Europe's return to the metals market after the Easter bank holiday has failed to precipitate any significant consumption, while a further slew of weak European and United States economic data destabilized London Metal Exchange three-month contracts by the close on Tuesday April 23. The entire complex traded down by close of play but no metal was harder-hit than nickel. The metal's LME three-month...Read More
Comex copper prices were dragged lower on Tuesday April 23 morning in the United States, with a surging dollar and concerns over Chinese growth weighing on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down by 2 cents to $2.8815 per lb. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price direction over the past few weeks...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the period ended Tuesday April 23. The European high-carbon, low-carbon and low phosphorous ferro-chrome and Turkish lumpy chrome ore cfr Chinese ports prices were due to be assessed on Friday April 19. As this was a UK public holiday, these prices were rolled over from the previous pricing day, as per our methodology. Th...Read More
The decline in the Chinese ferro-vanadium export price came to a halt last week after finding support from a firm domestic market and improved sentiment. Meanwhile, the European ferro-vanadium market continued its downward trend amid aggressive competition among sellers. Chinese ferro-vanadium price stabilizes on firm offersEuropean ferro-vanadium price slides again due to aggressive offersChinese...Read More
The ferro-silicon markets in China and the United States were stable in the week ended Friday April 19, with both seeing limited trading activity over the period.China Tightness developing after several producers in Northern China halted their operations a few weeks ago. With the expectation of tight supply, some domestic producers in China lifted their offers while buyers took a watchful stance d...Read More
Negative pressure arising from delays in the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage markets have reduced the demand for Umicore's cobalt cathodes materials, Umicore chief executive officer Marc Grynberg said during a conference call on Tuesday April 23.The previous projections of 100,000 metric tonnes of cathode materials sales in 2019 and 175,000 metric tonnes of capacity by the end of 2021 are...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has abandoned a planned accelerated timeline for its cobalt contract to meet new responsible sourcing principles, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said on Tuesday April 23. This comes as the LME launched a formal market-wide consultation on proposed rules for the application of responsible sourcing principles to all LME-listed brands. These rules build on the s...Read More
Scrap metal importers in China can apply for import quotas starting in mid-May after the government rejected plenty of applications earlier this year, the industry lobby group China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association's (CMRA) Recycling Metal Branch said.The statement, filed on Friday April 19, details that eligible scrap importers could prepare the documents for quota application before new re...Read More
Negative pressure arising from delays in the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage markets have reduced the demand for Umicore's cobalt cathodes materials, Umicore chief executive officer Marc Grynberg said during a conference call on Tuesday April 23.The previous projections of 100,000 metric tonnes of cathode materials sales in 2019 and 175,000 metric tonnes of capacity by the end of 2021 are...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has abandoned a planned accelerated timeline for its cobalt contract to meet new responsible sourcing principles, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said on Tuesday April 23. This comes as the LME launched a formal market-wide consultation on proposed rules for the application of responsible sourcing principles to all LME-listed brands. These rules build on the s...Read More
The market for hot-rolled steel sheet may soften in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow when flat steel producer ArcelorMittal Temirtau resumes shipments, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.Kazakhstan producer ArcelorMittal Temirtau is the largest supplier of imported flat steel products to Russia. It ceased shipments after an explosion in a gas line in November last year.Fas...Read More
The market for exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell because of lower prices for Ukraine-origin material during the week ended Tuesday April 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of HRC was $470-495 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 23, widening downward from $485-495 per tonne fob a week earlier.HRC offers from Ukraine fell...Read More
Prices for flat steel products imported into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia dropped over the past week due to limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.End-user demand has been weak recently, so buyers have been unwilling to place orders for large tonnages, they added.The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when business normally slows down, starts in early...Read More
Declining raw material costs and a slowdown in demand have caused spot prices to fall in the US cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod markets, sources have told Fastmarkets AMM. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cold-heading quality wire rod declined to $45 per hundredweight ($900 per short ton) North American delivered duty paid Great Lakes region on Monday April 22, while the ...Read More
The price of mesh-quality wire rod exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has decreased by $5 per tonne over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price of CIS export wire rod was $500-510 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 23, moving down from $505-515 per tonne fob a week earlier.Limited demand for finished steel in...Read More
Rebar producers that re-roll billet in Egypt have appealed to the Egyptian government to reconsider a recently imposed safeguard duty on imports of the semi-finished product.The country's Ministry of Trade & Industry began imposing a temporary import duty of 3-15% for billet on April 15, in addition to a 25% tariff on rebar, following an investigation that began at the end of last month. The provi...Read More
Despite falling to a more than 18-month low point in April, iron ore producer Ferrexpo expects pellet premiums to bounce back this year, with growing long-term demand supported by the need for increased steelmaking efficiency."We continue to believe long-term demand for pellet will be supported by [the need] for iron ore of a higher grade and in a form that reduces energy inputs, slag vo...Read More
Physical iron ore prices stayed rangebound on Tuesday April 23 while the 65% Fe derivative on the Singapore Exchange traded actively.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $94.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $93.31 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $96.88 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.13 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premiu...Read More
Egypt, the largest consumer of direct reduced (DR) grade pellets in North Africa, may face a short-term pellet shortage as a result of Vale's production cuts, Fastmarkets heard at the North Africa Iron & Steel Summit in Cairo on April 16-17."There will be a challenge in the next few months to secure DR pellets [a feedstock for direct-reduced iron making] as a knock-on effect of Vale's accident," o...Read More
The price for steel slab exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States has softened by $5 per tonne week on week, amid low demand and reduced market activity because of the long Easter holiday weekend, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS export slab was $470-480 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 23, down from $475-485 per tonn...Read More