Turkish rebar and wire rod prices have increased over the past week in line with the latest uptick in the cost of imported scrap, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.Demand for rebar was still sluggish in the country's export markets, however, although the wire rod market was comparatively better due to demand from the machinery industry.Turkish steel producers were trying to keep their...Read More
Steel billet import prices in Egypt have increased over the past seven days with higher offers being heard, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $475-480 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $470-475 per tonne cfr last week.CIS-origin billet was offered to the country at $480 per tonne cfr, but no major bookin...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in March have been settled at values unchanged from the month before, with higher export prices and steady domestic British demand supporting the move, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.The sideways moves in UK prices consolidate a jump of ?20 per tonne in February. This came after European export prices to key destination Turkey rallied by...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their bookings of deep-sea scrap cargoes with prices remaining stable, sources said on Thursday March 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25) at $317 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $331 per tonne cfr.The same mill...Read More
Iron ore prices jumped on Thursday March 14 amid a positive destocking of steel products in China and signs of loosening restrictions on steelmaking operations.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.26 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.38 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.48 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $89.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.80...Read More
Turkish billet prices have continued to rise due to improved demand in the export and domestic markets in addition to the latest growth in imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic billet was $460-470 per tonne ex-works on March 14, up from the $450-460 per tonne of last week.Long steel producer Kardemir opened its local billet sales...Read More
Steel billet import prices in Egypt have increased over the past seven days with higher offers being heard, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $475-480 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $470-475 per tonne cfr last week.CIS-origin billet was offered to the country at $480 per tonne cfr, but no major bookin...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat amid lower trading activity on Thursday March 14, though bullish sentiment propped up the export market slightly.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,810-3,850 yuan ($568-574) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,790-3,830 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures were lower than Wednesday's settlement price of 3,817 yuan per tonne during most of the...Read More
South African state power utility Eskom has implemented load shedding for the first time this month amid lingering power constraints, sparking predictions of ferro-chrome price spikes if the situation deteriorates. Load shedding - controlled power outages - were last implemented in mid-February and were reported to have affected large industrial power users, including ferro-chrome smelters. After...Read More
JFE Meranti is a newcomer to the coated steel coil sector, and it expects its first years to be challenging while it works to achieve the lion's share of Myanmar's up-and-coming market for coated steel products, chief executive and managing director Sebastian Langendorf has told Fastmarkets.Langendorf was speaking in an exclusive interview at JFE Meranti's Singapore headquarters in the Marina Bay...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia moved up on Thursday March 14, amid an uptick in trading activity and higher scrap values, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $485-495 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday, up $5 per tonne from $480-490 per tonne cfr on Wednesday. Numerous deals involving Malaysian billet were concluded i...Read More
Fastmarkets AMM attended the annual convention of the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors (NASPD) on Thursday March 7 and Friday March 8 in New Orleans. Here are five themes gleaned in the sessions, on the sidelines and at the soirees.The US Gulf Coast is excited about China LNG import rumors. Reports that China may agree to buy an immense amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exp...Read More
Chinese finished steel exports decreased in February on both a yearly and a month-on-month basis amid uncompetitive prices and fewer working days as a result of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.The country shipped 4.51 million tonnes of finished steel out of the country last month, down 7% from the 4.85 million tonnes exported in February 2018, according to preliminary Chinese customs data...Read More
China's major mills continued to raise their daily output rates for crude steel in mid-February, while their finished steel inventories also rose.Members of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.95 million tonnes per day during the second 10 days of February, up 1.6% from 1.92 million tpd in early February, according to data released by the industry...Read More
The prices for nickel and copper were the poorest performers in trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday March 14, Fastmarkets has heard.Weaker data on China's industry drove the LME three-month nickel price down by 2.2% to $13,185 per tonne at the close of trading."The January-February combined data on Chinese industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment failed to provid...Read More
BCS Global Markets, one of Russia's largest securities brokers, believes that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's newly-acquired shareholding in Russia's largest miner Nornickel may lose value.Abramovich's investment firm Crispian Investments acquired the 2.5% stake for $551 million on Wednesday March 13.But the oligarch's share may depreciate in value in line with expectations that nickel prices...Read More
UK ferrous scrap prices for deliveries in March have been settled at values unchanged from the month before, with higher export prices and steady domestic British demand supporting the move, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 14.The sideways moves in UK prices consolidate a jump of ?20 per tonne in February. This came after European export prices to key destination Turkey rallied by...Read More
Fastmarkets' alumina index fob Australia moved above $400 per tonne and to its highest since mid-December 2018 following increased buying demand in the market and continued tight supply. The daily fob Australia alumina index rose to $402.70 per tonne on Thursday March 14, up from $396.92 per tonne the previous day and 3.5% higher week on week. Key drivers Renewed bullish sentiment in th...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday March 14 that are worth another look.Metal trading funds and the metal commodities industry in general are increasingly focused on trading copper spreads and staying away from bets on outright price, panelists at the International Copper Conference said on Wednesday March 13. At Fastmarkets' 20th Asian Ferro-alloys confere...Read More
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More