The US copper market saw heavy buying Friday morning amid mounting optimism that the trade dispute between the United States and China will be resolved in the coming months.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 4.20 cents to $2.9390 per lb.Progress in US-China trade talks continued to prompt positive market sentiment over the week, w...Read More
Etienne Scemama, regional sales manager at Rio Tinto, has left the company, Fastmarkets understands. Scemama handled the physical trading of aluminium specialty products for the producer. He worked...Read More
Base metals stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed as of Friday February 22, with zinc and copper stocks continuing to increase due to sluggish demand in the domestic Chinese market over the previous week, while aluminium and tin inventories were almost flat, and those of nickel and lead dropped.Deliverable copper stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses had risen by 10,676 tonnes or 5.15% o...Read More
Brazil's apparent consumption of steel totaled 1.54 million tonnes in January, down 5.6% from 1.63 million tonnes during the same month in 2018, national steel association Instituto A??o Brasil said on Friday February 22.Performance lagged most in the flat steel market. Flat steel usage reached 905,000 tonnes in the month, as it fell by 8.2% from 986,000 tonnes in January 2018. Long steel consumpt...Read More
Indian flat steel producers increased domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices by 1,000 rupees ($14) per tonne at the start of this week to factor in the higher prices of the commodity in the international market and rising raw materials costs.The price increase of 1,000 rupees per tonne for sales in the second half of February takes Fastmarkets' domestic HRC price to 40,500-41,000 rupees per to...Read More
CIS steel billet producers reduced offers of April-rolling billet in the week ended Friday February 22 in an attempt to attract customers, following the decline in global scrap prices, particularly in Turkey.Fastmarkets daily index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was calculated at $304.96 per tonne cfr Turkey on Friday February 22, down from $324.29 on the same day last week.The daily i...Read More
Weak demand and excess supply have driven Indian domestic secondary billet prices down by at least 1,300 rupees ($18) per tonne over the week ending Friday February 22, Fastmarkets has learnt.Indian domestic secondary billet prices ended the week at 33,000-33,200 rupees ($464-467) per tonne ex-mill. This was down from 34,300-34,500 rupees per tonne ex-mill, assessed by Fastmarkets last week.An off...Read More
Coated-steel prices in Turkey were stable in the week ending Friday February 22, with demand weak in both the domestic and export markets.Steel prices increased early February globally following sharp rises in raw materials prices due to supply concerns after Vale's tailings dam accident in Brazil.The incident will result in a 40-million-tonne-per-year production gap for iron ore, Vale said.Howeve...Read More
Steel coil prices in Turkey have mostly been stable in the week ended Friday February 22, with buying activity remaining weak.Prices are likely to fall soon if demand does not improve, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers placed orders early in February because they had low stock levels, but end-user demand in the country was not strong, so at the moment buyers prefer to wait and see whether prices wil...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India fell this week, confirming the correction that market participants had been expecting, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 22.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $339.44 per tonne cfr on February 22, a fall of $6.06 per tonne from $345.50 per tonne cfr on Februa...Read More
Light iron steel scrap prices in the United Kingdom have increased for a fifth consecutive week, because of higher export prices in key markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 22,.But a correction could be coming, they added, with global markets beginning to struggle.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?95-120 ($124-157...Read More
Alloy steel scrap prices in the UK domestic and European import markets were largely stable during the week to Friday February 22, with sources indicating essentially unchanged market conditions compared with the previous week. The exception was grade-316 stainless scrap imported to Europe, the price of which increased by ?,?20 per tonne on the high side to ?,?1,440-1,470 ($1,633-1,667) cfr for so...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings at the end of this week with a sharp decrease in the prices, sources said on Friday February 22.A steel producer in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $307 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $317 per tonne cfr, late on February 21.This compared with the previous Baltic Sea cargo...Read More
Iron ore prices continued to correct on Friday February 22 amid volatility in the futures market and low seaborne liquidity.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $86.65 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.03 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.05 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.03 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $88.43 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.07 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premium Ind...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
The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Friday February 22 following a flurry of transactions through the week that sent prices of premium hard coking coal up by more than 4% over the week.Fastmarkets' cfr China Premium Hard Coking Coal Index was unchanged from the previous day at $212.60 per tonne on Friday, but up 4.8% from Monday, while the fob Australia Premium Ha...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Friday February 22, with three-month copper and nickel prices breaching nearby resistance levels, while trade sentiment around US-China trade talks continues to support commodity investments. Copper's three-month price continues to trade in an uptrend amid a decade-low in LME stocks, while traded volumes r...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Friday February 22, boosted by sellers pushing for higher prices amid pre-weekend restocking.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,780-3,790 yuan ($563-564) per tonne, narrowing upward 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,720-3,730 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneSellers enjoyed higher prices today, with buyers restocking as usual...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday February 22* Copper -$162.52 (-1,095.04 yuan) Aluminium -$340.73 (-2,295.78 yuan) Zinc -$99.84 (-672.67 yuan) Nickel -$295.69 (-1,992.3yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Friday February 22 with stockists looking to replenish their inventories. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,720-3,760 yuan ($554-560) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,730-3,750 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneSome stockists were actively buying rebar to replenish inventories, wh...Read More