The major Egyptian rebar producers have kept their rebar prices unchanged for orders to be placed in September, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 2.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is offering rebar at E ?11,890 ($718) per tonne ex-works, Beshay Steel is offering rebar at E ?11,830 per tonne ex-works and El-Marakby Steel's price is E ?11,580 per tonne ex-works. All thes...Read More
The CIS steel export billet market continued to weaken on the first trading day in September, amid a pessimistic mood in the global scrap market and limited demand in the major sales outlets.Given these conditions, a fresh booking was heard on Monday September 2 only after a significant price discount was provided by the selling mill.A 30,000-tonne cargo of Russia-origin material...Read More
China's domestic rebar market picked up amid rising futures on Monday September 2, but export prices dropped on expectations of higher production this month due to looser steelmaking restrictions in Tangshan. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,590-3,620 yuan ($501-505) per tonne, up 30-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,580-3,600 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneRebar futures increa...Read More
The major Egyptian rebar producers have kept their rebar prices unchanged for orders to be placed in September, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 2.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is offering rebar at E ?11,890 ($718) per tonne ex-works, Beshay Steel is offering rebar at E ?11,830 per tonne ex-works and El-Marakby Steel's price is E ?11,580 per tonne ex-works. All thes...Read More
Currency exchange rates can make or break a steel trade, and with forex volatility in emerging markets expected to continue for the rest of the year, the Asian ferrous markets are likely to see more price fluctuations before the end of 2019.These five currency pairs should be on your watch-list for the significant influences they could bring to bear on key global steel and ferrous scrap trade flow...Read More
The protracted economic battle between the United States and China will rewrite the rules of global trading and will not be resolved anytime soon, steel market sources in Asia told Fastmarkets."The world will wait and see who is able to gain the upper hand in the end and then follow the new rules of trading set by the winner," a major trader in China said.Market sources expect the entire ferrous s...Read More
The global market for direct-reduced (DR) iron pellets was under pressure from falling prices for both steel scrap and finished steel products in August, sources told Fastmarkets last week.Fastmarkets lowered its iron ore DR-grade pellet premium, Middle East reference, to $62 per tonne on Friday August 30, from $65 per tonne on July 31."A [DR pellet premium of] $62 per tonne is still 'in the ballp...Read More
Treatment charges for zinc and lead (TCs) rose in August with the arbitrage to bring material into China switching markedly to a negative value.TCs for lead concentrates in particular rose sharply, to levels not seen in the past two years. The arbitrage loss to bring refined lead into China hit 1,100-2,300 yuan ($154-321) per tonne at the end of the month, with the futures price rising on the Lond...Read More
A nationwide strike from South Africa's truck drivers will support prices for commodities based in the country, such as 37% manganese ore or UG2 chrome ore, but it would need to continue for more than a couple of weeks, market participants said.The strike began on September 2 in protest of the employment of foreign drivers, with some South African drivers accusing the foreign drivers of undercutti...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange closed higher on Monday September 2, just above the $18,000 per tonne level, despite losing 4% of morning gains, while tin's outright price also failed to maintain upward momentum. Volumes traded in nickel topped the complex over the afternoon, with just under 15,000 lots changing hands by the close, while turnover in tin reached 900 lots b...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
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange closed higher on Monday September 2, just above the $18,000 per tonne level, despite losing 4% of morning gains, while tin's outright price also failed to maintain upward momentum. Volumes traded in nickel topped the complex over the afternoon, with just under 15,000 lots changing hands by the close, while turnover in tin reached 900 lots b...Read More
China Minmetals Rare Earth Co Ltd has won 18,661 tonnes of antimony ingots held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange in an auction that ended at 10am Beijing time on Sunday September 1.As the only bidder at the auction, it came as no surprise that China Minmetals won the auction of the entire antimony stock at a price of around 546 million yuan ($76.28 million), according to the official auction re...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Monday September 2, after a month of sharp decreases in August. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.01 per tonne, unchanged Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153.75 per tonne, unc...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 producers have started the week quietly, and have not booked any new deep-sea scrap cargoes despite a heavy drop in prices last week, sources said on Monday September 2.The markets have been silent since August 27, when prices dropped by $11.55 per tonne day on day on news of the latest trades.Since then, however, traders have stepped back...Read More
The major Egyptian rebar producers have kept their rebar prices unchanged for orders to be placed in September, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 2.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is offering rebar at E ?11,890 ($718) per tonne ex-works, Beshay Steel is offering rebar at E ?11,830 per tonne ex-works and El-Marakby Steel's price is E ?11,580 per tonne ex-works. All thes...Read More
The ample availability of stock and poor demand for aluminium in Asia have led market participants to expect a downtrend for fourth quarter main Japan ports (MJP) premiums, Fastmarkets heard on Monday September 2.Widely considered Asia's main benchmark price level, Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A MJP spot premium, cif Japan at $85-95 per tonne on Friday August 30, flat for the third cons...Read More
A summary of Codelco's copper and molybdenum production results and sales volumes for the first half of the year, ended on June 30. In brief Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco reported a year-on-year decrease in production for the first half of the year, amid heavy rains and a strike at the Chuquicamata unit, as well as an overall lower copper content in mined ore. Output disruption, coup...Read More
Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro and the Brazilian federal prosecutors' office (MPF) have filed a joint petition to remove the embargoes on Alunorte's new bauxite residue deposit area. The petition has been sent to the Federal Court in Bel?(C)m, Brazil, who put an embargo in place at the Alunorte alumina refinery on March 1, 2018, to suspend the use of the solid waste deposit 2 (DRS2). Emb...Read More