ArcelorMittal Brasil could slightly delay the galvanizing capacity expansion at its Vega do Sul unit as it awaits final approval from the group's board of directors, regional chief executive officer Benjamin Baptista told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 21.The company is waiting for summer vacations to be over in Europe to present all of the necessary documents to the board, he added. Production i...Read More
Brazilian slab prices remained unchanged during the week ended August 23, amid opposing price signs and few reported deals.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, remained at $425-435 per tonne fob on August 23, stable from the previous week.Most destinations of Brazilian slab were Canada, Europe and Mexico, sources said. Producers were aiming at prices at least...Read More
The Chinese government has revived a 25% tariff on imports of US automobiles and a 5% tariff on auto parts, set to take effect on December 15, which some market participants worry could imperil future investments as well as steel and base metals demand.Chinese tariffs on US-made cars and auto parts were placed on hold in April, but the Chinese government reinstated them on Friday August 23. Beijin...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price lost gains made over the course of the trading day to close at $15,665 per tonne on Friday August 23, down 1.3% from the intraday high of $15,860 per tonne, despite a healthy 11,294-lot turnover, the highest since August 8. A significant 22,620 lots were traded on August 8 when a short-covering rally driven by Chinese investment buyers pushed the...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for spot copper concentrates rose marginally in mid-August following five consecutive weeks of declines, with few smelters in the market buying tonnages at stable terms.Fastmarkets' copper concentrate TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific rebounded to $50.20 per tonne/ 5.02 cents per lb on August 23, up from $49.60 per tonne/ 4.96 cents per lb a week ago - whic...Read More
The auctions of aluminium ingots, alumina and copper cathodes by Qingdao Intermediate People's Court have ended this week, with Europe-based trading houses winning some of the listings, according to official auction documents from JD.com dated Friday August 23. The significant quantity of metal was impounded in 2014 during a government crackdown over the misuse of collateral for financing metals i...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Global scrap prices trended downward during the week ended Friday August 23, negatively affected by lackluster demand with buyers taking a pessimistic outlook on scrap prices in the near term. Turkish import prices down on tepid demand US export prices flat on lack of trading Asian import prices decline, buyers wait for lower prices Indian prices hit new year-to-date low.TurkeyTurkish mills finall...Read More
Treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for spot copper concentrates rose marginally in mid-August following five consecutive weeks of declines, with few smelters in the market buying tonnages at stable terms.Fastmarkets' copper concentrate TC/RC index basis cif Asia Pacific rebounded to $50.20 per tonne/ 5.02 cents per lb on August 23, up from $49.60 per tonne/ 4.96 cents per lb a week ago - whic...Read More
European alloy steel scrap prices widened downward this week to reflect lower nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 23.This week, nickel prices retreated slightly from the four-and-a-half-year high reached on August 16. Given the rapid increases seen previously, traders were cautious and only some transactions reflected these losses in the prices of alloy steel scrap.The price...Read More
With little changed in the depressed markets, focus will now turn to what ideas central bankers come up with when they meet at the Economic Policy Symposium at Jackson Hole, in the US state of Wyoming, on Friday August 23.Thursday's flash manufacturing purchasing managers' indices (PMI) showed US manufacturing moving into contraction for the first time since 2009, while Japan and Europe remained i...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices concluded at lower prices on high material inventory in China and lower prices from small-sized producers and traders trying to boost sales amid the price downtrend, while prices in the rest of the world prices sat unchanged. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices down on short-term negative sentiment and ampl...Read More
Indian domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained stable in August with import volumes of this key upstream commodity coming to a halt, Fastmarkets heard on Friday August 23."We have been able to maintain domestic HRC prices for the current month because there is no threat of low-priced HRC imports entering the [Indian domestic] market for some [foreseeable] time," an official from an Indi...Read More
Turkish import prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil decreased over the week ended Friday August 23, while the price of HRC exports increased with higher offers, sources told Fastmarkets. Turkey was celebrating the Islamic religious holiday of Eid-Al Fitr on August 12-14, leaving the market steady last week. This week, domestic demand was moderate, but sources said this is because buyers...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were stable over the week ended Friday August 23, with the market still slow after the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkey was on eid holiday on August 12-14, and the market was stable over the other two working days of last week.The country's main export market, Europe, was also in its holiday sea...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland remained unchanged this week, with the seasonal summer slowdown inhibiting market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland remained at 2,150-2,200 zloty ($547-559) per tonne on August 23.The assessment...Read More