Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea ferrous scrap cargoes for August shipments at the end of the week, sources said on Friday July 19.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $295 per tonne, 12,000 tonnes of shredded at $300 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $305 per tonne cfr.A steel mill in the Marmara region b...Read More
Comments from US Federal Reserve officials overnight appeared dovish after New York Federal Reserve president John Williams stressed at the annual meeting of the Central Bank Research Association that "it is better to take preventative measures than to wait for disaster to unfold". With the market already pricing in a 25-basis-point cut in the central bank's benchmark interest rate at the Federal...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Battery-grade lithium prices in China decreased further in the week ending Thursday July 18 due to unimproved downstream demand, while most buyers were in no rush to buy more material due to current reduced cathode and battery production in China, buying only on a hand-to-mouth basis.Battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices moved further down this week.Technical and industrial-grade li...Read More
Swedish steelmaker SSAB expects demand for heavy steel plate to remain strong in the United States during the third quarter of 2019 but sees demand for flat steel in Europe decreasing due to seasonal reasons. Shipments of steel products from SSAB's Americas division totaled 909,000 tonnes in the second quarter, down by 6.54% year on year, the steelmaker said on Friday July 19. Shipments from SSAB...Read More
Flat-rolled steel prices mostly moved upward in South America during the week ended Friday July 19, following the persistent Chinese uptrend, but the prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and Galvalume were unchanged.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, was $540-550 per tonne on July 19, compared with $520-545 per tonne a week...Read More
Offer prices for South Korea-origin hot-rolled coil (HRC) exported to India have increased by at least $5 per tonne to $535-540 per tonne cfr Mumbai for shipments in August, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 19.HRC from South Korea was last booked about a month ago at $530-535 per tonne cfr Mumbai.Importers, however, were currently not keen on booking HRC shipments for fear of the imposition of a s...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have moved up due to an expected rise in scrap costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,070-2,120 zloty ($546-559) per tonne on July 19, compared with 2,000-2,100 zloty per tonne a week earlier.The assessment reflected deals and offers heard in the market.Pol...Read More
European apparent steel consumption will decrease by 0.4% year-on-year over the full 12 months of 2019, according to a forecast by European steel association Eurofer published on Thursday July 18.Apparent steel consumption will fall to 163 million tonnes in 2019, from 164 million tonnes a year earlier, it said. In the first quarter of the year, it declined by 2.5% year-on-year, to 42.6 million ton...Read More
China's rebar prices dipped on Friday July 19 after selling pressure picked up in the market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-3,990 yuan ($576-580) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneSellers lowered their prices during the day in an attempt to secure more orders ahead of the weekend, sources said.A trader in Shan...Read More
Swedish steelmaker SSAB expects demand for heavy steel plate to remain strong in the United States during the third quarter of 2019 but sees demand for flat steel in Europe decreasing due to seasonal reasons. Shipments of steel products from SSAB's Americas division totaled 909,000 tonnes in the second quarter, down by 6.54% year on year, the steelmaker said on Friday July 19. Shipments from SSAB...Read More
Scrap prices in most global markets pushed upward in the week ended Friday July 19, in line with stronger Turkish import prices. But this excluded the Indian market, which was hurt by limited trading activity. Turkish import prices up week-on-week, bookings resume US export prices flat on East Coast, up on West Coast Asian import prices up on steady demand but upside limited Indian prices down on...Read More
Several deals for pig iron were heard in the United States at higher prices during the week ended Friday July 19, mainly due to reduced availability of material from the Commonwealth of Independent States, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $360-365 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $360 per tonne a week before.Several deals for Ukr...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin slab remained stable for a second consecutive week on Friday July 19, with raw materials costs still high and deals sparse amid weak demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, $/tonne, was $420-430 on Friday July 19, unchanged from the previous week.Offers for Brazilian slab remained at $420-430 per t...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market declined on July 19 because of lower offers caused by a lack of demand amid the ongoing rainy season in the region's major import market of The Philippines.Although producers lowered their offer prices, Southeast Asian buyers remained on the sidelines due to expectations that prices could fall further, market sources said. Billet from Japan...Read More
China's rebar prices dipped on Friday July 19 after selling pressure picked up in the market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-3,990 yuan ($576-580) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneSellers lowered their prices during the day in an attempt to secure more orders ahead of the weekend, sources said.A trader in Shan...Read More
The price range for grade-304 flat stainless steel products in Europe narrowed upward this week, with participants anticipating an increase in the alloy surcharges for August, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Nickel prices increased sharply over the two weeks to July 19, leading sources to predict that monthly surcharges will rise or, at the very least, not decrease as they have for the...Read More
BHP expects its Western Australia Iron Ore operations to produce 273-286 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material on a 100% basis over the next 12 months amid a significant maintenance program at the Port of Port Hedland, from which it ships its cargoes abroad."As part of this, a major car dumper maintenance campaign is planned for the September 2019 quarter, with a corresponding impact expe...Read More
Czech steelmaker Liberty Ostrava is increasing its steel prices by ?,?20 ($23) per tonne to partially offset an increase in production costs, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 16. "Recent increases in raw materials and energy costs and the prevailing steel prices in Europe necessitate an immediate response to avoid further margin squeezes for our steel business," the company said.O...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets, awaiting some signs of recovery in the finished steel sector, sources said on Tuesday July 16.The last verified scrap deal was on July 9 when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo at $288 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).Since then, Turkish steel mills have stayed away from the deep-sea markets...Read More