Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States fell below$91 per hundredweight ($1,820 per short ton) on Friday July 23 after three consecutive business days above that threshold. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $90.80 per cwt ($1,816 per ton), down by 0.51% from $91.27 per cwt on Thursday July 22 and virtually unchanged from $90.75 per cwt one week earli...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
A barrage of import steel billet deals have been concluded with Chinese buyers this week at progressively higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 23.Demand for imported billet has spiked at mills in China amid targets which would push down steel production in the country over the second half of 2021.Chinese steelmakers can use import billet to roll long steel products while simultan...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.Turkish mills restrict deep-sea purchases to put downward pressure on pricesSummer slowdown hits US export marketCovid-19 pandemic shuts down local long steel and scrap mar...Read More
European steelmakers are returning to the bulk alloys markets for quarterly deliveries to be shipped between October and December due to persistent supply tightness, shipping delays and container shortages and strong steel production and prices, sources told Fastmarkets.It had appeared that steelmakers were satisfied with their current quarterly intake of ferro-alloys and would typically return fo...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil have edged down, with most market participants remaining cautious and holding onto their inventory positions.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $975-985 per tonne on Friday July 23, down from $975-995 per tonne the previous week. The latest Brazilian slab deals to the United States have been heard...Read More
The inter-merchant light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom was steady in the week to Friday July 23, consolidating small gains from the previous week amid strong domestic fundamentals, despite quiet export sales to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered...Read More
Global scrap prices remained broadly stable over the week to Friday July 23; trading remains subdued due to public holidays and a resurgence of Covid-19.Turkish mills remain silent on public holidayUnited States export market apprehensive of downward correctionChinese prices improve on rising demandVietnam market flat on lack of interestTaiwanese scrap prices impacted by Covid-19 related lockdownI...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet rose by about $13 per tonne during the week to Friday July 23 on stronger demand for finished products, particularly rebar, sources said.Fastmarkets assessed steel billet domestic, ex-works India at 42,200-42,400 rupees ($567-570) per tonne on Friday, up by 1,000 rupees from 41,200-41,400 rupees per tonne last week. "The billet price recovery is in...Read More
Inventories of the base metals diverged in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses this week, with zinc gaining the most at 21.3% while copper stocks fell by 18.2%, according to the stocks report on Friday July 23.Zinc inventories stood at 36,440 tonnes on Friday, an increase of 6,387 tonnes from 30,053 tonnes on July 23.The inflows mainly came into warehouses operated by Quansheng Logisti...Read More
London Metal Exchange tin prices traded at fresh all-time highs of $34,700 per tonne on Friday July 23, with base metals starting the day in an uptrend despite mixed data from Europe's manufacturing industry.The metal had continued to make gains after Thursday's 5pm close of $34,195 per tonne, and experienced small clips of buying beyond algorithmic trades during morning trading before the market...Read More
Crude steel production in Germany continued to rise in June, recording a fourth consecutive month of recovery, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Thursday July 23.German crude steel production totaled more than 3.42 million tonnes in June 2021, up from 2.47 million tonnes in June 2020, WV Stahl said.The sharp rise is partially explained, however, by a low comparative base - last year's domes...Read More
Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally stronger this morning, Friday July 23, the exception was lead on the LME that was down by 0.5%, but that was after a strong gain on Thursday. Lead, tin and nickel all pushed the boundary on the upside on Thursday with gains of 1.5% or moreEuropean Central Bank projected a dovish outlook on monetary po...Read More
Trading activity in the hot-rolled coil markets across Europe was still limited on Friday July 23, with prices broadly stable despite gaining strength from short supply, Fastmarkets has heard.Firm offers were still scarce in the Northern European HRC market, sources said.Mills in the region had good order books and could only offer fourth-quarter production HRC, with some of them claiming to be so...Read More
Import prices for flat steel in South American markets edged up for most grades due to higher offers from Chinese producers, while some participants reported a slowdown in the market.Offers of hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil rose at least by $20-30 per tonne on lower material availability, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South Americ...Read More
Lithium prices in China mostly rose over the week ending Thursday July 22 due to restocking drives among consumers, sources told Fastmarkets.Lithium prices in Chinese domestic market rise amid consumer restocking activity.Seaborne Asian lithium market remains steady amid persistently tight supply.European and US prices remain largely stable, with technical-grade lithium hydroxide narrowing upward...Read More
The flooding caused by torrential rains that have battered central China's Henan province since last weekend has disrupted logistics and deliveries there although production remains largely unaffected, market sources told Fastmarkets.Henan, one of China's most populous provinces, is a major production hub for base metals including lead, zinc, copper and nickel. Some regions of the province, inclu...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
The inter-merchant light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom was steady in the week to Friday July 23, consolidating small gains from the previous week amid strong domestic fundamentals, despite quiet export sales to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered...Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt hydroxide p...Read More