Comex copper prices rebounded on Friday January 25 after three straight declines amid a lower dollar and a round of technical buying. The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange surged 5.35 cents to $2.6980 per lb. Market participants remain wary of commodity markets, though, with Chinese and...Read More
Edward Meir of INTL FCStonetopped the base metals leaderboard in the Apex fourth-quarter 2018 contest, with an accuracy rating of 98.51%, while SP Angel were top of the precious metals table with 97.53% accuracy.For steel raw materials, Fastmarkets topped the leaderboard with 93.38% accuracy.Click on the image below to download the full report.Second in the base metals leaderboard was Caroline Bai...Read More
INTL FCStone's Edward Meir took the top spot on Fastmarkets' Apex 2018 yearly base metals leaderboard with an accuracy rating of 98.75%.In second place for base metals was Capital Economics' Caroline Bain with an accuracy rating of 98.25%, while Fastmarkets was third with 96.75%. Citi and CLSA's Andrew Driscoll were in joint fourth place with 96.69%.In the precious metals category, Georgette Boele...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium carbonate price weakened on Thursday January 24 after some suppliers sold at lower levels to boost cash flow ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, while the battery-grade lithium hydroxide price in China and those in the rest of the world were unchanged. Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices edged down on cheaper concluded deals. Lithium hydroxide prices...Read More
Coated steel prices in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday January 25, with some producers closing their sales books because they were planning to increase prices.The producers wanted to wait and see whether price increases for hot-rolled coil (HRC) would be accepted by the market, before announcing new prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domes...Read More
Most flat steel import prices decreased in South America during the week ended Friday January 25, but hot-rolled coil (HRC) was boosted by higher demand and a slight recovery.Fastmarkets assessed the HRC import price in South America at $525-540 per tonne cfr on January 25, up from $520-530 per tonne a week before. This was the highest price since December 7 last year.With Chinese export prices go...Read More
Some steel coil prices in Turkey increased this week because of the high cost of scrap and other global price increases, but demand continued to be low, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25.Demand has been poor in the country since August 2018, when relations between Turkey and the United States deteriorated. The Turkish lira lost value against the US dollar after US President Donald Trum...Read More
Beam prices in the United States' domestic and import markets are steady for now but industry sources are eyeing softening market conditions moving forward. Fastmarkets' assessment for domestic W8- x 8-in beams were flat at $41.75 per hundredweight ($835 per short ton) on Thursday January 24. At the same time, imported beams held at $780-820 per ton ($39-41 per cwt) delivered duty paid p...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have moved further down over the week due to slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets on January 25.Additionally, Polish steelmakers have settled monthly contracts for scrap at a lower price - a decrease of about 60 zloty ($16) per tonne - which has had an additional negative impact on rebar prices, market participants told Fastmarkets.As a result, Fastmarkets' pr...Read More
Fresh restrictions on production planned for China's steelmaking hub of Tangshan in the northern region do not appear to have had any effect on steel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets MB.Local authorities intend to extend production limits imposed on heavy industries beyond the winter heating season - which concludes at the end of March - to the April-September period to preserve air quality...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices recovered earlier losses and moved upward during the week ended Friday January 25, with a number of deals being done at higher prices, Fastmarkets heard throughout the week.Prices into Turkey moved up after new deep-sea cargo bookings, which also helped to push up export scrap prices from the United States. Good demand increased scrap prices in Asia, while India made ga...Read More
UK alloy steel scrap prices were stable this week, with firmer nickel and molybdic oxide prices being offset by stronger sterling versus the euro.With the majority of UK scrap being shipped to the European continent, any increase in the value of sterling must be balanced by lower prices in order to keep cargoes competitive.Therefore, UK scrap prices were largely stable this week. The price of 18/8...Read More
Pig iron buyers in the United States have continued purchasing materials for restocking purposes but at low prices, although further reductions were doubtful because suppliers were not ready to reduce prices further, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25.Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US was $340-350 per tonne cfr on Friday, widening downward from $345-350 per ton...Read More
Restocking by rebar producers, coupled with increased buying by traders, has pushed Indian domestic secondary steel billet prices upward by at least 1,000 rupees ($14) per tonne over the past week, Fastmarkets heard on Friday January 25.The Indian domestic secondary billet price assessed by Fastmarkets was 31,900-32,100 rupees ($449-452) per tonne ex-mill on Friday, up from 30,900-31,100 rupees pe...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil remained unchanged week-on-week on Friday January 25, with low volumes booked and mills preparing to launch next months' offers.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian slab export prices was stable week on week at $410-460 per tonne fob on Friday, unchanged from a week earlier.Deals to Europe were last concluded around $410 per tonne fob, while in the United...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Friday January 25 amid gains in the billet and futures markets, but those in the export segment remained flat on weak demand.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,750 yuan ($546-552) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,740 yuan per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneSteel billet and rebar futures both rose in comparison with a...Read More
Alloy surcharges to be applied to stainless steel products in Europe for February have decreased for the seventh consecutive month, Fastmarkets heard on Friday January 25.The decreases, which in the case of the grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheet surcharges were ?,?46-59 ($52-67) per tonne, were not expected to be reflected in transaction prices for the material, which were believed to have bottomed...Read More
European alloy surcharges for stainless steel products have fallen for the seventh consecutive month with the February surcharge down because of continuing weak market fundamentals and a sharp drop in molybdenum prices in January.The February alloy surcharge for molybdenum-containing grade-316 cold-rolled (CR) sheet - based on data published by producers Outokumpu, Aperam and Acerinox -...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday January 25.China The domestic ferro-chrome spot price stalled in quiet trading conditions. Chinese stainless steel mills showed little interest in buying extra cargoes after releasing their February ferro-chrome tender prices early in the week. The import charge chrome price ticked...Read More