Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange performed well during the day but largely failed to hold momentum by 5pm on Thursday August 26, despite reaching intraday highs above Wednesday's closing levels.The aluminium three-month contract hit $2,639 per tonne during Thursday's trading, just $3 per tonne below its latest year-to-date high of $2,642 per tonne from July 30.It was the most traded...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal and hard coking coal prices in the cfr market both increased by over $16 per tonne on Thursday August 26, with rising offer prices and market expectations.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $408.93 per tonne, up $17.09 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $385.67 per tonne, up $20.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal fob DBCT: $243.98 p...Read More
Prices for imported steel billet continued to decrease in Egypt during the week ending Thursday August 26 and demand remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for rebar was limited to government projects, sources said.Egypt removed its construction ban on July 1 but rebar demand remained low because of high prices and a liquidity shortage.Domestic rebarEgyptian rebar producers kept...Read More
The striking workers union at Caserones said that it was prepared for a "lengthy strike" on Wednesday August 25, after rejecting Minera Lumina Copper Chile's latest wage offer. 96% of members of the workers union at Caserones rejected the company's latest wage offer to the union and criticized the company for "presenting a new offer without first having talks". The union noted that it hopes t...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 26 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets has plotted the locations of the continuing and proposed projects for the decarbonization of the European steel sector.The striking workers union at...Read More
Fastmarkets has plotted the locations of the continuing and proposed projects for the decarbonization of the European steel sector.This includes projects and targets for green steel, carbon capture, carbon neutral, net zero, low-carbon emissions and fossil-free steel. Hotspots appear in Germany, France and Sweden, where steelmaking is already well established. Policy, funding and sharing of infras...Read More
Prices for imported steel billet continued to decrease in Egypt during the week ending Thursday August 26 and demand remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for rebar was limited to government projects, sources said.Egypt removed its construction ban on July 1 but rebar demand remained low because of high prices and a liquidity shortage.Domestic rebarEgyptian rebar producers kept...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price movesDalila Ouerghi and...Read More
Japanese lower-grade scrap prices are facing renewed pressure, and Shindachi busheling prices have continued to be propped up in recent weeks by reduced generation at automaker Toyota, sources told Fastmarkets.Key Japanese mills reduce some scrap bid pricesGaps between bids and offers narrow downward with lower cost scrap emerging in the Chinese marketTaiwan imported containerized scrap prices edg...Read More
Sentiment in the European market for steel heavy plate was negative in the week to Wednesday August 25 due to declines in the costs for raw materials and semi-finished steel prices, as well as slow demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?920-940 ($1,081-1,105) per tonne on August 25, down by ?,?10-20 per tonne wee...Read More
Japanese lower-grade scrap prices are facing renewed pressure, and Shindachi busheling prices have continued to be propped up in recent weeks by reduced generation at automaker Toyota, sources told Fastmarkets.Key Japanese mills reduce some scrap bid pricesGaps between bids and offers narrow downward with lower cost scrap emerging in the Chinese marketTaiwan imported containerized scrap prices edg...Read More
Commodities merchant IXM, wholly owned by China Molybdenum Co Ltd (CMOC), is close to announcing its acquisition of warehousing and logistics firm Access World from Glencore, people familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets.The situation is still fluid - there are other bidders for the business - but a deal is expected to be announced imminently, the people said.Glencore, which declined to comment...Read More
Major steel production exports out of China in July decreased from June due to the removal of an export rebate on May 1.For instance, the hot-rolled coil export was 817,276 tonnes in July, down by 20% from 1.03 million tonnes in June, according to customs data.Market participants expect exports to keep the month-on-month...Read More
Billet prices in Turkey have gone down over the past week thanks to falling imported scrap costs and limited demand, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 26.Turkish steel producers' demand for imported scrap has been limited in recent weeks.The most recent deep-sea scrap trade was recorded on Wednesday August 25, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Belgian cargo...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have gone quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets once again after booking a single cargo earlier in the week, market sources said on Thursday August 26.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Belgium-origin cargo on Wednesday, comprising 22,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) and 12,500 tonnes of bonus at an average price of $450 per tonne cfr. The HMS 1&2 (80:20) price of th...Read More
Turkey's reinforcing bar and wire rod export prices have continued to fall over the past week amid sluggish demand, supported by softening scrap costs, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 26.The country's steelmakers have reduced their rebar offers for exports to $670-675 per tonne fob on actual-weight basis from $680-695 per tonne fob last week. But no significant bo...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices were down on Wednesday August 25 compared with a week earlier, but the market had picked up after experiencing losses earlier this week.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 18,200-18,600 ($2,810-2,871) per tonne, down by 600-700 yuan per tonne from a week earlierThe three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange e...Read More
A summary of Chinese battery materials producer GEM's financial and production results for the six months ended June 30, 2021, as released by the company on Thursday August 26.In brief GEM's annual capacity of ternary precursor materials totaled 130,000 tonnes at the end of June, unchanged from the end of last year. The company has shifted production focus to nickel-rich ternary precursor material...Read More
Prices for imported steel billet continued to decrease in Egypt during the week ending Thursday August 26 and demand remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand for rebar was limited to government projects, sources said.Egypt removed its construction ban on July 1 but rebar demand remained low because of high prices and a liquidity shortage.Domestic rebarEgyptian rebar producers kept...Read More
Fastmarkets has plotted the locations of the continuing and proposed projects for the decarbonization of the European steel sector.This includes projects and targets for green steel, carbon capture, carbon neutral, net zero, low-carbon emissions and fossil-free steel. Hotspots appear in Germany, France and Sweden, where steelmaking is already well established. Policy, funding and sharing of infras...Read More