London Metal Exchange base metals prices mostly softened on the morning of Wednesday November 17 apart from those for aluminium and nickel, with the US Dollar Index rising to new heights. The US Dollar Index rose to 96.27 during early trading, its highest since July 2020. The three-month copper price was at $9,493.50 per tonne at 9am on Wednesday, down by 0.7% from its closing price of $9,561 per...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums for the week to Wednesday November 17.Please click...Read More
Traders selling Iran-origin steel billet were looking for new opportunities with the markets continuing to weaken in Asia, including China, which until earlier this year was the major outlet for Iranian semi-finished steel.Egypt removed its 10% safeguard duty on billet earlier this week and has begun to offer good opportunities for companies trading Iranian semis.Around 50,000 tonnes of billet wer...Read More
Base metals futures on the London Metal Exchange were largely lower at the 5pm close on Wednesday November 17, succumbing to a strong US dollar index and other headwinds.The US dollar index remained at its highest since July 2020, touching 96.27 during early trading before stepping back to 95.83 at the close."It seems that the upside momentum has stalled in several markets over the last 24 ho...Read More
Glencore has agreed to sell its entire stake in an Australian copper-gold asset while remaining as offtaker of its concentrates output, it said on Tuesday November 17.The Swiss commodity trader will sell its interest in Ernest Henry Mining Pty ltd (EHM) for A$1 billion (US$727 million) to Australian gold miner Evolution, it said.For the year ended June 2021, EHM produced 19,159 tonnes of copper co...Read More
Tight supply and steep backwardation on London Metals Exchange continued to support European premiums while China premiums retreated slightly amid increased arbitrage loss, and US premiums were stable in the week to November 16, Fastmarkets learned.European premiums strong while long term contact negotiations for 2022 ongoingChina premiums slid amid increased arbitrage lossUS premiums unchanged wi...Read More
Rio Tinto is to add capacity at its AP60 aluminium smelter in Quebec, increasing output by 45% in the first major investment in Canada's smelting production hub in a decade, the company said.The mining company plans to spend $87 million to increase its low-carbon aluminium production at the smelter by adding 16 new smelting cells, boosting annual production by 26,500 tonnes to 86,500 tonnes.The ne...Read More
Chinese metals production and processing group Daye Nonferrous will postpone the start of operations at its new double-flash copper smelter for six months because of a lack of essential buiding components that have been sourced from overseas, Fastmarkets has learnt.The 400,000 tonnes per year project in Huangshi, close to Wuhan, was scheduled to come online by the end of this year, but commissioni...Read More
Aluminium market participants in Europe have reported growing concerns over the possible implications for the production of secondary aluminium ingot DIN226 after a recent fire at the Befesa salt slag treatment plant in Hanover, Germany, on November 5.A fire broke out at the plant in Brinker Hafen on that date, and was reported to have caused millions of euros-worth of damage."We are working acros...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued to decline on Wednesday November 17, falling below $91 per hundredweight ($1,820 per short ton) for the first time since late July.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $90.67 per cwt ($1,813.40 per ton) on Wednesday, a decrease of 0.87% from $91.47 per cwt on Tuesday November 16 and down by 1.80% from $9...Read More
Prices in the United States for domestic and imported low-carbon, high-carbon and cold-heading quality wire rod reached new highs in November, toppling records set last month.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was at $63-67 per hundredweight ($1,260-1,340 per short ton) on Tuesday November 16, up by 6.56% from $59.50-62.50 per cwt o...Read More
The price of Galvalume in the United States fell for the second month in a row in November - this time sharply - with competitively priced imports being felt in the market."Due to the massive volume of imported Galvalume and the low pricing for that material, we were successful the last two months in having our domestic prices come down fairly significantly," one distributor said. Galvalume "trave...Read More
Exports of finished steel from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) rose by 20.4% year-on-year in January-June 2021 amid rising demand in both Asia and Europe, according to the latest statistics from the South East Asia Iron & Steel Institute (Seaisi).Both long and flat steel exports flourished in the first half of the year, against a backdrop of rising prices and improved demand in...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were fairly stable in Northern Europe and Italy on Wednesday November 17; buyers and sellers both remained in "wait-and-see" mode, sources told Fastmarkets.Spot buyers preferred to hold back from booking any significant volumes for next year before the steelmakers settled their long-term contracts with end consumers. Some sources said that negotiations are likel...Read More
Steel rebar prices have been broadly stable in Southern Europe over the past week despite a slowdown in market activity.But producers continue to mull another price increase before Christmas, source told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 17.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?770-790 ($874-897) per tonne on Wednesday, wi...Read More
The United States ferrous scrap export market remains on an even, if somewhat subdued, keel in the wake of three US cargoes reportedly sold to Turkey at stable prices.A mixed deep-sea cargo priced at $523 per tonne cfr comprising a 90:10 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap and bonus-grade material was heard offered to a Turkish mill out of Houston on Wednesday November 17. It is understood that...Read More
Demand for stainless scrap in the United States has remained solid and mostly supportive of prices, sources told Fastmarkets, but with tighter year-end inventory controls and some maintenance shutdowns, scrap requirements from consuming mills are expected to be less strong for the remainder of 2021."There is still a feeling of fragility surrounding current pricing, and it wouldn't take much for pr...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to launch a weekly Pakistan import HMS steel scrap assessment to complement Fastmarkets' existing steel scrap prices in the South Asia region.Fastmarkets proposes to launch a new weekly price assessment for the Pakistan HMS steel scrap import market following feedback that such a price would be of value to market participants, both by itself and in conjunction with Fastmarkets...Read More
Freight rates, which have spiked in 2021 and impacted steel and ferro-alloy markets, are likely to remain high in 2022 due to an imbalance of demand and availability of ships and containers, panelists said during Fastmarkets' International Ferro-alloys Conference this week in Prague."Freight rates have increased from three to four times this year compared to previous normal levels, mainly due to t...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained quiet in deep-sea scrap import markets amid a depreciation of the country's currency and limited demand for finished long steel product, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 17.Mills booked three deep-sea cargoes for December shipment at the beginning of the week.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a United Kingdom cargo at $490 per tonne and a Baltic S...Read More