.Steel mills and a major scrapyard have decreased their buy...Read More