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
China's rebar prices strengthened on Thursday December 20 following gains in the billet and futures markets.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,830 yuan ($551-555) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,600-3,630 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneImproved demand for billet sent the price of the semi-finished product in Tangshan upward during the day.Rebar futures...Read More
Revised standards for rebar in China have failed to lend continued support to vanadium prices in the country since their introduction in November, primarily due to enforcement of the standards not being as stringent as previously expected, market sources told Fastmarkets.The new rebar policy, effective November 1, 2018, requires Chinese steel mills to eliminate the original 335 megapascals (MPa)-t...Read More
Ferrous futures in China fell during morning trading on Thursday December 20, apart from the iron ore contract which posted small gains during the session.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,433 yuan ($498) per tonne, down 13 yuan per tonneMay hot-rolled coil: 3,438 yuan per tonne, down 22 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange May iron ore: 490.50 yua...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
A steel trade group argued that the statute under which the US Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports were issued was unconstitutional, according to oral arguments during a US Court of International Trade (CIT) hearing on Wednesday December 19. The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) alleged that the statute violates the constitutional prohibition against Congress delegati...Read More
Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3% year on year in November, amid a slow recovery in the steel market.Sales from distributors amounted to 262,100 tonnes last month, compared with 254,400 tonnes in November 2017, the Brazilian flat steel distributors association (Inda) said on Tuesday December 18.Flat steel consumption in Brazil is mostly being spurred by a positive perfor...Read More
Turkish scrap import prices increased on Thursday December 20 on positive sentiment although no new deals were heard, sources told Fastmarkets MB. Several new bookings were heard on December 18, including a steel producer in the Iskenderun region booking a European cargo comprising 25,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap (HMS) 1&2 (75:25), 7,000 tonnes of a mixture of bonus and shredded...Read More
The benchmark in-warehouse Rotterdam aluminium premium fell to its lowest since January 2010 on Thursday December 20, the day after after the US Treasury announced its intention to lift sanctions on Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal in January. Fastmarkets assessed the duty-unpaid premium at $55-65 per tonne on Thursday, down from $60-75 per tonne the day before. Participants told Fastmarke...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the US dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes.Closing at a fresh 2018 low of $1,912 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price fell to its lowest level since August 2017 at $1,905.50 per tonne amid announcement of the US Tre...Read More
The lack of trading activity in the second half of December continued to put pressure on Turkish long steel exporters, and on rebar in particular, which has forced suppliers to further decrease offers.The European Commission's decision to extend safeguard regulations until February 1, 2019 has added more uncertainty into the market, leaving the question of how much rebar will be allowed to be supp...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
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday December 20.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher during morning trading, with a weaker dollar index sustaining buying momentum while the potential removal of US sanctions against UC Rusal pressured aluminium to a fresh 2018 low.Reaching an intraday low of $1,905.50 per ton...Read More
Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday December 20. Most base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rebounded during Asian morning trading on Thursday as relations between Washington and Beijing appear to improve, thus ushering risk-on sentiment back into the market.Check Fastmarkets MB's live futures report here....Read More
Years ago, the idea that machines would replace humans on the trading floor seemed far-fetched and the suggestion that algorithms might replace humans entirely ridiculous.But both have happened in some shape or form, making the advent of blockchain - now being vaunted as the next game-changer in technology - a lot more realistic than naysayers might initially think.Dozens of trials and projec...Read More
Since its merger with Xstrata, Glencore - previously a trading and marketing firm - has become a mining firm whose earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is dominated by earnings from its industrial activities. The recent appointment of Peter Freyberg as head of the company's industrial mining assets, a newly created position with oversight and responsibility for all Glenco...Read More
Fastmarkets MB looks back at a year of changes in the ores and alloys markets.Manganese ore market stabilityManganese ore prices were relatively stable in2018, following two years of unprecedented volatility. This was the first yearsince 2016 that did not end in a sharp rally, resulting in a dull year fortraders, but a lucrative time for producers. The market has been underpinned bystrong demand f...Read More
A requirement for a higher energy density for new EV battery projects has been removed from the official regulations on automobile industry investment published by the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on its website. The energy density threshold was removed from the final version of the regulations on Tuesday December 18 owing to the fact that current technology is not d...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday December 20, with a continued retreat in the US dollar index failing to spur upward price action amid broadly moderate volumes.Closing at a fresh 2018 low of $1,912 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price fell to its lowest level since August 2017 at $1,905.50 per tonne amid announcement of the US Tre...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