Prices of austenitic alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market were stable this week at last week's closing level amid relatively stable nickel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6. A surge in the nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange on August 30 of 9.6% day on day resulted in higher scrap prices, which in turn widened upward the range of scrap prices for that week. Nic...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
A tighter supply-demand balance for iron ore at Chinese ports coupled with sharp price decreases in the seaborne market have led to the steelmaking raw material being sold at large premiums at the docks in China.Fastmarkets' implied China port price for 62% Fe iron ore fines, fot Qingdao was $10.18 per tonne higher than its index for 62% Fe iron ore fines, cfr Qingdao on August 5. This is the wide...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange remain at historically low levels despite low stock levels, high premiums and sustained elevated raw materials costs. The LME aluminium three-month price has failed to trade over $2,000 per tonne since 2018 and closed at just $1,775 per tonne on Wednesday September 4. Yesterday's close price was 9% lower than the 2019 high of $1,951 per tonne from Marc...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price closed higher on Friday September 6, with fresh buying momentum prompting the metal's forward spreads to tighten, while a steady incline in lead futures led the metal to top afternoon gains. Volumes traded in nickel over the afternoon were moderate at 8,600 lots, while average daily turnover returned to the August average of below 10,000 lots. Mor...Read More
Barring copper and zinc, base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell in the week to Friday September 6, with the biggest percentage fall in lead stocks, which tumbled by 16.3% or 5,081 tonnes to 25,998 tonnes. The largest outflow in lead inventories was registered at Zongchu Wuxi's warehouse in Jiangsu, which delivered out 2,863 tonnes leaving 8,641 tonnes of material,...Read More
Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal on an fob Australia basis edged up on Friday September 6 while the other segments remained stable, leaving buyers and sellers on the lookout for factors that could set a more definite tone for the market. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $151.43 per tonne, up $2.34 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $169.01 per tonne...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price closed higher on Friday September 6, with fresh buying momentum prompting the metal's forward spreads to tighten, while a steady incline in lead futures led the metal to top afternoon gains. Volumes traded in nickel over the afternoon were moderate at 8,600 lots, while average daily turnover returned to the August average of below 10,000 lots. Mor...Read More
Stainless steel flat product prices in Europe remained unchanged this week with poor demand countering the effect of high nickel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,300-2,350 ($2,539-2,594) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week. Di...Read More
Secondary aluminium alloy prices fell across the board on Thursday September 5 due to diminishing demand in the United States, with the London Metal Exchange's North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) also tumbling to a more than 10-year low.Fastmarkets' assessment for aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest, was at 63-67 cents per lb on September 5, down a penny from 6...Read More
Some aluminium scrap prices in the United States slipped over the past week, with the majority unchanged from the previous week, due to muted market activity and a lack of demand, sources said on Thursday September 5.Fastmarkets' assessment of the aluminium scrap non-ferrous auto shred (90% Al) buying price, delivered to Midwest secondary smelters, was at 38-40 cents per lb on September...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Barring copper and zinc, base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell in the week to Friday September 6, with the biggest percentage fall in lead stocks, which tumbled by 16.3% or 5,081 tonnes to 25,998 tonnes. The largest outflow in lead inventories was registered at Zongchu Wuxi's warehouse in Jiangsu, which delivered out 2,863 tonnes leaving 8,641 tonnes of material,...Read More
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the listing of a non-ferrous metals exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). The Dacheng Fund Nonferrous Metal Futures ETF will track the Shanghai Futures Exchange Non-ferrous Metals Futures Index, SZSE said on Monday September 2. "Investors will have one more tool to defuse investment risks and improve asset a...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Friday September 6, with upward momentum tempered by a fresh inflow of some 1,100 tonnes, while copper futures continued to find support above the $5,800-per-tonne support level. Recently trading at around $17,405 per tonne, nickel futures remain in a downtrend after news of an expedited Indonesian ore ba...Read More
There was an air of optimism among copper participants attending a conference in the Chinese city of Qiqihar on Thursday September 5, with many there telling Fastmarkets they had heard deals and offers for copper cathode at higher levels than in recent weeks due to improving market fundamentals.The higher offers and deals for copper cathode basis cif and in-warehouse Shanghai heard on Thursday fol...Read More
The export price of Brazil-origin slab increased this week amid renewed deals to the United States' West Coast, market participants told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $430-450 per tonne on Friday September 6, up from $425-435 per tonne fob the previous week.A revival in demand from US slab buyers, especially on the West Coast, led to deals at $440-450...Read More
Cold-rolled and galvanized coil prices in the United States were steady this past week, although market conditions were said to be more robust than for hot-rolled coil.Most sources indicated prices were unchanged week on week, with Fastmarkets' assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, holding at $37.50 per hundredweight ($750 per short ton) on Thursday September 5, unchan...Read More
Latin America's apparent steel consumption fell by 3% year on year in the first half of 2019, to 33.67 million tonnes, mainly due to lower performance in Mexico and Argentina."Latin America's performance is reflecting the global economic deceleration," Latin American steel industry association Alacero's general director, Francisco Leal, told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 5.From January to June...Read More