The market for flat steel products in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was stable at the start of this week, with price movement depending on trends in the export market, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday May 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Russia-origin 4mm hot-rolled (HR) sheet was unchanged on May 20 at 43,000-44,500 roubles ($664-687) per tonne cpt Moscow, including...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday May 20 that are worth another look.Massive amounts of scrap metal are being held at Malaysian ports for unprecedented inspections and multiple copper cargoes still at sea are being diverted to other Asian countries at big discounts, sources told Fastmarkets. The German federal government is planning to invest "billions of eu...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has decided on a dispute over when the load-in, load-out (LILO) rule should have been activated, ruling in favor of warehouse company Istim. People familiar with the situation said that the warehousing firm had been found to have acted vigorously and without delay in its dealings with Glencore at its warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, following large cancellations of alu...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange dropped by nearly 2% at the close of trading on Monday May 20, falling below its nearby $1,800 per tonne support level on the news that Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil has been allowed to resume full operations. Brazilian authorities ended the final production embargo on the facility earlier this afternoon and Alunor...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has decided on a dispute over when the load-in, load-out (LILO) rule should have been activated, ruling in favor of warehouse company Istim. People familiar with the situation said that the warehousing firm had been found to have acted vigorously and without delay in its dealings with Glencore at its warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, following large cancellations of alu...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.7% below its traditional support level of $12,000 per tonne during morning trading on Monday May 20, although thin trading volumes have capped further downside movement. The metal's futures price was recently traded at $11,910 per tonne. Despite total LME stocks remaining at a seven-year low at just 164,100 tonnes, commodity trade...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market became quiet again at the beginning of the week with suppliers withdrawing their offers, after news was heard of the removal of an additional US import tariff on steel imports from Turkey, sources said on Monday May 20.The United States lowered its tariff on steel imports from Turkey to 25%, from the previous 50%, with effect from May 17.This essentially removed t...Read More
The market for exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was frozen on Monday May 20 because suppliers preferred wait for more clarity to emerge in Turkey, the key outlet."[The CIS] mills are mostly sold out for June production, and they have time to wait until some clarity appears in Turkey," one trader told Fastmarkets.The Unite...Read More
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), the copper-producing arm of global miner Vedanta Resources in Zambia, is under threat from the president of the African country of a possible takeover of its copper assets amid disputes arising from the country's new tax regime.Zambian president Edgar Lungu said on Sunday May 19 that the government plans to disengage with KCM and invoke a legal process, according to loc...Read More
Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio's (CBA) net sales revenue grew by 13.9% on an annual basis in the first quarter, despite lower sales volumes and London Metal Exchange prices, thanks to higher value-added product and surplus energy sales, the company said on Friday May 17. CBA reported 1.33 billion Reais ($324 million) in net revenues in the first three months of the...Read More
Market participants saw little immediate change to aluminium premiums in Europe on Monday May 20 following the US government's removal of its 10% Section 232 tariff on aluminium imports from Canada and Mexico at the end of last week. Fastmarkets assessed the Rotterdam P1020 duty-unpaid in-warehouse premium at $85-90 per tonne Monday, unchanged from last Friday. The duty-paid premium was...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has decided on a dispute over when the load-in, load-out (LILO) rule should have been activated, ruling in favor of warehouse company Istim. People familiar with the situation said that the warehousing firm had been found to have acted vigorously and without delay in its dealings with Glencore at its warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, following large cancellations of alu...Read More
Massive amounts of scrap metal are being held at Malaysian ports for unprecedented inspections and multiple copper cargoes still at sea are being diverted to other Asian countries at big discounts, sources told Fastmarkets. The bulk of the cargoes comprise insulated copper wires (ICW), as well as scrap motors, a Malaysian copper scrap buyer said. This type of copper scrap typically comes with a pl...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.7% below its traditional support level of $12,000 per tonne during morning trading on Monday May 20, although thin trading volumes have capped further downside movement. The metal's futures price was recently traded at $11,910 per tonne. Despite total LME stocks remaining at a seven-year low at just 164,100 tonnes, commodity trade...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday May 20 that are worth another look.Massive amounts of scrap metal are being held at Malaysian ports for unprecedented inspections and multiple copper cargoes still at sea are being diverted to other Asian countries at big discounts, sources told Fastmarkets. The German federal government is planning to invest "billions of eu...Read More
Prices for slab exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States have continued to decline in the second half of May while producers have had to make concessions in new bookings with customers in Europe and Asia amid unfavorable conditions in their finished flat-steel outlets.Fastmarkets' weekly CIS export slab price assessment narrowed down to $450-455 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday May 20...Read More
The mood in the CIS export billet market turned positive at the start of the week that began on Monday May 20, with most producers having almost filled their June order books in recent weeks.Import scrap prices in Turkey rebounded at the end of last week, supported by a reduction in the duty imposed on imports of Turkish steel into the United States to 25% from 50%.Although CIS...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products reported a 4.5% year-on-year drop in shipment volumes in the first quarter of 2019, Eurometal said on Monday May 20."Shipments continued their negative trend of late last year and this was accompanied by rising stocks," the regional federation for steel, tube and metals distribution and trade said.European steelmakers such as Germany's ThyssenKrupp have...Read More
CIS export rebar and wire rod markets were quiet in the week ended Monday May 20 with most buyers and sellers taking a wait-and-see approach seeking more clarity from Turkey, which finally achieved a reduction to the US import duty to 25% last week. Recent offers of rebar from Ukraine were heard within the range of $460-475 per tonne fob Black Sea, depending on destination. No bookings were report...Read More
The United Arab Emirates' biggest steel producer, Emirates Steel, has been giving discounts on its rebar price of as much as 126 dirhams ($34) per tonne ex-works on June orders, Fastmarkets learnt on Monday May 20.The conpany was accepting orders at 1,881 dirhams ($512) per tonne ex-works, but its list price was 2,007 dirhams per tonne ex-works, unchanged since early February. Fastmarkets'...Read More