Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange rose by more than 1% at the close of trading on Tuesday March 19, with a large rewarranting of just under 100,000 tonnes doing little to curb an upswing that saw the metal's price close at a three-month high of $1,946 per tonne.Total volumes traded in aluminium topped the complex, with more than 18,000 lots changing hands by the close, the...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated higher during morning trading on Tuesday March 19, with price action largely unaffected by a rewarranting of just under 100,000 tonnes in Malaysia, accounting for around 10% of total LME stocks. Volumes traded for aluminium on the exchange continue to lead the complex, with just over 7,500 lots changing hands as of 9:50am Lond...Read More
Prices for seaborne coking coal sold to China are showing signs of softening amid weak end-user demand, with uncertainties related to import restrictions at some ports complicating the market further."Buyers in southern China are discouraged from buying due to obstacles attributed to port authorities. It is a long and tedious process for end users to get their coal imports cleared by customs, and...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to remain out of the deep-sea ferrous scrap markets while suppliers kept their offers firm, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 19.Market participants said that suppliers in the United States kept their offers at $330 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), but the steel producers in Turkey were only willing to pay $315 per tonne for the same material."US supplie...Read More
Price assessments for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates were stable this week while demand remained only moderate, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 19.Local rebar producers rolled over their domestic prices for rebar last week.Rebar importsOman was offering rebar for import into its neighboring state at $530-535 per tonne cpt UAE and a few deals were heard within that ran...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 19 that are worth another look.A cyber attack on Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro has temporarily halted its rolling and extrusion operations, chief financial officer Eivind Kallevik said on Tuesday March 19. The Chinese government has launched a round of safety inspections targeting 20 cities, including Gan...Read More
The price for used beverage cans (UBCs) soared higher this week due to seasonally slower flows in the United States and numerous reports of delayed and late shipments."It seems like the flows are slowing down, and we're seeing a lot of delayed and late shipments of UBCs. It has been very tough building inventories," one US consumer said, noting that the volume of late and missed shipments has been...Read More
A cyber attack on Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro caused temporary halts on its rolling and extrusion operations, chief financial officer Eivind Kallevik said on Tuesday March 19.Output reductions, however, are minimal for now. The producer is working to comply with customers' orders during the day and deliveries have not yet been affected, he noted.Every unit was isolated from the company's...Read More
Major Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro has switched to manual operations at some of its facilities due to a cyber attack, the company said on Tuesday March 19. "Hydro became victim of an extensive cyber attack in the early hours of Tuesday, impacting operations in several of the company's business areas," Hydro said. "IT systems in most business areas are impacted and Hydro is switching to manua...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated higher during morning trading on Tuesday March 19, with price action largely unaffected by a rewarranting of just under 100,000 tonnes in Malaysia, accounting for around 10% of total LME stocks. Volumes traded for aluminium on the exchange continue to lead the complex, with just over 7,500 lots changing hands as of 9:50am Lond...Read More
Brazilian flat steel sales increased by 19.3% year on year in February, according to local flat steel association Inda.Sales amounted to 309,800 tonnes last month, compared with 259,800 in the same period a year earlier, Inda said on Tuesday March 19.Flat steel shipments also increased by 16.8% from January's revised figure of 265,300 tonnes.The increase was a result of better performance from the...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producers have announced price increases to distributors for late March and early April, as a result of higher international prices and changes to the currency exchange rate for the country's Real, according to local flat steel association Inda."Domestically produced flat steel is currently around 7-8% cheaper than imported material," Inda president Carlos Loureiro said on Tue...Read More
Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) rose for the sixth consecutive week on Tuesday March 19. Mills increased their offers again on steady domestic demand in China amid the ongoing winter production cuts, and costlier hot-rolled coil feedstock also helped to push up the prices, sources said. Fastmarkets' daily fob China HRC Index stood at...Read More
Chinese hot-rolled coil sellers kept prices steady on Tuesday March 19 on robust domestic demand ahead of a decrease of the country's value-added tax.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,850-3,870 yuan ($573-576) per tonne, widening downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,810-3,830 yuan per tonne, unchangedPrices were largely stable in both eastern and northern China, with buyers s...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transaction: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up further on Tuesday March 19 on steady end-user demand amid favorable weather. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,900 yuan ($576-581) per tonne, narrowed upward by 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,850-3,890 yuan per tonne, narrowed upward by 10 yuan per tonneWarmer weather in both Shanghai and Beijing led contractors to raise their procure...Read More
A court in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state has authorized miner Vale to resume operations at its Laranjeiras tailings dam, connected to the Brucutu iron ore mine, which has capacity for 30 million tonnes per year.The court in Belo Horizonte, which is the Minas Gerais state capital, also ordered the state's environmental agency, Semad, to comply with the decision that allows activities at...Read More
Iron ore prices corrected down on Tuesday March 19, with futures and spot market activity at Chinese ports both declining after Monday's gains.Tuesday also saw Fastmarkets' MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index used for the first time as part of a basket of measures to price Pilbara Blend fines.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.23 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.03 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara B...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 sold to China are showing signs of softening amid weak end-user demand, with uncertainties related to import restrictions at some ports complicating the market further."Buyers in southern China are discouraged from buying due to obstacles attributed to port authorities. It is a long and tedious process for end users to get their coal imports cleared by customs, and...Read More