Domestic steel rebar prices in Southern Europe declined in the week to Wednesday February 3 under the pressure of slow buying activity and weaker scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?600-620 ($723-747) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?,?610-635 per tonne last week.ItalyRebar...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to stay away from deep-sea scrap purchases on Wednesday February 3, expecting prices to fall again due to limited demand for rebar and steel billet, sources told Fastmarkets....Read More
The Japanese export scrap market has bounced off the floor to record higher prices over the past week following an effort from suppliers to resist new sales, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 3.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?36,000-38,000 ($343-362) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?1,500-3,000 per tonne from ?33,000-36,500 per tonn...Read More
Iron ore prices edged up on Wednesday February 3, supported by an increase in inquiries from steel mills intending purchase, although trading activity was still limited, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $152.65 per tonne, up $2.85 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $152.90 per tonne, up $2.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade p...Read More
Chinese rebar buyers are stepping away from the market to start their holidays for Chinese New Year, leaving trading activity muted and the domestic price unchanged on Wednesday February 3. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,280-4,300 yuan ($663-666) per tonne, unchanged Both end users and stockists have finished stocking up on inventory for consumption after the holiday that officially ends on...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday February 3. Key drivers European titanium scrap markets resumed price increases over the week on tightening supplies. Both low and high tin content turnings are particularly hard to source, with other feedstock to make ferro-titanium, such as vacuum-grade and sponge, also pushing higher as alternative feeds are sought.Scrap price g...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained unchanged this week after feedstock prices begin to plateau following a period of upward movement, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 3.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?850-870 ($1,022-1,046) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.After weeks of increases for...Read More
Turkey exported 5,451,349 tonnes of flat steel products in 2020, a decrease of 2.82% compared with 5,609,697 tonnes in 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country exported 566,436 tonnes of flat steel in December 2020, a 121.59% increase year-on-year compared with the 465,853 tonnes exported in December 2019, the institute said in a recent statement.The main reason for...Read More
A summary of Glencore's 2020 full-year production report for the coal sector, released on Wednesday February 3, 2021.In brief In the second half of 2020, Glencore started various proactive market-related supply reductions in relation to coal production from Australia. The company has maintained its full-year 2021 guidance for coal production at 109-117 million tonnes, however, there will be cautio...Read More
A scheme in India to retire and tax older vehicles will increase the supply of scrap to its domestic market, if its implementation goes ahead after years of false starts, market sources told Fastmarkets.On January 25, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, approved a proposal for a green tax on older vehicles and the scrapping of some vehicles, a government document sho...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 3 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal Italia has resumed operations at blast furnace (BF) No2 and coke battery No9 at its Taranto steel plant in the south of Italy, the producer said on February 3.Rio Tinto...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have remained in the $57- to $58-per-hundredweight ($1,140- to $1,160-per-short-ton) range, with most market participants indicating that the market has not yet reached its tipping point.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $57.68 per cwt ($1,153.60 per ton) on Wednesday February 3, down by 0.22% from $57.81 per c...Read More
Treatment charges for both zinc and lead concentrates fell in the last week of January 2021, moving for the first time since November 27 last year, in Fastmarkets' latest assessments.Market sentiment played a large part in driving TCs lower, because even with most producers recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mining of zinc and lead, significant tenders were concluded at sh...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained unchanged this week after feedstock prices begin to plateau following a period of upward movement, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 3.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?850-870 ($1,022-1,046) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.After weeks of increases for...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 3 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal Italia has resumed operations at blast furnace (BF) No2 and coke battery No9 at its Taranto steel plant in the south of Italy, the producer said on February 3.Rio Tinto...Read More
The frenzy of buying activity in silver, attributed to a group of retail investors using the Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets and other social media sites, is waning.The silver surge - which began on January 27 and saw the price of the industrial metal soar to an eight-year high of more than $30 per oz before slipping to just below $27 per oz by Tuesday January 2 - followed a phenomenal upswell in th...Read More
A global reshuffling of metallurgical coal trade flows and a limited supply of the steelmaking raw material have caused seaborne prices to spike in recent weeks.Global reshuffleIn the seaborne market, coking coal cargoes from the United States and Canada flowed to China after the East Asian country imposed a ban on the import of Australian coal in October 2020.Chinese steelmakers who could no long...Read More
A hazy outlook for China's ferrous sector after the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday is overwhelming the Asian steel industry, resulting in a market divided on prices and purchasing decisions, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Steel demand"The situation for the Chinese steel market is unclear now. It's not clear whether demand will rebound after the Chinese New Year. Many market participants in...Read More
Zinc's price was nearly 2% higher on the London Metal Exchange with dip-buying having started and futures prices edging upward on Wednesday February 3, following two days of decreases, with the easing of the Dollar Index helping to support metal prices.Zinc's three-month price closed 1.8% higher at $2,615 per tonne on Wednesday at 5pm, the first time it has closed above the $2,600 per tonne mark s...Read More
The fob seaborne premium hard coking coal price edged up on Wednesday February 3 after a transaction for premium low-volatility hard coking coal was sealed at a higher price, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $157.53 per tonne, up $0.74 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.23 per tonne, down $0.50 per tonneHard coking coal, f...Read More