The price of steel billet imported into Egypt increased in the week to July 4 on higher offers, despite poor domestic demand."Higher offers are because of high scrap and iron ore prices," a local market source told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap was calculated at $291.88 per tonne cfr on July 4, up from $273.88 per tonne...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has strengthened over the past week following rises in the prices for iron ore and ferrous scrap.Fastmarkets' price assessment for low-manganese pig iron exports, fob main port Baltic Sea, CIS, was up by $5 per tonne to $355-360 per tonne on July 4.Offers of material from Russia's Tulachermet to Europe were reported...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday July 4, while futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange plunged after hitting a five-year high earlier this week.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $122.03 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $2.72 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $122.03 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.72 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $124 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $...Read More
Turkish billet prices have increased over the past week on the back of an uptick in imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday July 4.Billet suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) raised their offers to $440-445 per tonne cfr levels for Turkish customers. However, there was no significant trading activity heard so far this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for...Read More
The price of steel billet imported into Egypt increased in the week to July 4 on higher offers, despite poor domestic demand."Higher offers are because of high scrap and iron ore prices," a local market source told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap was calculated at $291.88 per tonne cfr on July 4, up from $273.88 per tonne...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were relatively steady on Thursday July 4 amid mild movements in the futures market, though the export segment continued to weaken on soft demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-4,000 yuan ($577-581) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,920-3,950 yuan per tonne, widened downward by 10 yuan per tonneSellers in eastern China raised their p...Read More
Stainless steel prices in Europe were likely to remain under pressure due to a longer-than-usual summer slowdown and the renewal of the region's safeguarding quota allocations, while in the United States the determining factor was likely to be the level of alloy surcharges.Meanwhile, the resumption of trade talks between the US and China was likely to boost market activity in Asia.EuropeParticipan...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia rose over the past week following a surge in the price of nickel.Producers will attempt to sustain the upward trend in stainless steel prices going forward under the pretext of higher nickel costs, a trader in Taiwan said.But a trader in northern China said the jump in the price of nickel had been too abrupt and buyers are likely to be unwil...Read More
The European Commission (EC) should remove its 5% import quota increase as it makes safeguard measures ineffective and puts jobs in the EU steel segment at risk, the European steel association (Eurofer) said on July 3."We call on the EC to heed our call and those of member states that have already expressed concerns about the rise - and to respond by undoing this out-of-step expansion before it fu...Read More
Turkish authorities are considering whether to launch a trade defense case against imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from the EU, market sources have told Fastmarkets.European mills have increased their HRC export volumes recently, particularly to Turkey, due to the weak demand in their home markets."The start of an anti-dumping case against EU-origin HRC will entirely depend on the attitude of the...Read More
Demand for flat steel in Turkey failed to improve in June even after the United States halved its import tariffs for Turkish steel to 25%, market participants told Fastmarkets.And local producers have now filled their order books until late August, they said on Wednesday July 3. Turkish steel prices started to rise on May 17 after US import duties of 50% introduced in August 2018 were cut to...Read More
Key data from the July 4 pricing session in London and Shanghai.Fastmarkets' benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index declined to $318.10 per tonne on Thursday July 4 from $319.28 per tonne on the previous day. It remains at its lowest since August 2017 and is down by 12% from $363.08 per tonne on June 4.Chinese free market, metallurgical grade alumina fell to 2,700-2,750 yuan ($400.20) per ton...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday July 4, with price movements largely subdued by a national holiday in the United States while volumes traded were markedly lower.Over the afternoon, tin's three-month price continued its ascent back above $18,000 per tonne, climbing by more than 4% to close at $18,350 per tonne.The metal was subject to i...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has strengthened over the past week following rises in the prices for iron ore and ferrous scrap.Fastmarkets' price assessment for low-manganese pig iron exports, fob main port Baltic Sea, CIS, was up by $5 per tonne to $355-360 per tonne on July 4.Offers of material from Russia's Tulachermet to Europe were reported...Read More
Growth in South African manganese ore exports continued to slow in the first six months of 2019, shipping data shows. Manganese ore exports from South Africa climbed by about 8% to 8.97 million tonnes in the first six months of the year from the same period in 2018.This compares with an increase of 17% year on year between January-June 2017 and January-June 2018. In the relevant period of 2017, ex...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has just finished its trial to calculate nickel prices using a volume weighted average price (VWAP) method on the exchange's electronic trading platform. If early indications are anything to go by, metals market participants did not embrace this method of price discovery in the way some had anticipated. For three months since Monday March 18, closing prices for nickel car...Read More
The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect. His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More
A decade ago, the Shanghai Futures Exchange launched its steel rebar futures contract. In the years that followed it has become the gold standard for steel derivatives, achieving a success that other exchanges aspire to emulate. And they are definitely trying, with a total of 11 steel derivatives contracts launched by the main trading exchanges since. SHFE, which launched a wire rod futures contra...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday July 4, with price movements largely subdued by a national holiday in the United States while volumes traded were markedly lower.Over the afternoon, tin's three-month price continued its ascent back above $18,000 per tonne, climbing by more than 4% to close at $18,350 per tonne.The metal was subject to i...Read More
Seaborne coking coal market was stable on Thursday July 4, underlining some market participants' expectations of a slow price slide for the steelmaking raw material.An 85,000-tonne cargo of a top brand of premium low-vol hard coking coal was traded at $197.19 per tonne cfr China. The cargo is scheduled for loading in August.The same brand had fetched $200 per tonne cfr China last week.A buyer sour...Read More