China ended steel production in all of the country's illegal induction furnaces by the end of June last year, it ha claimed.Most operators in China are primarily small private mills that use low-quality scrap to produce substandard rebar. This is mixed with grade III (HRB400) rebar and sold at a discount to construction contractors.For a long period, the government had neither a record of nor cont...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
The closure of some induction furnaces in China in 2016 followed by the government's crackdown on all unlicensed IFs in mid-2017 freed up some scrap volumes, albeit arguably of low-quality material. Chinese domestic scrap prices came under pressure from the increased supply, which prevented them from keeping pace with the rise in steel and other raw material markets in the fourth quarter of 2016;...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange continued their uptrend at the close of trading on Friday January 4, buoyed by strong gains in the US stock indices while depleting LME stocks keep prices elevated. Copper's three-month price was the best performer over the afternoon, gaining more than 3% and reaching an intraday high of $5,933 per tonne. The metal's three-month price has been t...Read More
The benchmark for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in the first quarter of 2019 has settled in a premium range of $83-85 per tonne cif over the London Metal Exchange price, the lowest level in more than two years, sources directly involved in the negotiations disclosed to Fastmarkets MB.The latest settlement represents an 18% decrease from the fourth-quarter benchmark of $103 p...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Jiangxi Copper, one of the China's top copper producers, has purchased a majority stake in a facility in Yantai as part of a rare move of consolidation among state-owned copper smelters, according to an exchange filing on Thursday January 3.The multi-year long discussion between Jiangxi Copper and the operator of the Yantai Guorun smelter has finally been concluded, with the former agreeing to buy...Read More
Fastmarkets MB increased the frequency of the assessment of manganese ore inventories at the main Chinese ports of Tianjin and Qinzhou to weekly from fortnightly on Thursday January 3. Following a month-long market consultation, Fastmarkets MB has begun assessing manganese ore inventories at the main Chinese ports of Tianjin and Qinzhou weekly on Wednesdays. The next publication date is January 9....Read More
Global cobalt prices came under mounting pressure in December, with the bearish outlook for 2019 and forecast oversupply showing no signs of relenting and sellers rushing to get stocks off their books ahead of the year-end. Price moves Benchmark cobalt prices slumped in December following relative stability in October and November as year-end book-squaring created even greater competition for scan...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Global spot prices were on a downtrend over the week ended Friday January 4 because of weak demand in many scrap importing markets.There was limited liquidity in the key markets of Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam because some market participants had not returned from new year holidays.Market participants expected prices to continue on the downtrend in the coming weeks, in the face of subdued downstream...Read More
The light iron steel scrap market in the United Kingdom has been stable over the week ended Friday January 4, extending a steady performance in prices for the third consecutive week.But downward pressures pose a threat, with January delivery settlements expected to be at lower prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant b...Read More
Alloy steel scrap prices in Europe and the UK have been assessed as either stable or moving downward amid continued weak demand from mills, and market participants have little hope of any improvement in the near future.In the UK market, domestic prices for 18/8 alloy steel scrap solids were assessed on Friday January 4 at ?770-800 ($969-1,007) per tonne...Read More
Comex copper prices staged a major recovery in the final morning trading session in the United States, amid a strong December jobs report.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange recovered 3.90 cents to $2.6070 per lb.Earlier this morning, the latest jobs report showed 312,000 Americans joined the labor market, shattering expectations of 179,0...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were generally firmer this morning, Friday January 4, with copper, nickel, zinc and lead up by an average of 0.8% - with copper up by 1.1% at $5,840 per tonne. Aluminium and tin bucked the trend, however, to decline by 0.5% and 0.1% respectively.Volume across the complex has been high - as it has been each trading day this week - with 9,9...Read More
Global cobalt prices came under mounting pressure in December, with the bearish outlook for 2019 and forecast oversupply showing no signs of relenting and sellers rushing to get stocks off their books ahead of the year-end. Price moves Benchmark cobalt prices slumped in December following relative stability in October and November as year-end book-squaring created even greater competition for scan...Read More