A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday June 26.Please click...Read More
A continued backwardated exchange price and tepid demand for zinc led to falling premiums for special high-grade (SHG) zinc ingots in Asia and Europe this week. The Shanghai seaborne market is down to the lowest levels in Fastmarkets historical data, while Europe is just $5 per tonne away that same record. Shanghai zinc premiums at record lows Exchange stocks rising on LME and SHFE&nbs...Read More
Arnaud de Weert, former chief executive officer of aluminium producer Aludium, has joined metals conglomerate GFG Alliance as chief executive of upstream activities. GFG, which is the parent company of Liberty House, announced the move on Wednesday June 26. De Weert, Aludium's CEO from 2015 to 2019, will be responsible for Liberty's growing aluminium business, the company said. Prior to leading Al...Read More
European nickel premiums climbed in the week to Tuesday June 25 due to tightening availability after some supply was diverted to China, while the import arbitrage window in China closed late last week causing regional premiums to fall. Arbitrage loss sends both Chinese nickel premiums down European premiums rise with some supply being diverted to Asia US briquette premiums slid on lac...Read More
Steel H-beam prices in Northern Europe inched up this week after a string of losses, while Southern European prices dipped for the first time in three weeks, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 26.Fastmarkets' price assessment for domestic S235-grade, 200x200mm, category-2 H-beam in Northern Europe was ?,?575-610 ($654-695) per tonne delivered on Wednesday June 26, up from ?,?570-605 per to...Read More
European steelmakers have called on the European Commission (EC) to "retroactively remove" the 5% quota volume liberalization of its import safeguard measures, among other requests to ease pressure on the domestic steel industry.The current safeguard mechanism will increase the level of tariff-free quotas for each product category by 5% after each year. The first liberalization will take place on...Read More
A 10-week decline in low-grade manganese ore prices stalled on Friday June 21 and Chinese port ore prices have been rebounding dramatically from 2019 lows reached in early June. Fastmarkets' 37% manganese ore index, cif Tianjin held at $5.26 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday. Fastmarkets' China port index for 37% manganese ore increased by 2.30 yuan to 47.50 yuan per dmtu (equiv...Read More
The weekly price for rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe remained unchanged on Wednesday, June 26,, as mills maintained price levels ahead of the renewal of EU import quotas on July 1, sources told Fastmarkets.Market activity was "a little quiet this week, and we haven't sold much material in Northern Europe," one European producer source said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment...Read More
Brazilian mining company Vale will spend an additional $450 million on safety and environmental recovery in the city of Brumadinho, in the country's Minas Gerais state, until 2023 after an iron ore tailings dam collapsed in January, the company said on Wednesday June 26.This adds to the $4.5-billion financial impact already disclosed by Vale in its first-quarter earnings report. Fines, compensatio...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to be quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets with little demand for July shipment cargoes, sources said on Wednesday June 26.Mills in the country stepped away from the deep-sea markets last week after booking several cargoes for July.Some sources believe that domestic steel producers in Turkey still need a few more cargoes, but told Fastmarkets the mills&nb...Read More
Iron ore prices rebounded on Wednesday June 26 amid strong activity on trading platforms.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $117.63 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $3.17 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $115.67 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.41 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $117.85 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.14 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Index: $104.52 per tonne cfr Qingdao, d...Read More
Fastmarkets is extending until July 31 the consultation period for its proposal to launch a daily containerized steel scrap cfr Vietnam assessment.Responses to the original consultation could not definitively define the liquidity of a daily spot market and its suitability for a daily price assessment.The proposed specification is as follows:Assessment: Steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20) containerized imp...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices weakened further on Wednesday June 26, and market participants are not expecting them to pick up anytime soon.A cargo of a top Australian brand, scheduled for loading over July 10-24, was sold to a northeastern end user at $200 per tonne cfr China."Two other top Australian brands were offered at $202 per tonne and $203 per tonne cfr China, so evidently this was the best...Read More
Japan's Tokyo Steel has cut its ferrous scrap purchase price for the sixth time in June on the back of squeezed margins and weak demand.The country's largest operator of electric-arc furnaces, and the domestic benchmark price-setter for ferrous scrap, lowered its purchase prices by ?500-1,000 ($4.67-9.34) on Wednesday June 26.The reduction resulted in the mill paying ?27,000 per tonne...Read More
Fastmarkets is standardizing the names of some of its steel price assessments to better reflect incoterms and trading locations. In this standardization process, we will remove from the price names the region from country-specific assessments and specify in clearer detail the pricing location of some domestic China prices. Please see the table below for more details:Although Fastmarkets has amende...Read More
China's rebar prices were unchanged on Wednesday June 26 amid softer spot demand and a slight rise in the futures market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,950 yuan ($567-574) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,770-3,800 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures edged up during the day but failed to push up spot prices.Continual rain in eastern China this week dampened end-user...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were barely changed during a subdued morning session on Wednesday June 26, with a firmer dollar and sluggish US economic data constraining trading.Market analysts therefore remain cautious while optimism ebbs and flows, broadly capping any gains across the complex."The rebound momentum in the LME base metals earlier this week may all be mere short-covering...Read More
The bullish momentum seen on Tuesday June 25 seems to have run its course because base metals prices were mostly mixed in the early Asian trading session on Wednesday. Markets seem to have already priced in the positivity surrounding an upcoming meeting between US president Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Japan later this week.Both countries are seeking t...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were split into two camps during Asian morning trading on Wednesday June 26, with copper, nickel and zinc securing gains while the rest weakened marginally.The mixed moves come as a slight recovery in the dollar offsets the optimism stemming from recent trade developments ahead of upcoming talks between US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Ji...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More