Markets remain nervous on Thursday August 29, especially since the next wave of US tariff increases on Chinese goods are set to come into effect on September 1 and the US yield curve is showing the deepest inversion since 2007, with the 30-year yield falling to a historic low on Wednesday. Apart from nickel and to a lesser extent lead, most base metals prices remain in low ground, seemingly becaus...Read More
Due to a technical issue, Fastmarkets MB's 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore fines index data series found in the Fastmarkets Excel Add-in had some missing data. The missing data was scattered from November 2014 to March 2015.The missing data was from November 26, 2014 to December 5, 2014; December 16, 2014; from December 22, 2014 to January 5, 2015; January 16, 2015; and from January 19, 2015 to Marc...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China continued to fall over the past week amid soft demand.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic, ex-whs China in the country's major market of Wuxi was 14,900-15,300 yuan ($2,079-2,135) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday August 28, down 100 yuan per tonne from a week earlier. Stai...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets, expecting lower prices, after recently booking a number of cargoes for early-September deliveries, sources said on Thursday August 29.Most recent bookings involved US and UK cargoes sold at $270 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), dragging the daily indices down by almost $12 per tonne on August 27.But the mills have low...Read More
Markets remain nervous on Thursday August 29, especially since the next wave of US tariff increases on Chinese goods are set to come into effect on September 1 and the US yield curve is showing the deepest inversion since 2007, with the 30-year yield falling to a historic low on Wednesday. Apart from nickel and to a lesser extent lead, most base metals prices remain in low ground, seemingly becaus...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil decreased over the week ended Thursday August 29, with the market still slow because of falling prices, sources told Fastmarkets.The country's main export market, Europe, was still in its holiday season, so the export sector remained slow.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was poor over the pricing week beca...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) decreased over the week ended Thursday August 29, with demand remaining soft, sources have told Fastmarkets.Buyers wanted to wait to see when prices will reach a bottom before placing orders, while end-user demand was still subdued by the summer holiday season.HRC exportsTurkey's export market price for HRC decreased this week on l...Read More
Transaction prices for domestic hot-rolled coil in Europe are expected to move up in the next couple of weeks on a seasonal recovery of trading activity, market sources say.But any price increase will likely be short-lived due to weak demand among end users. Such a scenario would have a negative impact on distributors caught between mills looking to raise prices and end users resisting such effort...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar prices have seen a slight recovery because of the weakness of the country's lira, although demand for material was still poor, sources said on Thursday August 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey, was TRY3,000-3,030 ($515-521) per tonne on Thursday, up from last week's TRY2,970-3,030 per tonne ex-works, including 18%...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices have gone down over the past week due to sluggish demand and falling raw material costs, sources said on Thursday August 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $435-440 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $440-450 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis.Turkish producers have reduced...Read More
The import price for steel billet in Egypt fell in the week ended Thursday August 29, with market activity limited because buyers want to wait until a court decides on the imposition of an import safeguard duty and prices hit bottom.Egypt's Administrative Court suspended temporary safeguarding duties on billet and rebar in July, prompting a flurry of legal activity, which eventually led to the sch...Read More
The Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore fines index, first published in January 2014, was launched with a six-month published price history. This data, dating to August 2013, was calculated internally prior to the index's launch. Due to a technical issue, the data series found in Price Book and Fastmarkets' Excel Add-In only extended to July 2014. The full history, including the extended...Read More
Due to a technical issue, Fastmarkets MB's 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore fines index data series found in the Fastmarkets Excel Add-in had some missing data. The missing data was scattered from November 2014 to March 2015.The missing data was from November 26, 2014 to December 5, 2014; December 16, 2014; from December 22, 2014 to January 5, 2015; January 16, 2015; and from January 19, 2015 to Marc...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets, expecting lower prices, after recently booking a number of cargoes for early-September deliveries, sources said on Thursday August 29.Most recent bookings involved US and UK cargoes sold at $270 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), dragging the daily indices down by almost $12 per tonne on August 27.But the mills have low...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have gone down over the past week in line with falling scrap values and limited demand for the material, sources said on Thursday August 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr main port Turkey, was $395-405 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $410-415 per tonne cfr.The suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have...Read More
The import price for steel billet in Egypt fell in the week ended Thursday August 29, with market activity limited because buyers want to wait until a court decides on the imposition of an import safeguard duty and prices hit bottom.Egypt's Administrative Court suspended temporary safeguarding duties on billet and rebar in July, prompting a flurry of legal activity, which eventually led to the sch...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Thursday August 29, but participants see lower prices on expectations of more relaxed production restrictions in northern Chinese steel hub Tangshan in September. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,530-3,580 yuan ($493-500) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,530-3,550 yuan per tonne, unchanged Sellers held their offer prices on the lower i...Read More
Export prices for Chinese stainless steel declined week on week despite the higher cost of nickel after suppliers lowered their asking prices in response to poor demand, market sources said.Concerns about Indonesia potentially bringing forward its ban on unprocessed nickel ore exports continued to provide support for nickel prices.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange has av...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 Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore fines index, first published in January 2014, was launched with a six-month published price history. This data, dating to August 2013, was calculated internally prior to the index's launch. Due to a technical issue, the data series found in Price Book and Fastmarkets' Excel Add-In only extended to July 2014. The full history, including the extended...Read More