Fastmarkets' weekly prices assessments for alloy steel scrap imported into mainland Europe were unchanged this week amid 'very slow' market activity and relatively stable nickel prices.Demand has been below expectations since the end of the summer, when the usual post-holiday recovery failed to fully materialise. And it weakened further when stainless steel prices dropped sharply in October, with...Read More
Movements in the prices of base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly upward at the close of trading on Friday October 12.This was supported by the emergence of fresh buying amid a softer US dollar index and increased market optimism about trade talks between the United States and China.Most prominent among the gains in the complex over the afternoon was the rise in the three-month lead...Read More
The US Midwest aluminium premium has stayed put this week, but talk among market participants suggests that softening of the premium is a distinct possibility in the near future.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the spot P1020 duty-paid premium at 19.75-20.25 cents per lb on Friday October 12, unchanged from earlier this week. Spot activity has increased from earlier this week - buyers are said to nee...Read More
Prices for the A380.1 and 319.1 secondary aluminium alloys fell in the United States on Thursday October 11, after pressure from depressed scrap aluminium prices spurred some discounted offers into the spot market.The benchmark A380.1 price fell to 90-92 cents per lb on October 11, down 1 cent from 91-93 cents per lb in the previous assessment. The 319.1 alloy price similarly fell by a p...Read More
Fastmarkets MB rounds up some of the key news and price moves across the global metal markets this week.Base metals In breaking news this afternoon, the US Treasury Department has further extended the expiration date of general licenses relating to UC Rusal until December 12.Codelco's Chuquicamata division will be running at reduced operating rates until mid-November following a technical fault at...Read More
Rising copper premiums should forerun years of higher prices for the metal, Atlantic Copper chief executive officer Javier Targhetta said in an interview with Fastmarkets on Tuesday October 9 during LME Week in London. Premiums for copper cathodes in-warehouse Shanghai remain close to three-year highs, while import gains for Chinese refined copper in September are up by 16.1% this year....Read More
The Fastmarkets MB alumina index fob Australia dropped below $500 per tonne on Friday October 12 following the Brazilian government's U-turn on an earlier decision, allowing the Alunorte alumina refinery to resume production at 50% capacity. Fastmarkets MB's fob Australia daily alumina index was at $493.75 per tonne today, down from $504.50 on Thursday October 11. Key drivers On Saturday, Hy...Read More
Comex copper prices gained in in the US morning on Friday October 12 amid technical buying and growing optimism for the approaching year-end.The copper price for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded 1.35 cents or 0.5% to $2.7940 per lb."Looking ahead, we expect LME copper prices to strengthen in the final quarter of 2018,...Read More
Cold-rolled coil prices have edged down in Fastmarkets AMM's latest assessment, while market participants await the full impact of a $2-per-hundredweight ($40-per-short-ton) price increase announced by US mills.Fastmarkets' price assessment for US domestic cold-rolled coil fell to $46 per cwt ($920 per short ton), down $1 per cwt from $47 per cwt ($940 per ton) a week earlier. Meanwhile,...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market during the week ended Friday October 5.Raw materials The Singapore Exchange (SGX) will launch a high-grade iron ore derivative product to be settled against the daily MB 65% Fe iron ore index published by Fastmarkets. Subsequently, market participants hailed the decision, saying it will serve the burgeoning need for bette...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued to slide as the market waits to see whether a recent round of mill price increases will stop the declines.Fastmarkets AMM's hot-rolled coil index stands at $40.76 per hundredweight ($815.20 per ton), down 1.3% from $41.28 ton a week earlier and off 11.1% from a July peak of $45.84 per cwt.Lead times average three to five weeks, market participa...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have moved down slightly over the past week despite strong demand from the construction industry, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 12.Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was at 2,340-2,380 zloty ($624-635) per tonne ex-works on October 12, widening downward over the week from 2,340-2,390 zloty per tonne...Read More
Domestic prices for coated steel coil products in Turkey continued to decrease in the week ended Friday October 12, with demand remaining poor in the local market.Yet demand in the export market, mainly Europe, was quite good for coated coil.Some Turkish producers decreased their prices, however, because of the weak domestic demand in the country.Domestic pricesOne northern producer in Turkey was...Read More
Sentiment in Turkey's flat steel market remained negative over the week ending Friday October 12, but some prices managed to increase, sources told Fastmarkets.Turkish producers were offering flat steel for late November and early December production, with several bookings heard.Domestic pricesProducers have been offering hot-rolled coil (HRC) to the domestic market at $570-580 per tonne ex-works,...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products.Latest transactions: HRC, CRC, HDG, PPGIHot-rolled coilTurkey, domestic, hot-rolled coil, offered at $570-580 per tonne ex-works, late November-early December production.Turkey, domestic, hot-r...Read More
Key data for the pricing session in the week ending Friday October 12. China China's domestic spot markets for ferro-chrome and UG2 chrome ore were relatively quiet in the first week after the national holiday, which ran October 1-7. Offers for imported charge chrome rose but liquidity...Read More
The following Fastmarkets noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday October 12:Noble alloysMolybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $12.00-12.15 per lb from $11.90-12.10Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $29.00-29.40 per kg from $28.75-29.00Ferro-vanadium US 70-80% V, $/Ib: $51.00-53.00 per Ib from $48.00-51.50Vanadium pentoxide min 98%, in-wa...Read More
Chilean lithium producer SQM has asked the country's antitrust regulator to reconsider a decision that would see a 24% stake in SQM being sold to a rival producer, because it could give it access to commercially sensitive information. SQM filed a motion on Wednesday October 10 asking the Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia (TDLC) to rethink its earlier decision, which approved a deal agree...Read More
Domestic Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices softened on Thursday October 11 due to lower concluded prices after the Golden Week national holiday on October 1-7. Cheaper lithium compounds produced from brine in China keep dragging spot prices down while suppliers of lithium compounds produced from hard rock are resisting lower bids. The Chinese lithium carbonate price...Read More
Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an ex-works China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade, spot price range, ex-works China, yuan per tonne. Fastmar...Read More