International cobalt metal prices softened on Monday August 16 with competitive offers emerging; some sellers are willing to drop their offers to take profits in a quiet market, sources said.Lower offers started to emerge last week and gradually brought downward pressure to the market amid thin liquidity, which is typical during the peak summer holiday period.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price o...Read More
Key data from the Friday August 13 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers China's domestic magnesium prices surged due to spot supply shortage from producers.Some producer sources said they had signed forward contracts with buyers, because they did not have spot material available for the...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets fell in the week to Friday August 13 amid a bearish outlook for demand for the remainder of the year.Fastmarkets iron ore indicesPellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $41.20 per tonne, down $3.60 per tonne66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $186.69 per tonne, down $20.97 per tonne65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $228.36 per tonne, d...Read More
China's Covid-19 measures are causing chokepoints in the country's ferrous supply chain, raising logistical costs for both traders and steel mills.China's National Health Commission reported 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday August 16 - 38 imported cases and 13 locally transmitted ones. Six of the locally transmitted cases were in Jiangsu province, while six were detected in Henan. While the numb...Read More
Manganese flake prices hit record highs in Europe and the United States in the week ended Friday August 13, amid short supply, talk of further production cuts and persistent delays in transportation from China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for manganese, 99.7% electrolytic manganese flake, in-whs Rotterdam, rose by 5.6% to $5,050-5,250 per tonne on August 13, up from $4,750-5,000 per tonne in the...Read More
Eastern China's domestic rebar price decreased slightly on Monday August 16 after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released housing industry data for July.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,190-5,220 yuan ($801-806) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneThe total area used for new housing construction totaled 1.19 billion square meters in January to July, down by 0.9% year on year, while the...Read More
Export prices for steel billet from the Black Sea basin have continued to decrease in mid-August amid limited demand in most outlet markets and lower costs for scrap raw material globally.Customers from Europe were mainly out of the market due to the holiday season in that region, while Turkish buyers were not willing to pay more than $650 per tonne cfr (equivalent to $620 per tonne fob) due to th...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 16 that are worth another look.Apparent steel use in the European Union will increase by 11.2% year on year in 2021, the European steel association Eurofer said in the week to August 16.A lack of available containers for shipments out...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified a necessary clarification to the nickel sulfate specification with regard to timing of loading.The timing of loading for Fastmarkets' nickel sulfate ex-works China price assessment is within seven days, which was not reflected in the specifications when the price assessment was launched in July 2018.Fastmarkets confirms that the specifications are as follows, with the cl...Read More
China's Covid-19 measures are causing chokepoints in the country's ferrous supply chain, raising logistical costs for both traders and steel mills.China's National Health Commission reported 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday August 16 - 38 imported cases and 13 locally transmitted ones. Six of the locally transmitted cases were in Jiangsu province, while six were detected in Henan. While the numb...Read More
Export prices for steel billet from the Black Sea basin have continued to decrease in mid-August amid limited demand in most outlet markets and lower costs for scrap raw material globally.Customers from Europe were mainly out of the market due to the holiday season in that region, while Turkish buyers were not willing to pay more than $650 per tonne cfr (equivalent to $620 per tonne fob) due to th...Read More
Turkish steel producers started the week with a single deep-sea cargo, which further deepened the decrease in prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday August 16.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 18,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $455 per tonne, along with 5,000 tonnes of shredded and 1,500 tonnes of bonus at $470 per tonne cfr.The previous cargo...Read More
Apparent steel use in the European Union will increase by 11.2% year on year in 2021, the European steel association Eurofer said in the week to Monday August 16.The association has downgraded the outlook slightly compared to figures publishedin May 2021.In its previous outlook, Eurofer expected the EU's apparent steel consumption toincrease by 11.7% year on year in 2021.The association also...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained above $95 per hundredweight ($1,900 per short ton) for the third consecutive business day, with demand and lead times stable in the domestic market.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $95.07 per hundredweight ($1,901.40 per short ton) on Monday August 16, a decrease of 1.08% from $96.11 per cwt on Friday...Read More
Secondary aluminium ingot prices in Europe rose during the week to Friday August 13 due to surging costs for alloying elements. Despite quieter market conditions due to the seasonal summer lull, ingot prices rose in both Europe and the United Kingdom this week due to ascending prices for elements used in aluminium alloying such as silicon and copper. Fastmarkets assessed the price for aluminium sc...Read More
Eastern China's domestic rebar price decreased slightly on Monday August 16 after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released housing industry data for July.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,190-5,220 yuan ($801-806) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneThe total area used for new housing construction totaled 1.19 billion square meters in January to July, down by 0.9% year on year, while the...Read More
Rebar and wire rod export prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to decrease in the week ended Monday August 16, pressured by the downward trend in the Turkish market that was spurred by a lack of demand and lower costs for imported scrap.Scrap prices in Turkey declined at the beginning of this week due to the latest transaction.Thus, Fastmarkets' index for steel scrap,...Read More
Export slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) remained largely unchanged in the week to Monday August 16 on limited trading activity.Customers in Europe, particularly those in Italy, had little appetite for imported material due to the traditional holiday season in the region.Buyers from Turkey, meanwhile, were facing limited demand for finished...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 25 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US79.22 cents following release of July Canadian Housing Starts at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was a decline to 270,800 from upwardly revised 295,085 in June. Actual was 286,620.Index futures moved lower following release of the July Retail Sales...Read More
Key data from Friday August 13 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Sellers reduced their offers in the hope of facilitating sales. Regular participants held their offers at 530-550 yuan ($82-85) per kg but offers below 520 yuan per kg were also...Read More