Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 19 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal has told some customers that it will be adding another ?,?50 ($73) per tonne to its coil product offer prices in Europe this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19.Tax...Read More
Wayne Wang will join ThyssenKrupp in early June as senior base metal trader, with a focus on physical aluminium, he told Fastmarkets.He will join ThyssenKrupp's Asian desk in Singapore, which is currently led by Kevin Song.Read More
The near-term outlook for ferro-silicon looks set to climb higher to a near record-high since Fastmarkets started assessing the price more than 24 years ago due to firm fundamentals, industry sources said.The European spot delivered price is gripped between tight supply and strong demand from steelmakers, while market focus is on expectations of renewed demand from consumers in early June for thei...Read More
Base metals prices were down by an average 3.2% on the London Metal Exchange at the close on Wednesday May 19, with fears of inflation continuing to creep into markets given new warnings from China and ahead of the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's latest meeting. Zinc's three-month price dropped by 3.9% to $2,939 per tonne at Wednesday's close, erasing the gains it...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 8 points in pre-opening trade.U.S. equity index futures were virtually unchanged prior to release of the May Philly Fed Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop to 44.0 from 50.2 in April.Cisco dropped $2.52 to $49.95 despite reporting higher than consensus fiscal fourth quarter revenues and earnings. Guidance was l...Read More
Soaring global deep-sea ferrous scrap export prices are stoking increasingly bullish sentiment for the United States' upcoming domestic June trade despite a recent lack of US export sales.Higher offers for heavy melting scrap from the US East and West Coasts, which have now hit $510 and $540-550 per tonne respectively, failed to tempt US exporters into the market this week.But significantly h...Read More
The stainless scrap market in the United States is sluggish, with prices registering little growth and in some cases falling back."Despite [London Metal Exchange] nickel hovering over the $8.00-per-lb mark, austenitic stainless scrap prices continue to struggle," one scrap dealer source said."There must be ample supply to meet the consuming [stainless] mills' needs for nickel discounts to remain s...Read More
Spot ferro-chrome prices in China rose for the first time since March, with improved demand and sentiment after new power cuts were imposed in Inner Mongolia. Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China was 7,300-7,600 yuan ($1,135.62-1,182.29) per tonne on Tuesday May 19, up by 100 yuan (1.4%) from 7,200-7,500 yuan per tonne the preceding week. Prior...Read More
Copper mining workers' unions in Chile support a new royalty proposal waiting to be voted in Senate and will prepare to take potential action in case it is rejected, Felipe Rom??n Briones, president of union federation FMC, told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 18. According to the union leader, the introduction of a dynamic tax tied to copper prices is an "elegant" way to ensure private mining companie...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply on Wednesday May 19, with low liquidity and sintering restrictions in Tangshan driving the downturn, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.16 per tonne, down $8.28 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $218.79 per tonne, down $8.98 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, ...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange dipped slightly across the board during morning trading on Wednesday May 19, following a week of volatility and a growing sense of unease. "Although the first trading week of May looked super bullish, I am not in the camp that base metals can hold on to the gains made. Instead, I envisage the monthly close to turn negative," Fastmarkets analyst Andy...Read More
Turkish steel mills resumed booking deep-sea scrap late on Tuesday, resulting in higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 19 - the start of a public holiday in the country.The Turkish import market had been quiet since the Eid al-Fitr holiday that began on Wednesday May 12. Monday and Tuesday May 17 and 18 were normal working days, but no bookings were done until late on Tuesday. A...Read More
China's approach to addressing aluminium overcapacity is a "night and day" change from five years' ago, according to the chief executive officer of Alcoa Corporation, Roy Harvey. Harvey said that China had previously operated on a model of building a coal-fired power plant with a smelter connected and essentially repeating the process continually, increasing aluminium production and creating overs...Read More
Teck Resources plans to rebalance its portfolio to reduce its exposure to steelmaking coal and focus instead on growth in copper, the company's chief executive officer said. Don Lindsay told Bank of America's Global Metal, Mining & Steel conference that future growth in copper will come from a combination of organic growth at existing projects, exploration and strategic mergers and acquisitions. "...Read More
Domestic prices for European heavy steel plate increased further in the week to Wednesday May 19, supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition, market sources said that lead times from domestic suppliers have been getting longer. German mills have already started trading October-December rolling plate, while Italian re-rollers have been offering July production."Demand is very go...Read More
Prices for steel scrap cargoes exported from Japan rose again during the week to Wednesday May 19 amid a healthy appetite from both South Korea and domestic buyers, market participants told Fastmarkets.The sharp decline in Chinese ferrous futures and spot market prices this week has done nothing to stop the rise of the Japan scrap market, with a further increase in offer prices recorded across all...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply on Wednesday May 19, with low liquidity and sintering restrictions in Tangshan driving the downturn, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $216.16 per tonne, down $8.28 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $218.79 per tonne, down $8.98 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, ...Read More
Seaborne hard coking coal prices in the fob market gained support from restocking activity on Wednesday May 19, whereas major buyers in the cfr market stood on the sidelines, market sources said.Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.18 per tonne, up $5.50 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $269.78 per tonne, down $3.37 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $11...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices fell rapidly on Wednesday May 19 on softer demand as a result of rain.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,370-5,400 yuan ($836-840) per tonne, down by 180 yuan per tonneHeavy rain in many parts of eastern and southern China during the day affected both construction activity and transportation.With wet weather forecast to continue over the next day days, market partici...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange dipped slightly across the board during morning trading on Wednesday May 19, following a week of volatility and a growing sense of unease. "Although the first trading week of May looked super bullish, I am not in the camp that base metals can hold on to the gains made. Instead, I envisage the monthly close to turn negative," Fastmarkets analyst Andy...Read More