An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
The implementation of tariffs and quotas against US steel and aluminium imports has been heralded and criticized as an unusual trade remedy, with President Donald Trump's administration applying blanket duties rather than more focused - and more typical - anti-dumping and countervailing margins.Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a cold-war era law, allows the president to place restri...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Friday March 22, ending the week down more than 3% and closing just above $6,300 per tonne.Meanwhile, a host of weaker-than-expected PMI data releases also softened price sentiment over the afternoon.The red metal's total volumes traded over the day were high, leading the complex at 25,647 lots changing ha...Read More
Southwest China's Kunming Intermediate People's Court will fine the Fanya Metal Exchange 1 billion yuan ($149.39 million) for violating national law and illegally raising funds from the public, according to local media reports on Friday March 22, with minor metals markets now wondering how funds will be raised. Shan Jiuliang, board chairman and president of Fanya, was sentenced to 18 years' impris...Read More
Warrant traders are reporting a big spike in Korean aluminium warrant premiums amid a substantial supply shortage in the region, Fastmarkets understands.Offers for aluminium warrants have been reported to Fastmarkets at $50-60 per tonne this week, considerably higher than earlier in the month. "You could get hold of Korean aluminium warrants for $30 per tonne a few weeks ago," a Europe-based...Read More
As of March 23, it has been a full year since US President Donald Trump's administration imposed tariffs against imported steel and aluminium under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows the president to place restrictions on imports on national security grounds.Trump's trade measures have drawn criticism from several US trading partners who argue that these actions violate e...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets andthe reasons for any price moves.An overview of...Read More
Gains in non-ferrous auto shred (twitch) prices in the United States have whittled the spread to benchmark A380.1 aluminium to an over 20-month low.Fastmarkets AMM's assessments for non-ferrous auto shred (twitch) prices increased to 56.5 to 58.5 cents per lb on Thursday March 21, while benchmark A380.1 prices were steady at 83-85 cents per lb, sending the spread between both grades to 26.5 cent p...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Friday March 22, ending the week down more than 3% and closing just above $6,300 per tonne.Meanwhile, a host of weaker-than-expected PMI data releases also softened price sentiment over the afternoon.The red metal's total volumes traded over the day were high, leading the complex at 25,647 lots changing ha...Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia moved to its highest level since early December due to unrelenting market tightness. The daily fob Australia alumina index rose to $412.94 per tonne on Friday March 22, up from $403.58 per tonne the previous day and 6.7% higher month on month from $386.90 per tonne on February 22. Key drivers Tightness in the market continues to...Read More
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has revised its base metals price forecasts lower across the board for 2019 in its latest base metals outlook report, specifying global recession fears and a rising macro-financial tide in its adjustments. While the bank highlighted that a bounce in fundamental price indicators could improve price sentiment, ICBC has revised down its three-month L...Read More
A conflict between Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro and the Brazilian federal prosecutors' office, MPF, could put the company's bauxite production in the Northern state of Par?? at risk.MPF is claiming Minera????o Paragominas' operational license for an ore pipeline and a power transmission line expired in 2014. This would mean the bauxite producer is illegally operating the assets, according...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and coated steel have held steady week on week in the United States, according to Fastmarkets AMM's most recent assessment.CRC was flat week on week at $41.50 per hundredweight ($830 per ton) on Thursday March 22 from a week earlier. Meanwhile, the assessment for domestic hot-dipped galvanized steel base prices remained unchanged at $42 cwt ($840 per ton), and the all-i...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption recovered in February 2019, but figures were still down year-on-year in the first two months of the year, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Thursday March 21.Apparent usage reached 1.63 million tonnes last month, 3.70% higher than the 1.57 million tonnes of February 2018. In this year's January-February period, volumes totaled 3.17 millio...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have been largely stable over the past week, supported by strong demand in the construction industry, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 22.Fastmarkets' price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,220-2,320 zloty ($590-617) per tonne ex-works on March 22, compared with 2,200-2,320 zloty per tonne ex-works last week.The assessment r...Read More
Indian mills were keeping domestic HRC prices high in the week ended Friday March 22, even though cheaper imported coil products have beaten down spot prices for the commodity, Fastmarkets has heard.Indian domestic HRC prices were assessed by Fastmarkets at 41,500-42,000 rupees ($604-612) per tonne ex-mill on Friday, unchanged since last week.Indian importers and traders, meanwhile, were offering...Read More
The market for CIS export steel billet finally saw a thaw in buying activity in the week ended Friday March 22 despite the fact that not all customers were ready to accept the prices being offered by mills.Offers from CIS producers for April- and May-rolling material varied within the range of $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea, while most bids were still lower than $450 per tonne fob Black Sea.The...Read More
Prices for coated steel products in Turkey fell again in the seven days to Friday March 22, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets.Sources told Fastmarkets that demand is unlikely to improve in March because of market uncertainty ahead of the mayoral elections being held across the country on the last day of the month.The export market was also poor because of weak demand in Euro...Read More
Some steel coil prices in Turkey decreased again in the week ended Friday March 22, with buying activity remaining subdued.The market was unlikely to improve in March because of the uncertainty in the build-up to Turkey's mayoral elections to be held across the country on the last day of the month, sources told Fastmarkets. In addition, most market participants expected prices to fall further beca...Read More
Global scrap prices have gone up slightly except in Vietnam during the working week from Monday March 18 to Friday March 22, with demand being seen in Turkey only later in the week. Turkish steel producers returned to the market at the end of the week US ferrous scrap export prices up Vietnam ferrous scrap prices fall on weak demand Taiwanese prices rise on higher offers India on holidayTurkey imp...Read More