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
Lead was the best performer on the London Metal Exchange at the end of trading on Thursday September 2, reaching its highest price in the past week, while most other metals in the base-metals complex remained around their Wednesday prices.Lead's three-month contract rose to as much as $2,315 per tonne on Thursday, and closed the session at $2,312.50 per tonne, up from Wednesday's 5pm price of $2,2...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday September 2, with the outlook remaining bearish despite a drop in steel inventories amid relatively active port trading, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.02 per tonne,down $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.59 per tonne,down $1.64 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qing...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal cfr price and hard coking coal fob price soared on Thursday September 2 due to sustained tight supply. And some Chinese coke producers proposed the ninth round of price hikes since the start of August.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $443.02 per tonne, up $11.99 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $403.85 per tonne, up $7.33 per...Read More
Non-binding offers have been made for the purchase of Glencore's warehousing and logistics firm, Access World, with the official due diligence process now underway, according to sources familiar with the matter.At least three Asia-based bidders are in the final stages of the process, which will require firm offers to be submitted at the end of the month, sources told Fastmarkets.A number of compan...Read More
Chile's state-owned mining entity Codelco announced on September 2 that it had reached an agreement with two of the three labour unions that are striking at its Andina mine."The workers associated with the SIIL and SUT Unions will resume their work on a date to be defined with the administration," Codelco said in a statement. The new wage agreement between the company and the Industrial Union of L...Read More
United States-based aluminium producer Novelis has concluded a $175 million capacity expansion project in Brazil and was already studying further increases to meet growing demand in the country for aluminium cans, its local vice-president for procurement, Alfredo Veiga, told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 1.The company disclosed in November 2018 its plans to raise rolling capacity by 100,000 t...Read More
Copper scrap prices in the United States were steady on Wednesday September 1 amid solid demand and whipsawing Comex copper prices."Demand has held up well overseas, domestically it's fair," one trader source said. "Consumers have found a comfort level with their suppliers and everybody is making decent money at these spreads, so there've been no drastic...Read More
The London Metal Exchange trading ring will reopen on Monday September 6, for the first time in 18 months, and chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain admits that there have been a lot of tough conversations with members about its future.Ring trading will look very different after the restart. Closing prices will be traded electronically, via LMESelect, and only official prices will move back...Read More
China Hongqiao, the world's largest producer of primary aluminium, has completed the first stage of its transition of over 2 million tonnes of aluminium production from Shandong to the company's hydro-powered smelter in China's Yunnan Province, it was announced during Fastmarkets International Aluminium conference this week. Speaking at the conference on Thursday September 2, Ron Knapp, internatio...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States climbed above $97 per hundredweight ($1,940 per short ton) to a new record, with market participants expressing concern that upcoming mill maintenance will result in reduced availability of steel. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $97.08 per cwt ($1,941.60 per ton) on Thursday September 2, up by 0.86% from $96....Read More
The continuing shortage of container freight space and vessels could intensify further in the coming weeks, shippers of ferrous scrap told Fastmarkets this week."The lack of freight space for containers is a big problem now, and it's driving up costs and prices for shippers all over the world," a ferrous scrap seller in Singapore told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2.Traders handling containeri...Read More
Prices in the United States for imported hot-rolled coil hovered near the same level seen two weeks ago, with foreign producers taking advantage of the wide spread between imports and domestic material to bolster US sales."Offers are as much as $400 per ton lower than domestic prices, with deliveries arriving in November and December," an East Coast distributor source said. "Yes, the foreigners ar...Read More
Prices for domestic steel reinforcing bar in the United States were stable this week, with market participants waiting to see if other mills will follow Steel Dynamics Inc's (SDI) price increase.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on Wednesday September 1, unchanged since August 11 but up by 75.89% from $28 per cwt at the sam...Read More
Acciaierie d'Italia, formerly known as ArcelorMittal Italia and earlier known as Ilva, has temporarily stopped operation of its coke battery No12, a company source told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2."Battery 12 of the coking plant started the final phase of refurbishment in line with environmental standards on September 1," the company source said. "This phase requires the suspension of...Read More
Deep-sea steel scrap prices are expected to drop in upcoming bookings to Turkey, in line with falling finished steel prices in the country, market participants said on Thursday September 2.Sources said that suppliers in the United States were not currently offering material to Turkey because US domestic pricing negotiations remained unfinished. While a price drop is expected by some market partici...Read More
The lower house of the Brazilian Congress passed a personal and corporate income tax reform bill on Wednesday September 1 that included a 1.5 percentage point increase in mining royalties, while adding new commodities that will be subject to that change.The bill was approved by 398 votes against 77. It was intended to raise the Financial Compensation for Exploration of Mineral Resources - Cfem in...Read More
On August 31, New South Wales' Independent Planning Commission (IPC) announced it had blocked plans for a new coal mine in New South Wales' Southern Highlands.The IPC decided to refuse development of the $533-million Hume Coal and Berrima Rail Project due to the projects' social impact and effect on water resources. The project is incompatible with land use objectives for the area, the IPC sa...Read More
Spot prices for Japanese exported scrap slid this week, reflecting weak demand from overseas buyers, market sources told Fastmarkets.But the end of the summer maintenance season at many domestic mills is set to shore up demand and spot prices in the coming weeks.Demand from key overseas market such as Vietnam and Taiwan remained very weak due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the former and cheaper cont...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday September 2, with the outlook remaining bearish despite a drop in steel inventories amid relatively active port trading, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.02 per tonne,down $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $142.59 per tonne,down $1.64 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qing...Read More