Export wire rod prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States changed in a variety of ways in the week to Monday June 14 with the trading situation being different from market to market.Ukraine still has a significant quota volume available for second-quarterimports into Europe (27.52% or 69,502 tonnes remaining), and one supplier from the country offered material at $860-870 per tonne fob Bl...Read More
Alongside Fastmarkets' annual global ranking of steelmakers by crude steel output in 2020, our correspondents around the world review developments in their regional steel sectors.The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the one in which the Covid-19 pandemic spread globally, impacting every area of life and business. The world's steel industry was no exception, with many of the largest steelmak...Read More
Some steel rebar and billet prices in the United Arab Emirates decreased during the week ended Tuesday June 15, although demand was better because of low stock levels, sources have told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers kept their prices unchanged during the week, but gave some discounts.Domestic rebarThe country's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 3,067 dirhams ($835) per to...Read More
Most prices for flat steel imported into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia increased during the week ended Tuesday June 15, with several deals heard, sources have told Fastmarkets.Demand was moderate in the region for flat steel products but the new deals were expected because most users have low stock levels, the sources added.Saudi ArabiaHot-rolled coil was offered at $1,000 per tonne cf...Read More
Market participants in Europe expect domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the region to remain fairly stable in the short term due to an ongoing shortage of material, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 15.Trading activity has been slow in June, with buyers preferring to hold back from making new deals and accepting current mill prices if they need to restock specific material or if they ha...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
Market participants in Europe expect domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in the region to remain fairly stable in the short term due to an ongoing shortage of material, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 15.Trading activity has been slow in June, with buyers preferring to hold back from making new deals and accepting current mill prices if they need to restock specific material or if they ha...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico continued to rise across nearly all grades in the week ended Friday June 11, with most consumers struggling to secure volumes.Both the obsolete and prime grades are in heavy demanded, with the market outlook for most steel products positive.Fastmarkets assessed the steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Monterrey at 11,200 pesos ($566)...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico continued to rise across nearly all grades in the week ended Friday June 11, with most consumers struggling to secure volumes.Both the obsolete and prime grades are in heavy demanded, with the market outlook for most steel products positive.Fastmarkets assessed the steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Monterrey at 11,200 pesos ($566)...Read More
The United Kingdom and Australia secured a free trade deal on Tuesday June 15, which marks the first agreement negotiated from scratch since Britain's departure from the European Union.The UK government has hailed the agreement as an important step in building new trade relationships post Brexit. Previous deals reached with other nations such as Japan and Norway were built upon existing arrangemen...Read More
Turkish steel mills have booked two new deep-sea cargoes at prices that continue the recent downward trend, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 15.Two US cargoes were heard on Tuesday, and were heard to be of similar composition.A mill in the Marmara region bought the two US cargoes, consisting of unknown tonnages of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 and $501 per tonne, plus shredded and bonus material...Read More
Weakness was evident across the base metals in London and Shanghai on the morning of Tuesday June 15 despite pre-market Western equity index futures driving higher and high volumes traded on the London Metal Exchange.14,205 lots had been traded on the LME by 5.52am London time compared with typical volume of 6,000 lots at this timeMarkets seem to be nervous about the measures China's authorities m...Read More
The debut of Zijin Mining 's new Serbian copper mine has been postponed to the fourth quarter of 2021, local media See News reported on Tuesday June 15. Citing a statement from Serbia's mining ministry on Monday June 14, the mine in the Cukaru Peki Upper Zone of Serbia's Timok copper-gold project has received approval to construct the mining facilities and execute mining operations, the...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has produced the first ore at its Voisey's Bay nickel operation expansion in Canada - exploring underground reserves - after 16 years of open-pit mining, the company said on Tuesday June 15.Located in the Canadian northern Labrador region, the underground operation has a capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year of nickel concentrate and will first explore the Reid Brook ore deposit,...Read More
Russian aluminium producer Rusal is to invest in the expansion and upgrading of its aluminium operations using capital raised through Nornickel's proposed share buyback scheme, the company said on Tuesday June 15. Rusal currently holds a 27.8% ownership in Nornickel, the Russian based high-grade nickel and palladium mining company. The exact amount of shares that will be repurchased by Nornickel h...Read More
Striking workers at Vale's mine in Sudbury, Ontario, rejected the company's latest offer on Monday June 14; the ongoing strike was the main contributor to a rise in nickel premiums in the United States on Tuesday June 15, sources said.The premium increases - including a 16.67% week-on-week jump for nickel briquette - came quicker than most participants anticipated, with the strike at Vale entering...Read More
Keen selling was seen across the London Metal Exchange and throughout the day on Tuesday June 15, which took the price of copper to its lowest level since late April this year.Copper's three-month closing price was $9,569 per tonne, showing a 4% decrease from Monday's closing price of $9,971.50 per tonne.Its intraday low of $9,511 per tonne was the lowest price for copper since April 23, while the...Read More
Some steel rebar and billet prices in the United Arab Emirates decreased during the week ended Tuesday June 15, although demand was better because of low stock levels, sources have told Fastmarkets.Local rebar producers kept their prices unchanged during the week, but gave some discounts.Domestic rebarThe country's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, was offering rebar at 3,067 dirhams ($835) per to...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More