Aurubis has resumed production at its Hamburg and Pirdrop primary copper smelting plants after both were suspended for unscheduled boiler maintenance earlier this week, the company said on Thursday November 29. "Our plants in Hamburg and Pirdrop are back in operation already, we expect L? 1/4 nen to be back by the end of next week," a spokesperson said in an...Read More
Comex copper prices were under pressure on Thursday morning in the US, in the aftermath of US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's dovish comments made on Wednesday.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reversed down 1.55 cents to $2.7980 per lb. Powell said interest rates were, "just below neutral levels" while speaking at the New...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
Ferroglobe is set to idle almost one-fifth of its silicon metal production capacity in Europe and the United States, cutting it to an annualized rate of 341,000 tonnes from 417,000 tonnes, because of the weaker prices seen this year.The UK-based metals company is planning to idle 36,000 tonnes per year of production capacity in the US. This will be done its plant at Selma, in the state of Alabama,...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday November 28 pricing session in Asia.Key drivers: Buyers lowered their purchasing prices after the price of scrap - the raw material of ADC12 - went down in the United States. Japanese buyers also held off from purchasing capacity this week due...Read More
Metal Bulletin has corrected its UK domestic grade-316 stainless steel scrap solids price, which was published incorrectly on November 23 due to a reporter error. The price was originally published at ?1,230-1,250 ($1,572-1,579) per tonne, delivered to merchant. The price has now been corrected to ?1,220-1,300 per tonne, stable from the week before. Fastmarkets MB's price book and database have...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
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
Comex copper prices were under pressure on Thursday morning in the US, in the aftermath of US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's dovish comments made on Wednesday.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange reversed down 1.55 cents to $2.7980 per lb. Powell said interest rates were, "just below neutral levels" while speaking at the New...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were being pushed and pulled by cross currents this morning, Thursday November 29. Nickel, lead and tin showed gains averaging 0.4%, while copper, aluminium and zinc were down by an average of 0.4%. Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,230 per tonne.Volume across the complex has been average with 5,189 lots traded as at 7.33am London time. Wednes...Read More
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