An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
China's lithium market reached weaker prices over the week to Thursday July 25 on slow market activity, while most cathode makers have reduced output over the summer period and limited reports of transactions on the spot market.Prices in the rest of the world remained unchanged week on week.Battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide price ranges narrowed on lower achieved prices and slow market...Read More
Indian mills were looking for a steep cut in domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in August in an attempt to boost sales, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 26.According to an official from a private-sector steel mill, the price reduction in HRC for sales in August could be in the range of 1,000-1,500 rupees ($14-22) per tonne."Domestic demand for HRC is very weak," the official said, "and a pr...Read More
Flat-rolled steel prices were under pressure during the week ended Friday July 26 in South America, on discounted deals reported on the Pacific coast and amid lower offers from China.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, at $520-540 per tonne on Friday, down from $540-550 per tonne a week before.At least two deals for August-September delive...Read More
Turkish hot-rolled coil prices were mostly stable on Friday July 26, due to the summer slowdown and a reduction in end-user consumption, but export prices nudged up, sources told Fastmarkets.HRC exportsTurkey's export price for HRC increased because Turkish mills are already booked until late September and would not give a discount to buyers because the export price is already $20 per tonne l...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron has been unchanged over the week to Friday July 26, extending a steady trend for the fifth consecutive week while being supported on limited volumes of material made available to major processors, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, inter-merchant, was ?80-100 ($100-125) per t...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been stable over the past week because buyers expected to announce new offers next week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 26.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was unchanged at 2,070-2,120 zloty ($542-555) per tonne on July 26.The assessment reflected the latest deals and offers heard in the mark...Read More
Turkish long steel export prices remained under pressure from low demand in the country's major sales destinations this week, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkish rebar for export was on offer at $460-465 per tonne fob, edging down from $460-470 per tonne last week. One source reported material being available at $455 per tonne fob, but even this price failed to spark customer inte...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the south of Brazil have increased on new deals reported during the week ended Friday July 26.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was up by $5 per tonne to $320-325 per tonne fob on Friday.One sale of 40,000 tonnes of high-phosphorus pig iron was heard to Turkey at $320 per tonne fob for September shipment.Another carg...Read More
UK alloy steel scrap price ranges increased and also widened in the past week amid volatile nickel prices and weakness of sterling versus the dollar, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 26.After increasing sharply since the start of July, this week nickel prices were volatile but ended lower week on week. Sources said, however, that the lack of a steady trend meant that many had thought that v...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices moved down during the week ended Friday July 26, because of lower priced deals, weak demand and high inventories. Turkish import prices down on fresh deals US export prices down on recent deals Asian import prices down on high inventories Indian prices continue to fall in weak market.TurkeyTurkish steel producers made four cargo purchases this week for August shipments....Read More
Prices for steel slab from Brazil remained stable in the week ended Friday July 26 because few deals were reported and buyers continued to push for lower costs.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, was $420-430 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Cost pressures remained strong this week, and limited producers' ability to reduce prices f...Read More
Steel billet prices in Turkey continued to decline this week amid weak demand and a downturn in finished steel prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Customers in Turkey were showing very little interest in billet imports because of the sluggish sales of finished steel this week.Material from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was reported available in Turkey at $430-435 per tonne cfr, down by...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market edged down on Friday July 26 after domestic long steel prices softened in the region's major billet import markets of The Philippines and Indonesia.Domestic rebar prices remain soft because of the rainy season and the stronger Filipino currency, a trader in the Philippines said.The Philippine peso was trading at 51.11 peso per $1 on July 26, as compar...Read More
The price of stainless-steel flat products in Europe increased this week because of higher monthly alloy surcharges for August, which themselves have increased on a spike in nickel costs this month, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 26. Fastmarkets' assessment of the stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, price was ?,?2,190-2,250 ($2,440...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in China, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday July 26. China Chrome ore prices continued to rise amid bullish sentiment and strong demand from downstream consumers even though some smelters are running at a loss. Chinese major stainless steel mill Tsingshan released its August tender price at 6,296 yuan...Read More
The headwinds created by political uncertainties, on-and-off trade negotiations and the enactment of tariffs hurt mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the metals sector during the second quarter of this year, according to a quarterly report by consultancy group PwC. While overall deal volume remained relatively consistent with the trailing 12-month average, overall disclosed deal volume decl...Read More
Turkey produced 16.994 million tonnes of crude steel in January-June 2019, down 10.14% on the 18.912 million tonnes produced in the first six months of 2018.According to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD), the fall in output was largely due to the negative sentiment that has been dominating Turkey's domestic steel market since August 2018 when the country's lira lost significan...Read More
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp approved investment funds to build a 230,000 tonne per year chromium coating line for packaging steel at its Rasselstein site in Andernach, western Germany, it said late in the week ending on July 19.The new coating line will be a replacement for the current line, following a change in European Union (EU) regulations, with production capacity remaining approximately...Read More
Indian mills were looking for a steep cut in domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in August in an attempt to boost sales, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 26.According to an official from a private-sector steel mill, the price reduction in HRC for sales in August could be in the range of 1,000-1,500 rupees ($14-22) per tonne."Domestic demand for HRC is very weak," the official said, "and a pr...Read More