With automakers switching to producing vehicles with batteries reliant on metals such as cobalt and lithium, the expectation for lead has been that prices will follow the downward fortunes of the internal combustion engine.But recently that has not been the case; lead's cash price on the London Metal Exchange reached a three-year high of $2,368 per tonne on Wednesday June 30, crowning nine straigh...Read More
The Argentinian government's decision to extend a discount on electricity costs to the second half of 2021 is insufficient to increase aluminium production capacity to full utilization, local producer Aluar said on Thursday July 1 in a filing to the country's securities and exchange commission, CNV.Aluar's Puerto Madryn plant, located in Argentina's Patagonian region, was running at 70% capacity a...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States topped $87 per hundredweight for a second consecutive day, with mills still unable to meet surging demand, market participants said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $87.74 per cwt ($1,754.80 per ton) on Friday July 2, up 0.29% from $87.49 per cwt on Thursday July 1 and up 3.54% from $84.74 per cwt on June 25.I...Read More
Indian domestic hot-rolled coil prices have corrected by about 1,500 rupees ($20) per tonne after incentives were offered by steel mills to distributors in the face of poor demand for HRC.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, domestic ex-warehouse India was 67,000-69,000 rupees ($899-926)per tonne on July 2, down from last week's 68,500-70,500 rupees per tonne. "Price support has been offer...Read More
Hot-dipped galvanized and pre-painted galvanized coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week to Friday July 2, with demand weakening ahead of national holidays, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants expect reduced market activity in the second half of July because of the national holidays taking place on July 15, which is Democracy Day in Turkey, and July 19-24 for the Ei al-Adha holida...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe slipped further on Friday July 2 following a slowdown in trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers opted to limit purchases while assessing the market trend. Long lead times from domestic producers, sufficient stocks among buyers for the next couple of months, and exhausted credit lines as a result of high prices for finished steel, have all co...Read More
Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week ending Friday July 2 before the long holiday starts in the country on July 15, sources told Fastmarkets.July 15 is Democracy Day in Turkey and July 19-24 will be the Ei al-Adha holiday, so market participants expect reduced activity in the second half of July.Low priced sales from Russia to several destinations during the w...Read More
Indian authorities have extended anti-dumping duties for both hot-rolled and cold-rolled flat steel products from certain countries until December 15 of this year, according to two notifications published by the Indian ministry of finance on Tuesday June 29. The duties for hot-rolled steel apply to hot-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel originating in or exported from China, Jap...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were broadly flat in the week to Friday July 2, with local mills being largely sold out for July rolling and mulling new rises for August, sources have told Fastmarkets.Major domestic rebar producers in Poland were reported to have no July volumes remaining.Demand in the local market continued to be strong, despite rebar prices being at historic highs, driven...Read More
The export market for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States was muted during the week to Thursday July 1 because both buyers and suppliers preferred to wait for the result of Russia's export duties on supply to become clearer. Fastmarkets assessed the price of high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $610-630 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing downward fro...Read More
European Metal Recycling (EMR) is to transform its dock operations in Scotland with a multi-million-pound development that will make it more competitive and reduce carbon emissions, the company announced on Monday June 28.The 11.5-acre site at Berth 10 of the West Quay at Glasgow's King George V dock will be EMR's most innovative deep-sea dock in the UK, allowing the company to transfer material i...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell at the end of the week after a fresh cargo from the Baltic Sea came to light, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday July 2.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked the Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $495 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $510 per tonne cfr, late on Thursday July 1.This was fourth the deep-sea...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan rose in the week to Friday July 2, with trading activity focusing on the Pakistan market over India. In the Pakistan imported scrap market, sellers achieved higher shredded prices this week following solid rebar sales. Fastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $539.51 per...Read More
The United Kingdom market for inter-merchant light iron scrap was steady for the second consecutive week to Friday July 2, with relatively low availability and firm demand from steelmakers supporting prices.UK scrap generation, which has been recovering heavy losses from 2020 when heavy industry was affected by Covid-related restrictions, is set to drop again this summer due to cuts in car manufac...Read More
China's Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange will launch trading of its new battery-grade lithium carbonate contract on Monday July 5. The contract will be the first of its kind to be launched by a Chinese exchange for the battery raw material, the exchange has announced.The front-month Wuxi contract for physically delivered lithium carbonate will be October 2021, putting the guiding opening price at 88...Read More
Iron ore prices dropped on Friday July 2 on depressed market sentiment and a possible crude steel output cut in several areas which could weaken demand for iron ore, sources said. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $217.98 per tonne, down $1.34 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $219.57 per tonne, down $2.18 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices dipped on Friday July 2 on retreating futures, with sentiment being subdued by a lifting of production and logistical curbs in northern China that were imposed in the past week. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,430-5,480 yuan ($838-846) per tonne, down by 20-30 yuan from 5,460-5,500 yuan per tonne. Northern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 5,320-5,380...Read More
East China's rebar prices dropped on Friday July 2 due to weak demand on poor weather during the day, ending the week 10 yuan per tonne lower than June 25.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($746-750) per tonne, down by 40-50 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,780-4,820 yuan per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonneHeavy rain in large parts of eastern and south...Read More
Most base metal inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses dropped in the week to Friday July 2, with zinc registering the largest fall in percentage terms at 8% week on week.Zinc inventories fell by 2,824 tonnes on Friday to 32,490 tonnes, with the largest outflow from the Quansheng Logistics warehouse in Shanghai, where stocks were down by 2,852 tonnes to 12,604 tonnes, accor...Read More
Aluminium and copper prices on the London Metal Exchange remained firm during morning trading on Friday July 2 amid low-volume trading. The three-month aluminium price was most recently at $2,527 per tonne, up by $15 per tonne from $2,512 per tonne at the close of trading on Thursday. The contract has trading in a tight range of $2,506-2,527 per tonne on Friday morning. LME aluminium stock levels...Read More