China's stainless steel prices fell in both the domestic and export markets in the week ended Wednesday August 11 due to weakening demand and declines in nickel futures. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $18,902 per tonne, down by $983 per tonne (4.9%) from $19,885 per tonne on July 30.China's domestic stainless steel fu...Read More
ArcelorMittal is to pilot the use of bio-coal as a partial replacement for fossil coal in the blast furnace at its steelmaking site in Ghent, Belgium, as a step toward cutting its carbon emissions, the company announced on Wednesday August 11.ArcelorMittal Ghent has taken this step on its decarbonization journey, it said, by choosing to use high-quality bio-coal as a raw material for its steel pro...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Thursday August 12, on weakening market sentiment prompted by limited demand and thin liquidity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $162.96 per tonne, down $2.52 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.19 per tonne, down $2.78 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $130.72 per tonne, down $3.56 per t...Read More
All futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange were up on the morning of Thursday August 12, with most metals facing some form of supply headwinds - which bodes well for higher prices.Copper's three-month price was up to $9,601.50 per tonne on Thursday shortly after 9am, a 0.9% rise from $9,512 per tonne the previous day.The red metal was supported by the impending strike at Codelco's Andina m...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
Tesla, the United States-based manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), is implementing a blockchain solution for end-to-end cobalt traceability in partnership with Glencore, China Molybdenum (CMOC) and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), Glencore announced in a press release dated Thursday August 12.The Re|Source blockchain platform that Tesla is piloting was founded by Glencore, CMOC and ERG, and wa...Read More
A summary of Swiss long stainless steelmaker Swiss Steel Group's - formerly Schmolz + Bickenbach - financial results for the second quarter (April-June) of 2021.In brief Sales for the second quarter of 2021 rose by 72.1% year on year due to good demand from the automotive industry as well as from the mechanical and plant engineering industry.Higher stainless steel prices - primarily derived f...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
Zimbabwe has banned exports of raw chrome ore with immediate effect and will ban exports of chrome concentrates from July 2022 in order to secure its ferro-chrome industry, the country's cabinet announced on August 3, in a move which proponents of a South African chrome ore export tax believe has strengthened their case."A [total of] 22 smelters are now operating and are shared among nine foreign...Read More
Chinese and overseas tungsten concentrate and downstream ammonium paratungstate (APT) price increases have been unusually robust despite the traditional summer lull.Building on the momentum, most Chinese and overseas tungsten market participants remain bullish into the second half of this year, Fastmarkets has learned. "[The domestic] market had been stalled from mid-April to mid-June, with conce...Read More
Domestic steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States rose slightly after three flat weeks, and market participants expect a continued upward trajectory despite prices for shredded scrap - rebar's key feedstock material - declining in August.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel rebar, fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on Wednesday August 11, up by 0.51% from $49 per c...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Europe were mostly stable in the week to Wednesday August 11 due to the seasonally slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel CRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?1,270-1,320 ($1,489-1,548) per tonne on August 11, widening upward from ?,?1,270-1,310 per tonne ex-works one week earlier.The corresponding weekly pr...Read More
China's stainless steel prices fell in both the domestic and export markets in the week ended Wednesday August 11 due to weakening demand and declines in nickel futures. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $18,902 per tonne, down by $983 per tonne (4.9%) from $19,885 per tonne on July 30.China's domestic stainless steel fu...Read More
Commodities - including nickel, cobalt hydroxide and fluorspar - are being held in China at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port's Meishan wharf after the facility was locked down due to a positive Covid-19 infection at the site, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 12.One person was confirmed as infected with Covid-19 on August 11 and the local government has implemented strict controls and ha...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States surged above $96 per hundredweight ($1,920 per short ton) for the first time, with market participants projecting that new records will be made before this rally runs out of steam.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $96.54 per cwt ($1,930.80 per ton) on Thursday August 12, up by 1.77% from $94.86 per cwt on Wedne...Read More
A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local time on Thursday August 12 after unions rejected the latest offer from the company.The two unions - the main worker's union and the labor integration industrial union, representing some 800 workers - rejected the latest wage offer on Wednesday evening. The Andina Division of the state-controlled Codelco produced 184,400 t...Read More
ArcelorMittal is to pilot the use of bio-coal as a partial replacement for fossil coal in the blast furnace at its steelmaking site in Ghent, Belgium, as a step toward cutting its carbon emissions, the company announced on Wednesday August 11.ArcelorMittal Ghent has taken this step on its decarbonization journey, it said, by choosing to use high-quality bio-coal as a raw material for its steel pro...Read More
The United Kingdom Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended that anti-dumping duties on welded tube & pipe from Russia be revoked, but that measures against similar material from China and Belarus be extended, the TRA said on Monday August 9.The measures will be removed for products imported from Russia after January 30, 2021 - 30 days after the date the measure transitioned from the Europea...Read More
Turkish steel mills again stayed away from the deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday August 12, while finished steel prices edged lower, sources told Fastmarkets.No new deep-sea cargoes were heard on the market today, continuing a trend of silence, although falling finished steel prices are beginning to weigh on market sentiment and purchasing decisions. The price of rebar in Turkey's domestic...Read More