After suffering for some seven years through to 2015, the world's steelmakers have had cause for cheer over the past couple of years. After some heavy losses and write-downs, they finally appear to have emerged from the wreckage of the global financial crisis. An economic upswing has taken root in most regions of the world, Chinese steel output and export growth has slowed noticeably, and steel pr...Read More
For a number of years problems at Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe, have been casting shadow over the performance of the whole Italian steel industry. Will an acquisition of Ilva by a consortium led by ArcelorMittal, now in its final stage, be a game changer for the market?Following multiple reports of environmental and health problems caused by the Taranto plant, in 2013 Ilva was placed und...Read More
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
Some domestic rebar producers in Egypt have reduced prices, however, steel billet import prices have remained stable in the past week, sources said on Thursday December 20.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was at $440-445 per tonne cfr on Thursday, unchanged from the previous assessment.Billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) wer...Read More
Rebar producers in the United Arab Emirates have decreased their prices for January shipping, effective from Thursday December 20.The country's biggest producer Emirates Steel is now offering rebar at 1,899 dirhams ($517) per tonne ex-works, down from the previous 2,016...Read More
The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday December 21.Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the United States dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes. Read more in our live futures report.Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:It...Read More
It's been nine months since the United States announced Section 232 tariffs, and over six months since a 10% tax was applied to imports of aluminium from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. There's been a huge debate over how successful the tariffs - imposed on the grounds of national security and also applied at a 25% rate to steel - have been. Much depends on who you talk to, and what their s...Read More
Expectations of further recovery in Brazilian aluminium demand are prompting investments that will increase production capacity in the country, while companies try to strengthen competition with imports.Novelis and Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) are expanding at their sites in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo on estimates that consumption from packaging, transportation and constructio...Read More
The Comex copper price failed to maintain momentum after the US Federal Reserve increased interest rates and signalled a hawkish monetary policy strategy for 2019.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 2.00 cents to $2.69 per lb."Both the Fed's policy statement and Jay Powell's news conference came across as more hawkish than...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has initiated a process of market feedback following the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) intention to remove sanctions against UC Rusal and En+ Group, issuing both a member note and press statement on Wednesday December 19. In accordance with OFAC's decision to notify Congress of its plans to terminate sanctions - inclusive of...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday December 24. After that, because of public holidays, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Thursday January 3, 2019.Read More
Weak demand for finished long steel products in both the domestic and the export markets together with bearish sentiment for import scrap forced Turkish consumers to seek lower import billet prices. Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for billet imports into Turkey was at $420-440 per tonne cfr on Thursday December 20, down from last week's range of $435-445 per tonne cfr. Market partici...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBillet CIS, export, billet,...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transactions: rebar, wire rodRebar Egypt, domestic (Ezz Steel), rebar, offered at E ?11,850 ($660) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT. Egypt, domestic (El...Read More
The European Commission (EC) extended the deadline for a final decision over safeguards for a number of steel products imports, to February 1, 2019, the EC said.The EC started an investigation into safeguards for a number of steel products on March 26, 2018 to prevent steel shipments being redirected to the EU, after Section 232 import tariffs imposed by the United States.The initial deadline for...Read More