Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was depressed during morning trading on Thursday June 13, with downward pressure emerging after just over 37,000 tonnes of cathode were delivered into LME-listed warehouses across Asia and Europe. The red metal's futures price is now showing signs of a move below the $5,800-per-tonne support level after reaching an intra-morning low of $5,811...Read More
The flat-rolled steel import market has remained largely quiet, with US buyers showing little appetite for foreign material given falling domestic prices. Still, prices for most flat-rolled imports moved lower in the two weeks to Wednesday June 12, with certain countries trying to match US prices in order to fill their quota volumes under Section 232."Imports for the moment are dead," one Midwest...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 long steel prices in Turkey have gone down over the past seven days, due to weak demand and falling imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday June 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,200-3,220 ($551-554) per tonne ex-works on Thursday, down from last week's TRY3,330-3,400 per tonne.The domestic rebar price in the Izmir region was TRY3,220-3,2...Read More
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
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the south of Europe has picked up over the past week, supported by production cuts, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 13.Steel mills in the region continued with their attempts to raise prices further, while bigger Italian buyers returned to purchasing imported material, according to market participants.Fastmarkets' weekly price assess...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale intends to start production of iron ore using dry processing at some of the sites that were closed following the failure of a tailings dam at the C??rrego do Feij??o mine in January.This will potentially add 30 million tonnes per year of iron ore to the company's annual output, according to several reports from investment banks that were released after a meeting with company e...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 latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian Blend fines, traded at $114.50 per tonne cfr China,...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
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia fell slightly over the past week with buyers taking a wait-and-see approach amid expectations that nickel prices would fall further, market sources said. Despite floods in Indonesia that could result in potential supply disruptions, the outlook for nickel remains negative due to sustained trade tensions between China and the United States.Indonesia pr...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange exhibited mixed moves but were largely little changed during morning trading on Thursday June 13 while uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade war persists.Copper and tin were down by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively while the rest were up between 0.1% for zinc and 0.9% for nickel. The divergent moves come while market participants digest trade deve...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
An increasing number of cobalt sulfate producers in China have cut, or are planning to cut, output in response to falling battery raw materials prices amid stagnant demand, market sources told Fastmarkets MB.In addition, some producers have switched to producing other chemistry compounds, including cobalt chloride and nickel sulfate, sources added. But market participants have mostly downplayed th...Read More
Italian flat stainless steelmaker Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) plans to increase its annual crude steel output to 1 million tonnes per year, up from 940,000 tpy, Italian steel trade union Fim-Cisl said on Thursday June 13.The AST announcement was part of a new two-year industrial plan, agreed between the mill and Italian trade unions. As part of the plan, AST will invest ?,?60 million ($68 million)...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
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed so far on Friday June 14, reflecting deteriorating sentiment in broader risk markets amid the recent uptick in tensions in the Middle East and while global trade tensions overhang.Military officials from the United States have released a video of what they say shows Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to news that May industrial production in China increased less than consensus.Equity index futures were virtually unchanged following release of May Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.6% versus an upwardly revised gain of 0.3% in April. Ac...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday June 12.Please click...Read More