The London Court of Appeals has upheld Vladimir Potanin, one of two major shareholders in Nornickel, in his attempt to block the other, Oleg Deripaska, from buying more shares in the giant nickel and palladium producer.Deripaska would have gained 6.3 million shares, owned by Crispian Investments, a stake that Russian news agency TASS put at 4%. Deripaska currently has a share of 27.8% through alum...Read More
Rumors have become stronger recently that discounts are being offered on flat steel prices in Brazil, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday November 29. Imported material has lost value and this has caused competition to intensify in the country, sources reported.Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) is the main steelmaker granting price discounts to distributors at an average of 5-6% for all flat product...Read More
European buyers of hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil have been watching the market in expectation of a price reduction, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Buyers have mostly been holding back from making purchases while hoping for a clearer market trend to emerge."Prices are under pressure, for sure," a Northern European source said. "Demand from [the] automotive [sector] is slowing d...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil (CRC) in the EU have been under pressure from slow trading, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Demand has been reduced by a combination of seasonal de-stocking activity and a general 'wait-and-see' attitude among buyers due to the lack of market clarity about further price trends.European buyers have also been reported to have sufficient stocks of...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have continued to decrease amid poor demand and a stronger lira, sources said on Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Turkey was TRY2,950-3,085 ($562-588) per tonne ex-works, including 18% VAT, compared with TRY3,080-3,220 per tonne of last week.A steel mill in the Izmir region was heard offering rebar to local.....Read More
Turkish long steel export prices continued to fall over the past week on sluggish demand and a downturn in Asian steel prices, sources said on Thursday November 29.Steel mills in Turkey cut their offers to $490-495 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis, but had attracted almost no interest at those prices, sources told Fastmarkets."We are trying to keep our offers at $495 per...Read More
The economic sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran since early August have had direct and indirect negative effects not only on the Middle Eastern country's steel exports but also on its domestic consumption.This may lead to lower steel output by the country in the future, Fastmarkets was told on Thursday November 29.The first tranche of sanctions imposed by the US was intended to pr...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States was stable despite worries about shipments from Ukraine being interrupted because of the country's current restrictions under martial law, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets' CIS export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron was unchanged at $355-365 per tonne fob Black Sea on November 29.Uk...Read More
Turkish steel mills extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap market on persistently poor demand for finished steel and with no recovery in sight, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.After booking three deep-sea cargoes from the United States and the United Kingdom at the end of the last week, steel mills in Turkey paused their buying activity because of the sluggish demand...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to refine the specifications for three pig-iron price assessments in the United States and Brazil to reflect existing market conditions.Fastmarkets invites market participants to take part in a market consultation to refine the specifications of the three prices below. Fastmarkets has added the chemical compositions into the specifications to specify the phosphorous content of...Read More
Turkish billet prices have continued to fall this week, amid sluggish demand and a downturn in Asian steel prices, sources said on Thursday November 29.Suppliers in the CIS region have already reduced their billet offers to Turkey to $460-465 per tonne cfr, but demand in the country was very weak...Read More
Steel billet import prices in Egypt have fallen by $20-25 per tonne over the past week amid poor demand and reduced offer prices, although domestic rebar prices were unchanged, sources said on Thursday November 29.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $450-460 per tonne cfr on Thursday, down from $475-480 per tonne cfr last week.Billet producers in the Commo...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up further on Thursday November 29 following higher billet prices. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,820-3,850 yuan ($549-553) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,530-3,560 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneRe-rolling mills raised procurement rates for billet when prices were at 3,040-3,050 yuan per tonne in the past couple of days, w...Read More
European alloy surcharges for stainless steel products for December have decreased for the fifth consecutive month, pulled down by lower nickel prices in addition to weak market conditions amid competition with Asian imports.The December alloy surcharge for 2mm grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheets - based on data published by producers Outokumpu, Aperam and Acerinox - is ?,?1,321-1,36...Read More
The European molybdenum-oxide market has climbed 20 cents in trading by mid-week, with deals and offer prices reported above $12 per lb and returning to a level unseen since the start of November.Some oxide trading, however, has been in South Korea where major steelmaker Posco settled a tender for around 100 tonnes of oxide last week at about $12-12.10 per lb. The company is due to settle another...Read More
China's ferrous futures retreated during the morning trading session on Thursday November 29 after a short-lived recovery a day earlier. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange January rebar: 3,594 yuan ($517) per tonne, down 62 yuan per tonneJanuary hot-rolled coil: 3,434 yuan per tonne, down 31 yuan per tonneDalian Commodity Exchange January iron ore: 474.50 yuan per t...Read More
European buyers of hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil have been watching the market in expectation of a price reduction, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday November 29.Buyers have mostly been holding back from making purchases while hoping for a clearer market trend to emerge."Prices are under pressure, for sure," a Northern European source said. "Demand from [the] automotive [sector] is slowing d...Read More
Brazilian steelmakers are concerned that the domestic industry will struggle if President-elect Jair Bolsonaro reduces or does away with import tariffs when he takes office in January 2019, sources told Fastmarkets MB last week.Other market participants, however, do not believe any changes will be done abruptly or without corporate tax reforms. The new federal administration's future minister of e...Read More
Global crude steel production volumes continued to rise year on year in October 2018, according to statistics published by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) on Friday November 23.World crude steel output totaled 156.6 million tonnes in October this year, compared with 148 million tonnes in the corresponding month of 2017. Asia continued to be the single largest steel-producing region, with...Read More
Swiss multinational investment bank, UBS Group, has applied for Category II membership on the London Metal Exchange, according to a note released by the exchange on Thursday November 15. The LME currently has 32 Category II members and the Swiss bank's London subsidiary, UBS Ltd, is already a member. Last month, Chinese broker Nanhua Futures similarly took steps...Read More