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
Brazilian steel slab producers are close to resuming bookings of semi-finished material to clients in the United States for November shipment, while they look forward to the renewal of the annual Section 232 import quota for 2020.Such material would arrive at US ports in late December and early January, market participants said."We are now planning for November and December shipments, getting read...Read More
Sales volumes for Brazilian distributors of flat-rolled steel rose year-on-year in July for the fifth month this year, with figures recovering from a weak performance in 2018 and companies continuing to destock, national steel distributors' association Inda said on Wednesday August 21.An error in Inda's press release for June meant that a year-on-year fall in sales that month was not widely notice...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas is currently operating at 42% of its rolling capacity for flat steel, chief executive officer Sergio Leite told reporters on the sidelines of the Brazilian Steel Conference on Wednesday August 21.Weak market conditions were restricting the throughput at the company's Cubat??o and Ipatinga units, while global trade protectionism was preventing the company from exportin...Read More
News of a fresh cargo traded out of Europe has broken the silence in the Turkish deep-sea scrap market and confirmed the latest assessments of price levels, sources said on Thursday August 22.A steel mill in Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 16,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $285 per tonne cfr.This compared with the previous European cargo sol...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices bounced up on Thursday August 22 after a major plunge to almost a seven-month low a day earlier.Fastmarkets indicesIron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.42 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.80 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.13 per tonne, up by $2.56 per tonne. Iro...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 65% Fe Iron Ore Carajas, sold at the October average of Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, at a premium of $0.60 per tonne,...Read More