Metals trader Trafigura has refuted claims from Iceberg Research, the analytics outfit that launched an explosive campaign against Noble Group, that it has overvalued "hundreds of millions [of dollars] in debt securities issued by an associate."Iceberg's claims - made in a report published on Wednesday June 19 - center on Trafigura's valuation of debt securities linked to its Porto Sudeste asset,...Read More
Steel producers in Turkey passed the day without any deep-sea bookings while they digested falling prices, sources said on Thursday June 20.After booking a US cargo at lower prices on Wednesday June 19, the mills went quiet in the deep-sea markets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region had booked the US cargo comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $278.50 per tonne and 7,000 tonnes...Read More
China's domestic and export rebar prices both moved slightly higher on Thursday June 20 after a third straight day of gains in the futures market, although demand continued to remain muted.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,830-3,870 yuan ($555-561) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,690-3,720 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneThere were few buyers in the market on...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China continued to trend upward over the past week, tracking the strength exhibited by nickel prices in the futures market. The Fastmarkets MB domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,000-14,350 yuan ($2,027-2,078) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday June 19, up by 50-10...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia were largely stable this past week despite poor demand in downstream markets amid uncertainty caused by trade tensions between China and the United States.Despite weak demand, suppliers are unlikely to reduce their asking prices in the near term, but that could change if the price of nickel continues its downtrend, a trader in East China said.The thre...Read More
Eastern China's Shagang has lowered the list prices for its rebar and wire rod booked and shipped in mid-June. The mill is selling its HRB400 16-25mm rebar at 4,070 yuan ($588) per tonne over the June 11-20 period, down 180 yuan per tonne from its last...Read More
China's finished steel exports fell in May on both a year-on-year basis as well as when compared with the preceding month. The country shipped 5.74 million tonnes of finished steel abroad last month, down 16.5% from a year earlier, according preliminary Chinese customs data released on Monday June 10.Last month's exports are also...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Brazil fell during May as leading steelmakers battle with new participants for market share amid low domestic demand, retreating from announced price increases.Fastmarkets' domestic rebar price assessment was 2,450-2,600 Reais per tonne delivered on June 7, down from 2,600-2,720 Reais per tonne a month prior. The bottom of the price range is at its lowest for this year.Lon...Read More
AMG Vanadium has selected a new Ohio location for its second spent catalyst processing facility as part of its planned expansion to roughly double its annual ferro-vanadium and ferro-nickel-molybdenum production. With the new facility, AMG Vanadium - a subsidiary of Amsterdam-based AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group - will expand its overall spent catalyst recycling capacity by 35,000 tonnes and its...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday June 20, settling at its highest level since May 24, while the rest of the complex was buoyed by dollar weakness and strong figures from the United States labor market. The metal's three-month price reached an intraday high of $12,390 per tonne, closing at $12,300 per tonne while total volumes tr...Read More
The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) has indicated a slight uptick in global production for both zinc and lead across January-April of 2019, while global zinc demand remains in question against a 1.3% fall in global usage.Across January-April of this year, lead mine production climbed up by 0.7% to 1,544,000 tonnes from 1,534,000 tonnes over the same period in 2018. Refined lead met...Read More
The need for flexible sourcing of direct-reduced iron (DRI) production feedstock will continue over the next three to five years, market participants said at Fastmarkets' 7th World DRI and Pellet Congress in Dubai this week.Steel mills in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are using alternative DRI feedstock such as [lower iron content] blast furnace-grade (BF) pellet and lump iron ore...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday June 20 that are worth another look.The London Metal Exchange has just finished its trial to calculate nickel prices using a volume-weighted average price method on the exchange's electronic trading platform. China will only permit 240,429 tonnes of copper scrap imports in the entire third quarter of 2019, sending pan...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
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday June 20, settling at its highest level since May 24, while the rest of the complex was buoyed by dollar weakness and strong figures from the United States labor market. The metal's three-month price reached an intraday high of $12,390 per tonne, closing at $12,300 per tonne while total volumes tr...Read More
The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) has indicated a slight uptick in global production for both zinc and lead across January-April of 2019, while global zinc demand remains in question against a 1.3% fall in global usage.Across January-April of this year, lead mine production climbed up by 0.7% to 1,544,000 tonnes from 1,534,000 tonnes over the same period in 2018. Refined lead met...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
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More