European lead smelter Berzelius Metall has declared force majeure on supply contracts after floods that have caused chaos in northern Germany and Belgium forced the closure of its Stolberg smelter.Fastmarkets' calls to Berzelius were not answered, while an email to parent company EcoBat Technologies was not responded to by the time of publication.But sources in the lead market confirmed to Fa...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Wednesday July 21 due to steel production cuts in some Chinese provinces for the second half of 2021, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.79 per tonne,down $6.25 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.17 per tonne,down $6.85 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $176.44 per tonne,down $5.83 per tonne65% Fe...Read More
Galvalume prices in the United States hit a record high for the seventh consecutive month thanks to ongoing tight supply and strong demand. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel coil Galvalume, fob mill US was at $98 per hundredweight ($1,960 per short ton) on Tuesday July 20, up by 8.29% from $90.50 per cwt in June and nearly triple the $33.25 per cwt recorded in the same month las...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices stayed large stable in both the cfr and fob market on Wednesday July 21 because buying interest is weak facing the elevated offers, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $211.08 per tonne, down $0.19 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $309.31 per tonne, up $0.20 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $178.42 pe...Read More
Prices in the United States for domestic and imported carbon steel wire rod rose by $40 per ton in July, nearing an all-time high for domestic product and a record for imports.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was $55-57 per hundredweight ($1,100-1,140 per short ton) on Tuesday July 20, up by 3.70% from 53-55 per cwt on June 1...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 21 that are worth another look.Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3.3% year on year in June; volumes began to stabilize after strong growth in the first half of 2021, flat steel distributors...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap market reported no new trading activity on Wednesday July 21, because of the week-long Eid al-Adha public holiday.Turkish steel mils have not booked any new scrap material since July 13.The country is currently off work for the week-long religious holiday of...Read More
Steel rebar prices in northern Europe edged up in the week to Wednesday July 21 despite a seasonal slowdown in buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?890-930 ($1,049-1,096) per tonne on July 21, up from ?,?880-930 per tonne. This marks its highest level since Fastmarkets start...Read More
Iranian steel billet export prices continued to rise in the second half of July on improving demand from China, but availability is being constrained by a slowdown in steel production caused by electricity shortages, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 21.Extreme heat and drought conditions, combined with industrial growth and high energy-use cryptocurrency mining were cited as the reasons...Read More
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for cobalt hydroxide index, via an open consultation process between June 16 and July 13. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.No feedback was received during the consultation period and therefore no changes will be made to the methodologies at this stage.This consultation sou...Read More
European lead smelter Berzelius Metall has declared force majeure on supply contracts after floods that have caused chaos in northern Germany and Belgium forced the closure of its Stolberg smelter.Fastmarkets' calls to Berzelius were not answered, while an email to parent company EcoBat Technologies was not responded to by the time of publication.But sources in the lead market confirmed to Fa...Read More
Belgian flat steel re-roller NLMK La Louviere has declared force majeure after a fire at its rolling mill, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 21.The fire at La Louviere's hot-rolling mill occurred on July 17. It was extinguished within about 30 minutes and there were no injures, according to a company spokesperson."The equipment installed during the [recent] modernization of the mill was n...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 20 that are worth another look,Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets...Read More
Chinese antimony market participants report reduced offers, higher prices and increasing difficulty in securing material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for antimony MMTA standard grade II, ddp China was 59,000-60,000 yuan ($9,093-9,248) per tonne onJuly 16, up by 1,500-2,000 yuan per tonne (3.0%) from 57,500-58,000 yuan pertonne the previous week.A shortage of ores...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 20 that are worth another look,Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices continued to increase over the past week, with steelmakers competing to secure limited material and buyers in the key regions of Monterrey and Baj?-o heard accepting higher prices to keep volumes flowing.Fastmarkets assessed the steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Monterrey at 12,400 pesos ($622) per tonne on Tuesday July 20, up by 50 pesos...Read More
A summary of the second-quarter iron ore production results for 2021 from British multinational mining company Anglo American, reported in its latest production report released on Tuesday July 20.In briefIron ore production increased by 6%, driven primarily by a 14% increase at Kumba, and partly offset by a 5% decrease at Minas Rio.Total production at Kumba increased, reflecting the effect of Covi...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 20 that are worth another look,Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly price assessment for European high-carbon ferro-chrome (60-70% Cr), which was published incorrectly on Tuesday July 20 due to an error in the review process.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for MB-FEC-0004 ferro-chrome, high carbon, 6-8.5% C, basis 60-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe, should have been $1.34-1.55 per lb Cr but was published as $1.34-1.6...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States climbed to a new record high as a result of the latest spot offers and an increase in reported transactions involving material for August and September shipment.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $91.34 per hundredweight ($1,826.80 per short ton) on Tuesday July 20, an increase of 0.42% from $90.96 per cwt on Mo...Read More