Fastmarkets published its CIS export billet index later than scheduled on Wednesday May 8 but it is now appearing as normal.Fastmarkets' CIS export billet index, fob Black Sea, was published in the price book later...Read More
Iranian export prices for steel slab and billet have decreased over the past week with deals agreed at lower values, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 8.Recent bookings for Iran-origin steel billet were heard done in Asia at $380-385 per tonne fob. The total volume of these exports was more than 40,000 tonnes.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Iranian...Read More
Demand for flat steel in Turkey failed to improve in April, with most prices moving downward and with demand unlikely to improve significantly this month, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 8.Local producers have filled their order books until late June, they added.The price decreases in April were because of the weak demand in both the local and export markets.Mayoral elections...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday May 8 pricing session in Europe. Key drivers The European ferro-titanium price was stable week on week, extending a steady trend for the fourth pricing session in a row.Scrap markets have been steady for the third consecutive week. Alloy supply worries are supporting prices despite low key trading activity in the week to Wednesday. Market sentiment is being...Read More
Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia fell over the week ending on May 7 amid a downturn in the London Metal Exchange nickel price and limited buying interest.The LME three-month nickel contract ended the official trading session at $12,040-12,050 per tonne on May 7, down by $400 per tonne from the close on May 1. The LME nickel price hit a 2019 peak of $13,650-13,660 per tonne on March 6...Read More
Domestic prices for hollow steel sections in Northern Europe moved down this week as feedstock costs continued to fall and demand remained limited, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 8.Fastmarkets' domestic price assessment for commodity-size, grade-S235 square hollow sections made in Northern Europe moved down to ?,?610-630 ($683-705) per tonne delivered on Wednesday, from ?,?620-630 per t...Read More
Outokumpu expects higher quarter-on-quarter earnings in April-June 2019, with "no significant changes" anticipated in the stainless steel market's dynamics, it said on Tuesday May 7.The Finnish stainless steelmaker expects its stainless steel deliveries for the second quarter to remain at a similar level to the 621,000 tonnes delivered in the first quarter of 2019. This was down from 644,000 tonne...Read More
Turkey imported 461,048 tonnes of flat steel in March 2019, down by 32.4% from the corresponding month in 2018, when 682,071 tonnes arrived in the country, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country's total flat steel imports in January-March 2019 totaled 1,460,106 tonnes, 22.11% less than the 1,874,458 tonnes imported in the same period of 2018, due to the country's weak do...Read More
European wire rod producers are to call on the European Union to review its import safeguard quota for non-alloy and alloy wire rod products, they said this week."Since the imposition of safeguard measures by the European Commission (EC), non-integrated wire rod processors have seen certain quotas vanish at an unprecedented pace," the European Non-Integrated Wire Rod Processors Association (E...Read More
Lack of demand and trading activity combined this week to put new pressure on CIS long steel export prices.The situation was aggravated by increased competition with Turkish suppliers trying to overcome difficulties related to protectionism in Europe and the United States and a weakening domestic economy. "We are about to finalize a rebar sale at $460 per tonne fob Black Sea," a Ukr...Read More
Prices for mesh-quality wire rod in Europe were stable this week amid limited market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 8.Fastmarkets' assessment of the domestic mesh-quality wire rod price in Southern Europe was ?,?525-550 ($588-616) per tonne on May 8, unchanged for the past three weeks.The price has stayed within the range of ?,?525-560 per tonne since July 4 last year. But des...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday May 8.Please click...Read More
Chinese nickel premiums were unchanged at a 14-month high as of Tuesday May 7, according to Fastmarkets' latest assessments, in a week of multiple holidays and subdued trading.Elsewhere, the premium on European cathodes stabilized while those of briquettes continued lower. In the United States, similarly, the briquette premium dipped slightly while that of 4x5 cut cathodes was unchanged. Briquette...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 8 that are worth another look.Jiangxi Copper has become the first Chinese company to receive the green light to set up a large-scale copper scrap processing facility in Malaysia after China's clamp down on copper scrap imports led to mass scrap diversion to Southeast Asia, two company officials directly involved in the mat...Read More
The temporary truce on tariffs between China and the United States could be over, injecting a new round of uncertainty into the global financial markets and suspending hopes that a resolution to the countries' trade impasse was likely.US President Donald Trump has threatened to raise the tariff on $200 billion-worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% by Friday May 10. He also said that the US may...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange softened by a little less than 2% at the close of trading of Wednesday May 8, with continued inflows of material into LME-registered locations in European putting pressure on prices to move lower.Volumes traded for the galvanizing metal were particularly high over the afternoon, with more than 12,900 lots changing hands by the close.The th...Read More
Zinc premiums in Europe dropped while the backwardation remained wide this week, while lower lead prices increased spot interest in India and Southeast Asian countries, driving lead premiums higher. The zinc premium for Rotterdam is at its lowest level since August 2009, while the Antwerp level is at its lowest since the price assessment launched in 2017. The backwardation in the London Metal Exch...Read More
The Comex copper price dipped in US morning trading on Wednesday May 8 with lingering fears over the global trade war pressuring metal prices downward.The copper price for July settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down 0.80 cents to $2.7775 per lb. The red metal has seen heavy selling pressure over the past few weeks with a stronger dollar and uncertain trade...Read More
The price of rebar produced and delivered in Northern Europe was stable in Fastmarkets' assessment on Wednesday May 8, despite continued poor demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe was ?,?530-545 ($593-610) per tonne delivered on May 8, unchanged week-on-week.One buyer said that rebar prices had decreased by ?,?5 per tonne this week, although the prices.....Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange softened by a little less than 2% at the close of trading of Wednesday May 8, with continued inflows of material into LME-registered locations in European putting pressure on prices to move lower.Volumes traded for the galvanizing metal were particularly high over the afternoon, with more than 12,900 lots changing hands by the close.The th...Read More