For a number of years problems at Ilva, the largest steelworks in Europe, have been casting shadow over the performance of the whole Italian steel industry. Will an acquisition of Ilva by a consortium led by ArcelorMittal, now in its final stage, be a game changer for the market?Following multiple reports of environmental and health problems caused by the Taranto plant, in 2013 Ilva was placed und...Read More
The reduced availability of steel billet and increased prices for ferrous scrap resulted in the global steel billet market trending mostly upward during the week ended Friday March 9, Metal Bulletin has learnt.CIS, Turkey, North AfricaCIS export billet prices continued to climb during the week, supported by strong demand, lower supply of the semi-finished material and rising scrap costs.Mills were...Read More
The Turkish steel mills paused their deep-sea scrap purchases on Monday March 12, following the news about the United States applying import duties under Section 232, heard late last week.Market participants were unsure about the future direction of the market after US President Donald Trump used his powers under Section 232 to officially sign the previously announced tariffs on steel and aluminiu...Read More
A week-long strike by workers with trade union representation at South America's largest zinc smelter, Cajamarquilla, has ended, owner Nexa Resources has confirmed."The strike is over. Nexa Resources reached an agreement with the Labour Union on Friday [March]...Read More
Poland's KGHM has sacked its third chief executive officer in two years, according to a company statement released on March 10.Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki, who had been acting as the state-owned copper miner's CEO since October 2016, has been dismissed from the management board, the company said. KGHM did not disclose the reason for his dismissal; however, it said that vice president Rafal...Read More
Meeting in Madrid for its 31st year, the Metal Bulletin International Copper Conference saw speakers and attendees from throughout the value chain meet and discuss the state of the market.Topics ranged from the structural - that mine ore grades continue to drop - to the topical, as debate over how tariffs and protectionism could affect copper arose.Metal Bulletin's European copper team provide a b...Read More
Increased aluminium availability in Europe has applied further downward pressure to falling premiums in the region, following the Section 232 announcement.The benchmark duty-paid premiums fell 3% to $158-168 per tonne on Friday March 9 from $163-173 per tonne the week before, while the duty-unpaid premium fell to $93-103 per tonne last Friday from $95-105 per tonne on Tuesday March 6.US Presi...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Monday March 12.Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange dipped slightly during morning trading on Monday March 12 while looking to consolidate Friday's rally.Here's how base metals...Read More
Australia's exemption for forthcoming US aluminium import tariffs have drawn mixed responses from the Asian aluminium market, with some sources suggesting this could lead to good western aluminium supply tightness in the region while others downplayed any possible impact on premiums.US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had both tweeted on March 9 that the US wil...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday March 12*Copper -$110.66 (-701.65 yuan) Aluminium -$432.88 (-2,744.86 yuan) Zinc -$96.03 (-608.89 yuan) Nickel -$464.87 (-2,947.71 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical...Read More
Brazilian flat steel producer Usiminas will carry out planned maintenance work on the No3 blast furnace at its Ipatinga works, in the country's south-eastern Minas Gerais state, after the restart of the No1 unit in April.The outage was decided for the replacement of the equipment's staves, and is scheduled to last 14 days starting sometime in July, the mill told Metal Bulletin on Friday March 9."T...Read More
Italian long steelmaker Pittini has completed the acquisition of the "commercial and logistic facilities" at compatriot steelmaker Ori Martin's Ceprano rebar mill in central Italy, a spokesman confirmed to Metal Bulletin on Monday March 12."The [distribution] center will work in synergy with our other Italian plants in Potenza [in southern Italy], Osoppo, Verona and Nave [in northern Italy]," the...Read More
Turkey should avoid reducing its import duty on hot-rolled coil (HRC) because such a move would cause dumped goods to enter the market and harm local producers, an executive with a Turkish HRC producer has told Metal Bulletin.Turkey reduced the import duty on HRC for re-rollers to 3.5% from the previous 5% with effect from January 1, 2018."This means a state subsidy, because the state allows a tax...Read More
Kuwait's ministry of finance has increased the duty applied to imports of rebar to 10% from the previous 5%, effective from March 1 this year until the end of February 2019, Metal Bulletin has heard.There is only one rebar producer active in Kuwait, KWT Steel, with capacity for 1.2 million...Read More
The Chinese ferro-silicon spot market slumped over the past week because of slow demand from key consumers in the steel and magnesium sectors.The market will be vulnerable to further losses if there is no upturn in demand in the near term. Chinese demand lags behind supply... ...and domestic prices fall more than 10% Europe price range widens amid uncertainty US market eases, wary of renewed impor...Read More
Key data from Friday March 9 pricing session in Shanghai.Non-Ferrous Metals Magnesium Metal MB Chinese free market min 99% Mg, ex-works RMB/tonneKey drivers - The Chinese magnesium price plunged to 14,400-14,600 yuan ($2,274-2306) per tonne on March 9 due to the continued decline in prices for raw materials.- The Chinese ferro-silicon price, basis 75% silicon content, slid...Read More
Anglo American has halted iron ore output at its Brazilian Minas-Rio operation after a slurry pipeline designed to transport material from the mining site, in Minas Gerais state, to the port terminal, in Rio de Janeiro state, ruptured on Monday March 12.The timeframe for the production stoppage is still uncertain.In 2017, output of Anglo American's Minas-Rio iron ore totaled 16.80 million tonnes,...Read More
Scrap merchant Sims Metal Management UK has taken over the operations of fellow UK recycler Morley Waste Traders, Sims confirmed to Metal Bulletin on Monday March 12.Morley Waste Traders, which also owns UK scrap metal merchant Lord & Midgley, operates 10 metal waste recycling centers in Yorkshire, northern England, with a combined ferrous and non-ferrous scrap processing capacity of around 150,00...Read More
Demand for imported scrap in Turkey could suffer as a result of the United States applying tariffs on shipments of Turkish steel, a spokeswoman for German steel recycling association BDSV told Metal Bulletin on Monday March 12.Lower demand for Turkish steel in the US under tariffs could lead to a drop in steel production in Turkey and lower scrap demand from the country, the spokeswoman said.Altho...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have moved in varying directions over the past week, with some mills raising their buy prices for auto bundle scrap, while another mill reduced its buy price for ship scrap, sources said on Monday March 12.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic auto bundle scrap (DKP grade) in Turkey was TRY1,260-1,420 ($330-372) per tonne delivered on March 12, widenin...Read More