Iron ore prices rose on Friday May 28 amid strong semi-finished and finished steel prices, driven by firmer demand from end users, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $190.51 per tonne, up $0.78 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $192.67 per tonne, up $1.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $162.80 per tonne, up $0.42 p...Read More
China's domestic rebar price rebounded on Friday May 28 following futures gains, encouraging buyers to return to the market. Spot market sellers followed suit.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($758-763) per tonne, up by 120 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,000-5,030 yuan per tonne, down by 400-420 yuan per tonne Some buyers increased their pro...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
Nickel's price was up by more than 5% on the London Metal Exchange and tin's was up by 4.3% since the start of the week, with bullish momentum returning to the base-metals complex on Friday May 28 and all metal prices finishing higher than at the start of the week.Prices bounced back following a period of weakness and correction seen at the beginning of the week, after the Chinese government calle...Read More
Spot interest in overseas blister copper remained low this month in China, with importers continuing to show a preference for top-grade copper scrap while the outright price of the metal remained high. Fastmarkets assessed the blister copper 98-99% RC spot, cif China at $220-240 per tonne for May, up from $185-200 per tonne a month earlier and at its highest since April 2018.Trading remained limit...Read More
Ivanhoe Mines - the developer of the Kamoa Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - is in talks with that country's government about securing a permit to export concentrate, it said.The talks between Canada-listed Ivanhoe Mines and Kinshasa follow news - broken by Fastmarkets this week - of the DRC introducing a ban on the export of copper...Read More
Customs officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have backtracked on a decree made just 24 hours earlier and re-approved the export of copper concentrate and cobalt from the country.In an official letter to extractive companies in Katanga province, the center of cobalt mining in the country if not the world, Bernard Bosele Pilipilithe, provincial director of Customs and Excise for the provinc...Read More
Base metals, with the exception of lead, registered declining inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses in the week to Friday May 28, with tin the biggest faller - down 13%.in stocks totalled 5,241 tonnes on Friday, down by 783 tonnes from 6,024 tonnes a week ago.The largest outflow was from Nanchu warehouse in Guangdong province, where volumes were down by...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices fell slightly week on week on Friday May 28 amid a pause in negotiations for shipments to the United States and lower indications for other regions.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $970-990 per tonne on Friday, widening downward from $980-990 per tonne on May 21.With July-shipment deals to the US done in the previous w...Read More
China's domestic rebar price rebounded on Friday May 28 following futures gains, encouraging buyers to return to the market. Spot market sellers followed suit.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,830-4,860 yuan ($758-763) per tonne, up by 120 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,000-5,030 yuan per tonne, down by 400-420 yuan per tonne Some buyers increased their pro...Read More
The price range for flat-rolled stainless steel in Europe narrowed upwards this week, reflecting a continued shortage of supply that is likely to become more pronounced with the introduction of anti-dumping duties on material from India and Indonesia. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?3,150...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market rose again on Friday May 28, following a rally in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,400-5,500 yuan ($848-864) per tonne, up by 150-180 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,350-5,380 yuan per tonne, down by 250-270 yuan per tonne.The most-traded HRC October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange reac...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices edged up in the week to Friday May 28, even as finished steel prices began to fall.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel billet domestic, ex-works India was 41,400-41,600 rupees ($565-572) per tonne on Friday, up 300 rupees from last week's 41,100-41,300 rupees per tonne ex-works. "Billet prices have only increased because...Read More
Steel wire rod prices in Poland were largely flat over the past seven days after a massive increase in the previous week, but market sources believed that new price rises were likely because of the shortness of supply, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, was 3,650-3,700 zloty ($990-1,004) per tonn...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland were largely unchanged but still high in the week to Friday May 28, supported by strong demand, limited supply and increased scrap costs, although some sources told Fastmarkets that they believed prices had reached a ceiling.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 3,650-3,700 zloty ($990-1,004) per tonne...Read More
Global steel scrap prices dropped in the week to Friday May 28 on poor sentiment resulting from a weaker Chinese market and a softening of the Turkish market.Turkey reports latest trades at lower pricesUS East Coast sees trades to TurkeyVietnamese market affected by weaker Chinese sentimentChinese prices remain down despite improving futuresTaiwan prices lower on soft buying interestIndian buyers...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan moved down after there was further weakening on the Turkish scrap market and in Chinese futures, Fastmarkets heard on Friday May 28.Fastmarkets' steel scrap shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $495.42 per tonne on May 28, down from $510.93 per tonne on May 25 and from $517.88 per tonne on May 21.Indian buyers showed...Read More
Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the UK were steady over the week ended Friday May 28, consolidating firm gains from the previous week that hit a nine-year peak, with increases possible in talks due next week between suppliers and steel mills, trade sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK,...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices fell slightly week on week on Friday May 28 amid a pause in negotiations for shipments to the United States and lower indications for other regions.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $970-990 per tonne on Friday, widening downward from $980-990 per tonne on May 21.With July-shipment deals to the US done in the previous w...Read More
A rise in Chinese ferrous prices has reduced the number of billet cargoes offered into Asian markets on Friday May 28.Comments by the Chinese government made in an attempt to cool commodity prices led to falls in ferrous contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, creating a sharp drop in steel billet import bids in the country. Bids for standard 5sp billet were heard at $650-660 per tonne cf...Read More