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
As the ferro-alloys community prepares to gather in Lisbon for a busy few days of meetings and contract negotiations, Fastmarkets outlines some of the key topics likely to dominate discussions at this year's International Ferro-alloys Conference, on November 11-13.Is the ferro-vanadium mating season nearing completion?What promises to be a busy few days in Lisbon for purveyors of ferro-alloys may...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Altria (MO $63.42) is expected to open lower following a Wall Street Journal report that the FDA plans to propose a ban on menthol cigarettes. L Brands added $1.10 to $37.60 after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Target was raised to $55 from $30.Yelp ((Y...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Friday November 9, with broad price weakness coming amid a fresh surge in the dollar index while investors heed caution over hawkish US-Sino trade relations. "Base metals are working against the strong dollar and the tightening Fed policy," SP Angel commodities analyst Sergey Raevskiy told Fastmarkets. "All the f...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
The London Metal Exchange has addressed a series of proposals put forward to market participants in a consultation period that began in early August, introducing key rulebook and procedural amendments in conjunction with its Strategic Pathway initiatives first introduced in 2017.Structured around key initiatives set out in 2017 to drive market growth, market feedback from the consultation has prom...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
Key data for the pricing session for the week ended Friday November 9. China Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices continued to soften slightly amid ongoing weak market sentiment. The UG2 chrome ore index dropped amid low liquidity, with buyers and sellers failing to agree a price in a falling market. The imported charge chrome...Read More
Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) recorded sales volumes of 101,000 tonnes during the third quarter of 2018, up from 97,900 tonnes in the corresponding period a year before.Volume growth came from the company achieving a higher share of downstream products and exports in the sales mix, according to an earnings report published by parent group Votorantim.Consumpti...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
The current conditions in the zinc concentrate market are the biggest challenge to operating Noranda Income Fund's (NIF) processing facility profitably, the company said. NIF, which owns the Canadian Electrolytic Zinc (CEZ) facility in the Canadian province of Quebec, said that the supply tightness in the zinc concentrate market was the result of several large mine closures in recent years and str...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Austenitic steel scrap prices in the UK decreased this week on the back of persistently poor demand and a negative outlook for early 2019, with lower nickel prices also a factor.Demand has been poor since October, when a substantial fall in the stainless steel market resulted in more cautious scrap purchasing from stainless mills. Scrap prices have gradually eased off during this time, although mu...Read More
Scrap prices in the major global markets softened slightly during the working week from Monday November 5 to Friday November 9, with the exception of the United States.Export scrap prices out of the US were firm, with a number of sales heard out of the country's East Coast, although demand for material from the West Coast was limited.Meanwhile, the prices of scrap in Turkey, India and Asia mostly...Read More
Prices for light iron scrap in the United Kingdom were steady this week, consolidating a rise of ?5 ($7) per tonne over the week before, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 9.This increase reflected the fundamental pattern of domestic business conditions and a similar pattern in key export destinations, they added.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an in...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week. Read More
Global lithium prices have stabilized ahead of 2019 contract price negotiations after 10 months of a downward price trajectory. The domestic Chinese spot market has become static ahead of 2019 contract price negotiations, with market participants spoken to by Fastmarkets expecting stable spot prices to continue into the following week. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide spot prices in C...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey were stable in the week ended Friday November 9, with demand increasing slightly.The local market has been slow for a long time but some bookings were heard this week, even if the market cannot be described as very active.Market participants were not expecting any sharp movement in demand or prices before the end of the year, because buying...Read More
Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative in the week ended Friday November 9, with some prices going down, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants did not expect local demand to improve until at least the end of 2018, because of the unwillingness to restock before the year-end.In addition, some buyers are having payment problems because sellers will not accept long-term payme...Read More
China's domestic prices for hot-rolled coil fell further on Friday November 9, marking a 14th day of decreases, and a few exporters have started lowering their prices in an attempt to secure orders in falling market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,900-3,930 yuan ($562-567) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,920-3,930 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonnePrices fel...Read More