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
Pessimism remained in the seaborne coking coal market despite cfr China prices regaining some losses on Friday June 28.A Capesize cargo of premium low-vol hard coking coal, scheduled for loading over July 5-15, was sold to a southern Chinese steelmaker at $197 per tonne cfr China during the day, a source at the mill said."I would still think that the price floor has yet to be reached. But we have...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
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
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Unionized workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata copper mining and smelting complex in Chile have accepted the company's offer of a new labor contract, union officials said in the early hours of Thursday June 27.The agreement ends a strike that had started on June 14 at Chuquicamata, the world's largest open-pit copper mine.Employees were reintegrated during the morning of June 28, the unions added.Chi...Read More
June blister copper refining charges (RC) have dropped below the annual benchmark level on tighter spot supply following Konkola Copper Mine's (KCM) output halt as well as a rising demand due to scrap shortages. Fastmarkets' monthly RC for 98-99% blister copper fell by $10 to $150-160 per tonne on a cif China basis on Friday June 28, the lowest since the price was launched in February 2018. T...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
Nyrstar has confirmed that its lead smelter at Port Pirie, Australia, will now resume operations in the second week of July, extending its previous estimates of a late June restart, Fastmarkets learned on June 28. The Belgium-based company declared force majeure on contracts to supply lead from the Port Pirie smelter on June 10 due to an unplanned stoppage, while the facility has been offline sinc...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange held onto Thursday's 2% gains during morning trading on Friday June 28, while market participants await developments in the global economic landscape from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The nickel price was recently at $12,690 per tonne. The benchmark three-month price continues to trade above $12,600 per tonne amid a continued drawdown in...Read More
Latin American crude steel production reached 5.18 million tonnes in May, falling by 1.40% from 5.25 million tonnes a year before, regional association Alacero said on Thursday June 27.Rolled steel output totaled 4.36 million tonnes during the month, the data showed. Volumes were down by 5% in comparison with 4.59 million tonnes in the same period of 2018."Industry numbers in Latin America reflect...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and coated steel in the United States stabilized in the week to Thursday June 27, after a slew of mill price increases were announced earlier the week. Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for domestic cold-rolled coil stood at $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on June 27, unchanged from one week earlier.Fastmarkets assessed the domestic hot-dipped galvanized st...Read More
Steel billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased export offers over the week to June 28 on reduced availability of July-rolling volumes in the market as well as improved sentiment in the raw materials segment, particularly scrap.Buyers were in no hurry to accept the increase, with buying activity limited in most of the major outlets, including North Africa, Gulf Co-...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
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
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