Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 29 that are worth another look.The three-month nickel contract continued to outshine the rest of the London Metal Exchange base metals complex, rising by 2.3% at the close of trading on Thursday August 29.The iron ore market will be watching the rollout of China's policies and Chinese buyers' procurem...Read More
Prices for all brass scrap grades continued to slide over the week to Wednesday August 28, with slow domestic demand and China's restrictions on scrap imports from the United States taking a toll on the market.Fastmarkets' assessment for the copper scrap No1 comp solids, discount, buying price, delivered to brass ingot makers, fell by 4 cents to $1.88-1.92 per lb on August 28, extending a dow...Read More
Mark Lowe left Nizi International, where he was head of base metals, in June after one year with the Luxembourg trading house, Fastmarkets has learned. The former MRI chief executive officer was hired in mid-2018 to help Nizi diversify...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange increased slightly during morning trading on Thursday August 29, bolstered by a fresh cancellation of 24,425 tonnes, while the nickel-tin price differential continues to widen. The fresh cancellations in copper now total just over 59,000 tonnes, the bulk of which have occurred out of LME-registered warehouses in Asia. Yet the red metal...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
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
Market caution over developments surrounding the trade spat between the United States and China left metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange mixed, with nickel being the best-performing contract during morning trading on Thursday August 29 amid supply uncertainties and strong speculative sentiment."Supply-side uncertainties continue to support nickel prices, with markets awaiting clarity ov...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
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 steel H-beam price in the Southern European domestic market decreased this week to move into alignment with prices in the northern market. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?575-605 ($637-671) per tonne on Wednesday August 28, down by ?,?10-35 per tonne week on week. Participants commented that regional disparities within the European mark...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
Physical iron ore prices retreat slightly on Thursday August 29 while market participants await confirmation of production restrictions in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $81.47 per tonne, down $0.98 per tonne. 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $81.85 per tonne, down $0.98 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $80.20 per tonne, down $0.96 per tonne...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were largely steady on Thursday August 29 after the most-recent transactions sent fob Australia and cfr China prices for premium products in opposite directions.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $149 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.01 per to...Read More
The iron ore market will be watching the rollout of China's policies and Chinese buyers' procurement strategies in the winter months to see what lies ahead for the steelmaking raw material, which has faced substantial price volatility this year. The winter heating season in China has become a crucial period for iron ore buyers and suppliers, with environmental protection a key aspect of China's 13...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
Markets are once again consolidating in the morning of Friday August 30, waiting to see how the United States responds to China’s comments that it wants to make a trade deal.While any deal would likely turn sentiment bullish quickly, it does look as though the market is skeptical that anything will come of this. We should be braced for an active day because the next wave of US tariff increase...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 16 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for July Personal Income was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.4% in June. Actual was an increase of 0.1%. Consensus for July Personal Spending was an increase of 0.5% versus a gain o...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Wednesday August 28, breaching the $16,000 per tonne resistance level in a bout of short covering, while tightness in the metal's forward curve meant that it continued to trade at record levels.Some 8,000 lots of nickel changed hands by the close of trading on Wednesday, while the metal's price fluctuat...Read More