Trading in the European hot-rolled coil market remained slow on Monday November 15, with buyers in wait-and-see mode, sources told Fastmarkets.Distributors have been holding back from making deals until the price trend becomes clear.European producers have been offering first-quarter-rolling coil at high prices, insisting that the increase is necessary due to higher energy and emission costs. In a...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe declined slightly in the week to Friday November 12 amid subdued trading activity in the spot market.HRC buyers across Europe were largely maintaining a wait-and-see attitude during the week.European mills were still able to offer fourth-quarter HRC to the spot market at lower prices due to slowed demand from the automotive industry. Notably, some volu...Read More
The Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Trade has suspended safeguard duties on imported billet and rebar, effective Monday November 15.The measure suspends import duties that had been in effect in the country since October 2019 to help local industry combat the significant rise in energy and shipping costs.There had been expectations that the duties would be removed in June this year, but the...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore were unchanged during the week to Monday November 15 amid thin spot negotiations in the market for January or February shipment material.Offers for rebar cargoes from the Middle East were at $740-745 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis.Turkish steelmakers were heard to have increased their offers to $740-750 per tonne fob on an actual weight b...Read More
Turkey's domestic auto bundle scrap prices have increased due to a weakening lira, while ship scrap prices have been largely stable, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday November 15.The Turkish lira weakened further against the United States' dollar after the Turkish central bank cut the benchmark interest rate by 2% to 16% late in October.The central bank was expected to cut the interes...Read More
Turkish steel producers made three deep-sea scrap cargo bookings for December shipment on Monday November 15, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a United Kingdom cargo at $490 per tonne cfr for heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20).The same mill also booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $494.50 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill...Read More
Seaborne premium coking coal fob prices dropped sharply on Monday November 15 on a new deal sealed at a lower level, while buying interest for seaborne material from Chinese mills remained low.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $518.60 per tonne, down $3.41 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $454.52 per tonne, down $10.10 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices slipped slightly on Monday November 15 amid continuous weak demand from Chinese steel mills, which have begun formal production curbs for the winter heating season as of today, market sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.05 per tonne, down by $0.64 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.26 per tonne, down by $1.13 per tonne5...Read More
Demand for direct-charge steelmaking raw materials iron ore pellets and lump has been limited due to steelmakers' focus on cost efficiency amid the ongoing sintering restrictions in China, sources told Fastmarkets.As a result, prices for both iron ore lump and pellets have eased and will likely continue to fall further because of the weakness in demand, they said.The month-to-date average of Fastm...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets fell in the week ended Friday November 12, mainly due to decreasing steel mill margins, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $111.03 per tonne, down $6.70 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $164.14 per tonne, down $5.55 per tonne.Iron ore pellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $52.30 p...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China declined on Monday November 15, with market sentiment subdued by the release of bleak property data.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel hot-rolled coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China at 4,700-4,750 yuan ($737-744) per tonne on Monday, down by 60 yuan per tonne from Friday.The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange extended losses...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange started the week in negative territory, despite further declines in stock levels.The three-month aluminium price dropped back below the $2,700-per-tonne barrier during morning trading on Monday November 15. It was most recently trading at $2,679 per tonne, down from $2,700 per tonne at the 5pm close on Friday.It has traded in a range of $2,641-2,714...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices decreased on Monday November 15 after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the data for October's housing industry development.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,700-4,730 yuan ($736-741) per tonne, down by 100 yuan per tonneNewly constructed housing in area terms totaled 1.67 billion square meters in the first 10 months of this year in China, down by 7.7...Read More
Glencore International has signed a cobalt metal supply contract with battery cell producer Freyr, the companies announced on Monday November 15.The Swiss trader-producer will supply up to 1,500 tonnes of high-grade, cobalt cut cathode produced from partially recycled cobalt at its Nikkelverk operation in Norway for battery cell production at Freyr's planned Mo i Rana facility in the country. Thi...Read More
China's domestic magnesium prices rebounded above 30,000 yuan ($4,702) per tonne on Friday November 12 after dropping toward 28,000 yuan per tonne earlier in the week, according to sources.Fastmarkets' assessment of magnesium, 99.9%, exw China was 32,000-33,000 yuan per tonne on Friday, an increase of 1,000 yuan per tonne, or 3.2%, from 31,000-32,000 yuan per tonne a week earlier. Domestic spot t...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt...Read More
This year's price rally in the European ferro-silicon market is showing increasing signs of weakness, with the market falling for the second consecutive week on Friday November 12, trade sources told Fastmarkets.Moreover, some traders and steelmakers said standard grade was being offered at well below ?,?4,000 ($4,577) per tonne for delivery in the first quarter amid persistently weaker prices in...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday November 12.Key drivers Following a weeks-long decline in the Chinese silicon price that brought it close to production costs, producers refused to lower their offers further. Many...Read More
The automotive industry's shift to electric vehicles (EVs) has put the sustainability efforts of its suppliers under scrutiny, Jean-Martin Van der Hoeven, chief marketing officer of ArcelorMittal's global automotive division, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview.One outcome of the so-called Dieselgate scandal - in which German automaker Volkswagen, among others, admitted to manipulating the...Read More