Prices for most imported flat steel in South America rose this past week, with galvanized sheet leading the uptrend as Chinese mills offered at substantially higher levels.Fastmarkets' hot-dipped galvanized coil assessment stood at $640-660 per tonne cfr on March 15 compared with $630-640 per tonne the week prior. It is the highest level since November 16, when prices were $685-700 per tonne."Chin...Read More
Fastmarkets has discontinued its weekly assessments of the Latin America rebar export price, which was reported on a dollar per tonne fob main port basis, with effect from Friday March 15.After a consultation period lasting two months, Fastmarkets has discontinued its weekly assessments after receiving feedback that there was now limited spot liquidity in the market for this material, with most vo...Read More
Fastmarkets MB is extending the consultation period to discontinue its weekly export price assessment of Latin America-origin hot-dipped galvanized coil, reported on a dollar per tonne fob main port basis.The extension is based on feedback and government data showing that producers in the region might be returning to export markets in 2019, Further investigation is also needed to verify if sp...Read More
Import tariffs on steel products in the United States created under Section 232 are likely to remain in place at least until the end of 2019, the chief executive officer of Gerdau, Gustavo Werneck, said during an event at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday March 13.The move from Donald Trump's administration boosted metal spread margins for steel producers in the US. This spread - calculated...Read More
Prices for coated steel products in Turkey decreased in the seven days to Friday March 15, 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 deman...Read More
UK prices for alloy steel scrap moved up slightly over the past week despite higher costs for nickel, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 15.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic UK 18/8 stainless steel scrap solids was ?840-880 ($1,113-1,266) per tonne delivered on March 15. This was up from ?830-870 per tonne delivered a week earlier, reflecting transactions heard in the...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap at steady prices at the end of the current week but prices are likely to fall in the next bookings, sources said on Friday March 15.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a European cargo, comprising 13,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $318 per tonne, 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $331 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of busheling at $334 per tonne cf...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap continued to recover this week with prices moving up for the second consecutive week, sources said on Friday March 15.Fastmarkets MB's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $335.29 per tonne cfr on March 15, up from $331.38 per tonne cfr on March 8.The recovery comes after the index had fallen by $11.11 per tonne week on week to...Read More
Domestic prices for E8 grade ferrous scrap in Italy have picked up slightly in February following the positive trend settled in the international scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 15.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for Italian grade E8 scrap was ?,?285-295 ($322-334) per tonne delivered on March 15, up compared with ?,?280-290 per tonne delivered in the previous month.T...Read More
Prices for light iron steel scrap in the United Kingdom have slipped at the top end of the current range amid steady trading, with the market buoyed by a recovery in export prices so far this month, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 8.The inter-merchant light iron scrap price, which dropped ?5 ($6.60) per tonne last week, has been reacting to a fall in export prices in late February, altho...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has strengthened on resumed sales to the United States, which is the key outlet, Fastmarkets was told on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' price assessment for CIS exports of high-manganese pig iron was $340-350 per tonne fob Black Sea on March 14, widening upward from $340-345 per tonne fob a week before.One deal was h...Read More
Forward cargoes of seaborne coking coal continued to fetch lower prices on Friday March 15 while those for April-laycan shipments held steady.On the Global Coal trading platform, a July-laycan cargo in the branded segment was traded at $196 per tonne fob Australia, while a bid for an April-laycan cargo in the same segment was made at $212.50 per tonne, up $0.50 per tonne from the last bid. The tra...Read More
Participants in China's rebar market reacted differently to the impending reduction of value-added tax in the country, resulting in a widening of domestic prices on Friday March 15.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,860 yuan ($565-574) per tonne, widened by 10 yuan per tonne on both ends Northern China (Beijing): 3,790-3,850 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 20 yuan per tonneChina's value-...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices moved down on Friday March 15 due to inactivity and declining futures following the announcement of cuts to the country's value-added tax. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,810 yuan ($564-567) per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,750-3,770 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneTrading activity was lower than that on Thursday w...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday March 15:Minor metalsAntimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $7,400-7,700 per tonne from $7,500-7,800Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $3.40-3.90 per lb from $3.55-3.90Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 46,500-48,500 yuan per tonne from 47,000-49,000 yuanChromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $8,550-9,200 per tonne from $...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Friday March 15, with copper, aluminium and nickel up by an average of 0.6%, while zinc, lead and tin were down by an average of 0.6%. Three-month copper was recently quoted at $6,449 per tonne, up by 1% compared with Thursday's close at $6,385 per tonne. Volume was significantly above average, with 19,661 lots tr...Read More
Prices for long and flat stainless steel products in Europe were stable this week, with market participants reluctant to accept higher offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 15.Fastmarkets price assessment for grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheets, delivered to Northern Europe, was unchanged week on week at ?,?2,100-2,150 per tonne on March 15.Offers were heard at ?,?2,200 per tonn...Read More
Import prices for ferrous scrap in Asia generally rose further this week amid steady buying interest and higher offers, market participants told Fastmarkets.Rising scrap values in Turkey and Japan continued to support market sentiment and encouraged sellers to maintain or increase their asking prices, sources said.VietnamSteel mills in Vietnam were still looking to buy scrap this week, especially...Read More