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
A rupture in a tailings dam at Vale's Feij??o mine in the city of Brumadinho, in the state of Minas Gerais in south-east Brazil, has flooded the company's administrative facilities and part of the nearby Vila Ferteco community. "There is no confirmation about injured people at the site," Vale said on Friday January 25. "[The company's] top priorities right now are preserving and protecting the liv...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
Stabilizing prices this month have lifted the gloom from China's steel sector, resulting in the emergence of optimism for the market after the Chinese New Year.Toward the end of 2018, most market participants had been pessimistic about Chinese steel prices, particularly those for flat steel, with the key automotive industry experiencing its first sales decline since the 1990s last year."Market par...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.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
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
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
Consumption of ferrous scrap in the United Kingdom will continue to increase over the coming years amid an expansion in the UK operations of international metals group Liberty House, Fastmarkets MB's research team believes. UK scrap demand in 2018 is on course to rise for the first time in four years after Liberty restarted a second electric arc furnace (EAF) at its site in Rotherham, northern Eng...Read More
Christophe Olivier, the head of copper concentrates trading at commodities firm MRI Trading, has left the organization after 11 years, sources close to the company told Fastmarkets on Friday January 25.Olivier, who had been with the firm since 2007, resigned earlier this week to pursue other opportunities, one source said.MRI declined to comment at the time of publication.It is unclear whether the...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
There has been increasing emphasis on spodumene pricing due to the growing importance of this concentrate as a major source of feedstock for conversion in lithium compounds and the potential knock-on effect in the downstream electric vehicle and battery sectors. The growing importance of hard rock lithium concentrate as a major source of feedstock for lithium carbonate and hydroxide production has...Read More
Stabilizing prices this month have lifted the gloom from China's steel sector, resulting in the emergence of optimism for the market after the Chinese New Year.Toward the end of 2018, most market participants had been pessimistic about Chinese steel prices, particularly those for flat steel, with the key automotive industry experiencing its first sales decline since the 1990s last year."Market par...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Friday January 25, with a downturn in the US dollar index supporting higher prices, while tin futures fell on more than 1,000 tonnes of inflows.Closing above $6,000 per tonne for the first time this year, copper's three-month price appreciated by 2.2% over the afternoon and total volumes traded toppe...Read More
London Metal Exchange tin inventory, which reached its lowest level in 30 years earlier this week, has received its largest inflow since November 2014. More than 1,000 tonnes was delivered into LME-listed warehouses in Singapore on the morning of Friday January 25, taking the total LME tin stock count back above 2,000 tonnes. After today's morning inflow, tin's outright price dropped $500 per tonn...Read More
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