Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 9 that are worth another look.Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry. The United States' Section 232 tariffs have benefited certain steel producers but mostly negative...Read More
Trading in the shares of European zinc and lead producer Recylex was suspended on Monday July 8 at the company's own request, following an "unexplained rally" during the previous two days.The price of the lead and zinc recycler's shares on Euronext Paris had ramped up by more than 40%, rising between July 5 and July 8 to ?,?5.2 ($5.8) per share from ?,?3.7 per share.In January, the company's Germa...Read More
Former Rusal and Aludium executive Ulrich Schridde has joined Skyadvisory as associate partner this month, the Switzerland-based consultancy announced on Tuesday July 9.Schridde, who retired in April after nearly 40 years in the aluminium industry, will "strengthen Skyadvisory as a strategist in the metal...Read More
Nystar has confirmed that a production outage at its Port Pirie lead smelter in Australia is now expected to continue until the last week of July 2019 instead of the second week of the same month, as it had previously estimated. The company had to declare force majeure under a number of its agreements due to an unplanned stoppage of production at the Port Pirie smelter, which has been offline...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly rangebound during morning trading on Tuesday July 9, with a steady appreciation of the US dollar index capping commodity investment. Continuing its price decline, the three-month zinc futures contract moved away from the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level, hitting an intra-morning low of $2,363 per tonne. The galvanizing metal's pric...Read More
European wire rod processors are demanding an increase in the EU's safeguard quota for imports of the material, the European Non-Integrated Wire Rod Processors Association (Eunirpa) said on Tuesday July 9."We urgently call on the policymakers to support the repeal of the safeguard measures imposed on wire rod, or at the very least to adjust significantly upward the level of the current quotas," Eu...Read More
Market fundamentals are unlikely to support the recent rise in ferrous scrap prices, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said in its latest short-range outlook this week.Fastmarkets' daily scrap index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) imported into Turkey rose to $296.41 per tonne cfr on Monday July 8, up from $292.09 per tonne cfr&...Read More
Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil experienced an uptick in the week to Tuesday July 9, although market participants expressed doubts that the recent uptrend was sustainable. Flat steel prices in China rebounded after production curbs were announced in the country's steelmaking hub of Tangshan."I believe prices will not rise further because there are no...Read More
In the process of standardizing the names of its prices, Fastmarkets has found that the range of thicknesses was displaying incorrectly in the name of its CIS steel heavy plate export price.In the Fastmarkets price name for CIS steel heavy plate exports fob Black Sea, the plate thickness had been listed as 10-50mm. The correct thickness, as properly specified in the Fastmarkets ferrous methodology...Read More
Troubled UK long steel producer British Steel has reported "encouraging levels of interest" in the sale of the business after a number of bids were made before the June 30 deadline, the company said on July 5.The bids were made to the UK Insolvency Service after the company went into compulsory liquidation in May.British Steel said it was continuing to operate as normal even though the c...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices maintained their upward trend on Tuesday July 9, but low port inventories prompted concern among market participants.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.57 per tonne, up by $3.19 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.49 per tonne, up by $3.19 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low a...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Tuesday July 9, with spot market activity driven by the premium hard coking coal sector. A top-quality cargo changed hands at around $198.50 per tonne cfr China, sources said, adding that another premium cargo had traded at around $191 cfr China.Both cargoes were sold by a trader, they added. On the Global Coal platform, an offer for a branded cargo...Read More
India's Ministry of Steel is seeking stakeholder feedback by July 14 on a draft steel scrap policy that aims to reduce the country's reliance on imports by establishing a network of recycling centers to collect and process ferrous scrap. The policy framework aims to provide standard guidelines for collection, dismantling and shredding activities in an organized, safe and environmentally sound mann...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market plunged last week amid a sell-off of the steelmaking raw material's futures triggered by heightened scrutiny in China on factors that have driven prices to their highest in five years.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao stood at $114.81 per tonne last Friday July 5, down $7.22 per tonne - or 5.9% - from a day earlier. The index was at just $63.14...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices were largely steady on Tuesday July 9 while those in the north dipped, with a withdrawal of securities traders from the spot market resulting in a thinning of trading activity.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,980-4,000 yuan ($578-581) per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,910 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneDespi...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil market rebounded on Tuesday July 9 amid rising futures and higher offers issued by mills, though trading activity thinned after the spot price gains.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,940 yuan ($569-572) per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,840-3,860 yuan per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneSpot prices surged in Shanghai following gains in the...Read More
Base metals prices were generally lower in the early trading hours of Tuesday July 9, amid concerns over the prolonged US-China trade dispute, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the continued sell-off in major equity indices and persistently weak economic data. Market expectations of a more substantial 50 basis points rate cut by the US Federal Reserve Bank in its upcoming Federal Open Mark...Read More
Fastmarkets has made changes to the specification of its cobalt hydroxide payable indicator - namely, to widen the payment window. Following a one-month consultation period that ended on Friday July 5, Fastmarkets has amended the payment window to include trades agreed on the basis of the following month's average metal price (M+1). Previously, the payment window only included trades agreed on the...Read More
Italian steel re-roller Marcegaglia has warned that limiting the imports of hot-rolled black stainless steel coil into Europe would "put at risk the viability of our stainless steel business," chief executive officer Antonio Marcegaglia said in a letter to the EU published late last week.An import limit on such stainless steel material would also be "without benefit [for the other] EU producers of...Read More
Global stainless steel meltshop production in the first quarter of 2019 decreased by 2.5% year-on-year to 12.5 million tonnes, the International Stainless Steel Forum announced on Tuesday June 9.The most significant decrease in absolute terms took place in China, where production during the first quarter of 2019 fell year-on-year...Read More