Australian spodumene miner Galaxy Resources has delayed one shipment of 15,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene previously planned for the second quarter from its Mount Cattlin nameplate operation in Western Australia, it said on Wednesday June 26. Although further details were not disclosed by the company, falling lithium prices and delays on production expansion by some converters in China, who typic...Read More
Coated flat steel prices in Turkey decreased over the week ended on Friday June 28, with demand reportedly weak in both the local and export markets.Export demand had initially improved after the United States decided on May 17 to reduce its tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25% from 50%, but then declined again because of Turkish producers' high prices.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's loc...Read More
Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices in Turkey moved down over the past week due to the summer slowdown and reduced end-user consumption, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic HRC was $500-510 per tonne ex-works on Friday, compared with $500-520 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.Turkish mills have been offering th...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters capitalized on higher prices on Friday June 28 amid stability in the domestic market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,940 yuan ($570-573) per tonne, narrowing from 3,900-3,950 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,850-3,860 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneTrading activity picked up a bit in Shanghai after prices fell a bit from the high end compar...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely unchanged over the past week supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,000-2,100 zloty ($534-561) per tonne ex-works on June 28, compared with 2,000-2,110 zloty per tonne ex-works a week earlier.The assessment reflects the deals...Read More
China's rebar market maintained its upward momentum on Friday June 28 amid rising futures, though spot demand fell gradually. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-4,000 yuan ($577-583) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,850-3,880 yuan per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonneRebar futures rose during the day with traders engaging in speculation amid bullish sentiment attribute...Read More
The possibility of new restrictions in major steelmaking regions in China will likely give long steel prices in the country - which have been trending upward since hitting a price floor a week ago - a further boost in July.Industry sources are increasingly concerned over whether two other major rebar production regions - the provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong - will introduce output curbs to improv...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices ended the downtrend during the working week from Monday June 24 to Friday June 28, with Turkish mills returning to the market for August shipment deep-sea cargoes, bringing a positive sentiment to the market. Turkish import prices increase sharply on resumed buyingUS export markets remain weak with sales from West CoastCheaper Japanese scrap to limit US imports into Asi...Read More
The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market has been relatively stable amid some widening in price assessments while suppliers and consumers jockey for position in their estimates for the outcome of July monthly settlement talks due to start next week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?80-...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India decreased for the fifth consecutive week, however many market participants were optimistic that prices had reached their lowest and a recovery was imminent, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India went down to $308.88 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, from...Read More
Demand for steel billet in the Philippines remained weak during the country's rainy season due to a slowdown in construction activity, although demand from Indonesia was expected to recover after the country's election results were finalized.The rainy season continued to dampen demand for steel billet amid continued weakness in the domestic steel markets, a trader in the Philippines said. The Phil...Read More
China's rebar market maintained its upward momentum on Friday June 28 amid rising futures, though spot demand fell gradually. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-4,000 yuan ($577-583) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,850-3,880 yuan per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonneRebar futures rose during the day with traders engaging in speculation amid bullish sentiment attribute...Read More
European stainless steel prices were unchanged this week but decreases are expected because of lower monthly alloy surcharges for July, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.European mills have announced alloy surcharges for July at lower levels compared to June because of decreased Nickel costs. Fastmarkets' alloy surcharge for July deliveries of grade-304 cold-rolled stainless sheet is set to fall...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) on copper concentrates are marginally lower this week because of further aggressive bids from traders on third-quarter tonnages despite fresh spot supply from the Cobre Panama greenfield project.Fastmarkets' Asia-Pacific TC/RC index dropped to $52.4 per tonne/5.24 cents per lb on Friday June 28, its lowest since the index was launched in June 2013. It was $53.5 per tonne/5....Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ended Friday June 28.China China's domestic ferro-chrome spot price weakened again after some suppliers cut offer prices further to attract buyers. Chinese stainless steel mills remained wary of restocking citing ample stocks at plants.The imported charge chrome ferro-chrome index was stable in a week of low acti...Read More
European stainless steel prices were unchanged this week but decreases are expected because of lower monthly alloy surcharges for July, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.European mills have announced alloy surcharges for July at lower levels compared to June because of decreased Nickel costs. Fastmarkets' alloy surcharge for July deliveries of grade-304 cold-rolled stainless sheet is set to fall...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices ended the downtrend during the working week from Monday June 24 to Friday June 28, with Turkish mills returning to the market for August shipment deep-sea cargoes, bringing a positive sentiment to the market. Turkish import prices increase sharply on resumed buyingUS export markets remain weak with sales from West CoastCheaper Japanese scrap to limit US imports into Asi...Read More
Improving demand from manganese alloy smelters is likely to help protect the ore market from a sharp downward correction in the event a liquidation of port stocks, market sources told Fastmarkets. Manganese ore stocks in Chinese ports stand at 3.85-3.93 million tonnes, according to Fastmarkets' latest assessment, after they rose to 4.09-4.18 million tonnes early in June - their highest since the a...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange maintained weekly gains of around 5% at the close of trading on Friday June 28, closing at $12,690 per tonne while turnover was moderately light with some 8,800 lots of nickel exchanged by the close.The metal's three-month price began the week trading just above the $12,000-per-tonne support level, after trading below that mark the week prior...Read More
Nickel stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 20,464 tonnes as of Friday, up by 3,208 tonnes or 19% from last Friday, according to the SHFE's latest inventory report. The largest inflow of nickel this week was registered at Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai, with 2,164 tonnes of the metal entering the warehouse. An increased number of orders for nickel could have resulted from expectations of...Read More