Declining ferrous scrap costs combined with continued slow demand have worked to bring US steel reinforcing bar prices to their lowest levels in nearly 15 months. Fastmarkets AMM's biweekly price assessment for US domestic rebar fell to $32.50-33.50 per hundredweight ($650-670 per short ton) fob mill on Wednesday June 19, down by 2.2% from $33.50-34 per cwt two weeks ago. The assessment last...Read More
Turkish billet prices have weakened over the past week in line with the falling imported scrap values, source said on Thursday June 20.The price of steel billet exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to Turkey slipped this week. Mills in the CIS region were offering billet to Turkey at around $435-440 per tonne cfr, while mills in Turkey were bidding at around $420 per tonne an...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have weakened in line with the falling imported scrap values and limited demand over the past week, sources said on Thursday June 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY3,160-3,190 ($542-547) per tonne ex-works, down from last week's TRY3,200-3,220 per tonne,...Read More
The Turkish long steel export market continued to suffer this week as the continuing lack of interest from the United States increased the downward pressure on prices, sources said on Thursday June 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for rebar exports out of Turkey was $445-460 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, unchanged week on week.Steel mills in the country tried to keep their o...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices were stable on Thursday June 20 amid a pick-up in sentiment following futures gains and more expensive iron ore,even though downstream demand has not shown any significant improvement.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,770-3,780 yuan ($546-547) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,760-3,780 yuan per tonne, widening upward 10 yuan per tonnePrices...Read More
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
Seaborne iron ore prices surged further toward $120 per tonne cfr on Thursday June 20 after two of the major global miners updated shipment expectations.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $117.25 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $3.17 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $116.05 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $3.17 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $118.79 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.98 per...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....Read More
Prices for seaborne coking coal cargoes bound for China fell further on Thursday June 20.A shipment of a top Australian brand, scheduled for loading over July 22-31, was sold to an international trader at $203.08 per tonne cfr China, various sources told Fastmarkets.This is $2.18 per tonne lower than a transaction involving the same brand that was concluded just a week earlier.A July-loading cargo...Read More
United States-based iron ore producer Cleveland-Cliffs is prepared to export part of its iron ore output in the event that more furnaces are shut down in the country, its chairman and chief executive officer Louren??o Gon??alves said on Wednesday June 19.It has yet to experience any effects of steel production cuts, however, because they did not involve any of its clients, he said during the Steel...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
Iran’s shooting down of a US drone has raised tensions in the Middle East, with gold and oil prices extending gains. Spot gold reached a high of $1,411.90 per oz after US President Donald Trump reportedly ordered an attack on Iran, which was later aborted. Equities in Asia have weakened across the board. Base metals Three-month base metals on the London Metal Exchange...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Gasoline prices are expected to move higher over the weekend. Crude oil prices have moved higher due to greater disturbances in the Middle East. In addition, the largest refinery complex on the U.S. East Coast experienced an explosion last night. The Canadian Dollar slipped 0.05 to 75.75...Read More
(Corrects number of FOIA requests in paragraph 2 to six,instead of two dozen) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - A conservation group onThursday sued the Trump administration for withholding documentsrelated to its decision to cancel a 20-year ban on mining in aMinnesota wilderness area and open it up to copper production. The Wilderness Society filed the lawsuit in a Washington,...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday June 19.Please click...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
Chinese nickel premiums jumped to record highs, creating expectations that global premiums will follow them higher while metal is drawn to China from Europe. Arbitrage opportunities push up both Chinese nickel premiums European premiums hold up despite some supply being diverted to Asia US premiums steady but briquette business seen as weak Chinese premiums at highest everIn China, the in-warehous...Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and the reasons for any price moves. Read More