The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained the upward trend on Friday September 3, with demand picking up ahead of the weekend.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,270-5,300 yuan ($816-820) per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,140-5,170 yuan per tonne, up by 120-130 yuan per tonneBuyers raised procurement rates for consumption in the coming weekend, pushi...Read More
The domestic price of flat-rolled stainless steel in Northern Europe increased further in the week ended Friday September 3, supported by continued supply tightness, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?4,000-4,200 ($4,742-4,979) per tonne on September 3, up by ?...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at...Read More
Taiwanese steel mills have shifted their buying focus toward bulk Japanese H1&H2 (50:50) scrap in light of the shortage of containerized heavy-melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (80:20) from the United States West Coast.Bids increased to $465-468 per tonne cfr Taiwan on Friday September 3, up from $460-465 per tonne cfr Taiwan mid-week.There was a transaction concluded at $465 per tonne cfr Taiwan earlier in...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Deliverable stocks of base metals at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses diverged in the week to Friday September 3, with significant changes in nickel and copper stocks.Overall, nickel stocks reported an increase of 1,495 tonnes week on week, or 33.6%, to a total of 5,950 tonnes. Nickel reported the second-largest stock growth, behind only tin, the SHFE weekly report said.The largest...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 3.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
The anticipated agreement between the European Union and the United States on Section 232 tariffs would boost flat-steel export sales to the US and, consequently, reduce domestic EU availability, triggering a price rise in Europe, European buyers told Fastmarkets.The US and EU will reach an agreement on the exemption from Section 232 of European imports of steel and aluminium by November 1. The US...Read More
Three-month aluminium futures on the London Metal Exchange closed at their highest level for a decade on Friday September 3, with the base-metals complex broadly making gains despite jobs data from the United States coming in dramatically lower than expected.The LME aluminium contract closed at $2,727 per tonne on Friday, up by 1.1% from Thursday's close and its highest since May 3, 2011. This cam...Read More
The United States' steel import licenses dropped month on month but soared year on year in August, according to government figures.The US was licensed to import 2.30 million tonnes of steel in August, according to data from the US International Trade Administration's steel import monitoring system collected through Wednesday September 1. That was down by 17.86% from the preliminary US Census impor...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
Coated steel coil prices in Turkey continued to decline during the week to Friday September 3 on persistently slow demand and weaker hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey at $950-990 per tonne on Friday, narrowing downward by $10 from $950-1,000 per tonne last week.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for st...Read More
Spot differentials for low-carbon aluminium value-added products (VAP) in Europe moved higher in August, but most market participants remain focused on 2022 deals.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product (VAP), Europe at $15-25 per tonne Friday September 3, up from $10-20 per tonne on August 6. Spot deals were reported at $20 per tonne for aluminium billet and...Read More
Switzerland-based metals trader MRI Trading has hired Anant Mishra to head its office in South Africa, Fastmarkets heard on Friday September 3.Mishra will join MRI later this month from Vedanta Resources, where he has worked since 2004,...Read More
Premium hard coking coal fob prices jumped on the latest trade on Friday September 3, indicating a promising outlook for the fob market. And the low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) price in the cfr market soared due to tight supply from Russia, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $441.97 per tonne, down by $1.05 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Friday September 3 following an uptick in China's steel market, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.71 per tonne, up $2.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $145.30 per tonne, up $2.71 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $114.54 per tonne, up $2.52 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qi...Read More
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto will offer its benchmark iron ore fines, Pilbara Blend Fines (PBF), against an average of three indices from Thursday September 2, the Beijing Iron Ore Trading Centre (Corex) said this week.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% fines will form one third of the basket index, which also includes the average of indices produced by two other price reporting agencies.The...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap into Pakistan and India remained steady in the week to Friday September 3 after trading activity returned, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $524.96 per tonne on Friday, compared with $525.57 per tonne the previous week.At the start of the week, deals were heard at $51...Read More
Three-month aluminium futures on the London Metal Exchange closed at their highest level for a decade on Friday September 3, with the base-metals complex broadly making gains despite jobs data from the United States coming in dramatically lower than expected.The LME aluminium contract closed at $2,727 per tonne on Friday, up by 1.1% from Thursday's close and its highest since May 3, 2011. This cam...Read More