Turkish rebar and wire rod prices have gone down in line with the decline in imported scrap values, while demand has also been limited over the past week, sources said on Thursday June 13.The country's steel producers reduced their rebar offers to $460-470 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, from the $480-490 per tonne offers heard before the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday last week.But the hi...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases, increasing their combined tonnage for import to 226,000 tonnes in two days, sources said on Thursday June 13.In addition to two deep-sea cargoes booked early on June 12, four steel mills booked five more cargoes late that day.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $2...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices jumped above $110 per tonne cfr on Thursday June 13 - their highest level in more than five years - driven by persistent bullishness, sources told Fastmarkets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $110.16 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $3.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $108.96 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $3.56 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $114.50 per t...Read More
The price of steel billet imported into Egypt has decreased in the week to June 13 on lower offers due to a lack of domestic demand.Billet producers, from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in particular, expected demand to pick up after the observance of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, but the market remained quiet this week.The recent drop in...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have gone down in the domestic and export markets in line with the weakening cost of scrap, while import billet prices have been stable so far this week, sources said on Thursday June 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic billet in Turkey was $430-440 per tonne ex-works on Thursday, down from the last week's $440-445 per tonne.Long steel mill Kardemir, in...Read More
Sentiment in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export billet market deteriorated in the second half of this week, following the drop in import scrap prices in Turkey and a lack of interest from the customers' side."Everyone was expecting huge sales after [the observance of the Islamic holy month of] Ramadan, but there have not been any sales over the past 10 days," an international trad...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China ticked up over the past week on gains in nickel futures, but participants still maintain a bearish outlook toward the market for the next few weeks.The Fastmarkets MB domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 13,900-14,300 yuan ($2,009-2,067) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended...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
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated at the close of trading on Thursday June 13, improving from an intraday low of $5,811.50 per tonne and closing marginally higher despite fresh inflows totaling more than 37,000 tonnes.News of strike action at Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco's Chuqicamata mine helped to improve copper's three-month price over the day,...Read More
China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) has carried out research into major Chinese tungsten miners' products amid depressed spot activity in the domestic market and multiyear low prices, sources told Fastmarkets.After several failed bids in 2015 and 2016, the SRB bought 6,000 tonnes of tungsten concentrate in October 2016 from four major local miners as part of its stockpiling efforts when prices were...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases, increasing their combined tonnage for import to 226,000 tonnes in two days, sources said on Thursday June 13.In addition to two deep-sea cargoes booked early on June 12, four steel mills booked five more cargoes late that day.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $2...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate across Europe have inched down over the past week due to slow trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 13."I do not expect prices to recover any time soon, because trading activity is very weak in the end-markets," a representative of an Italian re-roller said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel plate i...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday June 13 that are worth another look.After China's spot tungsten concentrate price fell below a level widely considered to be the break-even point for most producers in the country, many in the market had expected the price to bottom out. But the price has defied this expectation and continues on a downward trend, most recently...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 12 that are worth another look.German copper refiner Aurubis has released chief executive officer and executive board chairman J? 1/4 rgen Schachler from his role two weeks prior to his scheduled departure. At the same time, the company has decided to discard its ?,?320-million future complex metallurgy strategy...Read More
Vietnam's tungsten miner Masan Resources has hired former Amalgamated Metals Corporation (AMC) trader William Parry-Jones, the company told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 13.Parry-Jones has joined the company this month as its manager for tungsten raw materials and has relocated to Hanoi from London after almost eight...Read More
After China's spot tungsten concentrate price fell below a level widely considered to be the break-even point for most producers in the country, many in the market had expected the price to bottom out.But the price has defied this expectation and continues on a downward trend, most recently reaching its lowest since July 2017. Some in the market are pointing to an abundance of supply as the reason...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated at the close of trading on Thursday June 13, improving from an intraday low of $5,811.50 per tonne and closing marginally higher despite fresh inflows totaling more than 37,000 tonnes.News of strike action at Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco's Chuqicamata mine helped to improve copper's three-month price over the day,...Read More
The gloomy sentiment in the seaborne coking coal market showed no signs of abating on Thursday June 13 in the absence of a clear trend for prices.A July-loading cargo of branded materials was traded at $193.50 per tonne fob Australia on trading platform Global Coal during the day, according to various sources.This is down $3.50 per tonne compared with a transaction involving the same brand of mate...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to drop on Thursday June 13, narrowing producers' already-slim margins further amid rising costs.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,830 yuan ($552-554) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,780-3,790 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices continued to drop during the day with trading activity remaining th...Read More