European flat steel producers have increased their official offer prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC), but buyers doubt that transaction prices will increase, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 22.Market activity has been slow this week due to the seasonal slowdown. Although market activity traditionally starts to recover in late August-early September, buyers doubt that the rebound in deman...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month zinc price was lower at the close of trading on Thursday August 22, a day in which trading ranged $2,230-2,290 per tonne, while the backwardation in the nickel forward spread widened to its highest since 2015. The galvanizing metal closed trading at $2,245 per tonne, falling some 1.8% from an intraday high of $2,287 per tonne and from $2,285 per tonne at Wedne...Read More
Yildirim Group will close three high carbon ferro-chrome furnaces for at least three months for maintenance, removing 10,000 tonnes per month of ferro-chrome from the market. The Turkish industrial group will close two ferro-chrome furnaces at its Eti Krom subsidiary in Turkey for three months and a third furnace at its Tikhvin ferro-alloy plant in Russia, the company said on Thursday August 22. T...Read More
Switzerland-based AfriMet Resources has launched the world's newest tin book, targeting tin trading and project investment with the support of steel specialist Vanomet Holding AG. Trading house AfriMet plans to target long-term tin projects in Africa, which has long been a large tin resource. A recent drive of production in the region, such as Alphamin Resources' Bisie tin mine in the Democratic R...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 22 that are worth another look.In March of this year, Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro was the victim of a cyberattack. Fastmarkets goes behind the scenes to find out how events unfolded, and what has happened since.The Qingdao Intermediate People's Court has put up for sale a significant quantity of aluminium in...Read More
Shon Loth - former global head of metals, minerals and freight at London commodities merchant Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP) - will join Grafton Commodity Trading in October in a return to base metals, Fastmarkets learned.Loth will join Grafton, part of Lugano-based DXT Commodities, to help build out a base metals book with...Read More
Chinese steel mills are banking on infrastructure projects to beat the 2019 bear market, although the remaining months of the year are not expected to be as rosy as January-June due to the country's slowing growth rate. "Some sectors have been growing fast enough to bolster demand for some steel producers in the first half of 2019, especially those which supply steel to the infrastructure and heav...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month zinc price was lower at the close of trading on Thursday August 22, a day in which trading ranged $2,230-2,290 per tonne, while the backwardation in the nickel forward spread widened to its highest since 2015. The galvanizing metal closed trading at $2,245 per tonne, falling some 1.8% from an intraday high of $2,287 per tonne and from $2,285 per tonne at Wedne...Read More
The aluminium price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange has remained near 10-month highs this week since it hit 14,395 yuan ($2,038) per tonne on Monday August 19 in reaction to recent aluminium supply disruptions. Aluminium's most-traded October contract closed at 14,395 yuan per tonne on Monday, the highest since October 10, 2018, when it closed at 14,400 yuan per tonne. The most-traded aluminium c...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was steady on Thursday August 22, with Chinese buying activity keeping prices largely at prevailing levels.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.67 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.12 per tonne, up $1.03 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $138.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153 per tonn...Read More
The export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was quiet during the week ended Thursday August 22, on holiday absences and the competitive cost of scrap as an alternative.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $330-340 per tonne on Thursday, down from $335-343 per tonne a week before.The Italian...Read More
Global refined zinc usage dropped slightly in the month of June while mine production rose by 1.9% in the first half of 2019. According to the latest International Lead & Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) report dated Wednesday August 21, refined zinc consumption totaled 1.1207 million tonnes in June this year compared with 1.1465 million tonnes in May and 1.1939 million tonnes in April. The ILZSG did not...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 22 that are worth another look.In March of this year, Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro was the victim of a cyberattack. Fastmarkets goes behind the scenes to find out how events unfolded, and what has happened since.The Qingdao Intermediate People's Court has put up for sale a significant quantity of aluminium in...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday August 26. After that, because of the UK's Summer Bank Holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Wednesday August 28Read More
The aluminium price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange has remained near 10-month highs this week since it hit 14,395 yuan ($2,038) per tonne on Monday August 19 in reaction to recent aluminium supply disruptions. Aluminium's most-traded October contract closed at 14,395 yuan per tonne on Monday, the highest since October 10, 2018, when it closed at 14,400 yuan per tonne. The most-traded aluminium c...Read More
The Qingdao Intermediate People's Court has put up for sale a significant quantity of aluminium ingots and copper cathodes impounded in 2014 during a government crackdown over the misuse of collateral for financing metals in Qingdao. A total 87,100 tonnes of aluminium ingots, 63,585 tonnes of alumina and 12,368 tonnes of copper cathodes have been listed to be auctioned this month, according to a n...Read More
A summary of South32's earnings and production results for its 2019 financial year ended June 30. In brief: South32's underlying adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) declined by 13% to $2.2 billion in its 2019 financial year. Underlying earnings decreased by 25% to $992 million. Lower aluminium and thermal coal prices more than offset stronger prices for...Read More
Prices for most imported flat steel products in the United States have moved lower in line with their domestic counterparts, while sources expressed bearish outlooks for the US market at year-end.Import market participants had hoped previously that, with flat-rolled price increases announced by domestic mills gaining traction, imported products could potentially become attractive again. But f...Read More
Prices for imported steel reinforcing bar in the United States have continued to decline amid reports of confirmed material purchases from Spain, Turkey and Algeria, with the domestic market steady. Fastmarkets assessed steel rebar, import, cfr Houston, at $580-590 per short ton on Wednesday August 21, down by 2.5% from $590-610 per short ton two weeks earlier.Prices for imported rebar have b...Read More
ArcelorMittal Brasil has decided to continue the idling of blast furnace No2 at its Tubar??o plant, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Esp?-rito Santo, at least until the end of this year because of the tough market conditions, chief executive officer Benjamin Baptista told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 21.Work to refurbush the unit started earlier than expected, on June 23. It was originall...Read More