Prices for most aluminium scrap grades maintained upward momentum this past week amid continued struggles to source freight as well as persistent supply-side tightness in the United States, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' assessment of the non-ferrous auto shred (90% Al) buying price, delivered to Midwest secondary smelters rose to 62-66 cents per lb on Thursday November 19 from 60-64 cents p...Read More

An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Susan Zou and Sally Zhang in Shanghai, Carrie Shi in Beijing, and...Read More

After much anticipation and debate, the International Energy Exchange's bonded copper futures contract launched on Thursday November 19 to some fanfare and respectable volume.A total of 8,344 lots traded on the INE's 'BC' contract on Thursday, following up with another 4,893 on Friday, the majority for delivery in March.National Chinese copper behemoths Jiangxi Copper and Minmetals were among the...Read More

China will remove its "prohibition" on the use of five nickel-related products in the processing trade from December 1, 2020. According to a notice published by the country's Ministry of Commerce on November 5: "Products that are not high-energy consumption and high pollution, and with relatively high-value added will be removed from the catalogue of prohibited goods in [the] processing...Read More

Fastmarkets copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index set a new low this week amid an illiquid market. The spot tracking index dropped to $42.60 per tonne/ 4.26 cents per lb on Friday November 20, the lowest since its launch in 2013.  Offers of clean concentrates to smelters lowered to the mid-$40s with purchases reported in the high $40s for...Read More

The US Department of Commerce has issued affirmative preliminary anti-dumping determinations on steel reinforcing bar from Turkey, the agency said on Tuesday November 17. Commerce preliminarily determined that producers or exporters of rebar from Turkey subject to investigation made sales at less than normal value during the period of review from July 1, 2018 through June 30,...Read More

The domestic hot-rolled coil price in Europe increased again day on day on Friday November 20, supported by tight supplies, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?541.25 ($641.14) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?3.37 per tonne from ?,?537.88 per tonne on Thursday.  The index was also up by ?,?16.15 per ton...Read More

Flat steel prices in Turkey continued to rise sharply in the week to Friday November 20, due to strong demand in the domestic and export markets because of low stock levels, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Turkey was $630-640 per tonne on November 20, rising from $575-585 per tonne on November 13.Turkish HRC producers w...Read More

Offer prices for steel billet exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) moved upward again on Friday November 20 amid higher costs for steelmaking raw materials, particularly scrap, and rising long steel prices, with the mismatch between offers and bids restraining trading, Fastmarkets heard.Offers for steel billet from Russian and Ukrainian mills were heard within the range of $4...Read More

Domestic Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil and color-coated coil (pre-painted galvanized iron or PPGI) continued to increase in the week to Friday November 20, with demand reported to be strong, sources told Fastmarkets.Coated coil prices increased because of strong demand as well rising prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coils.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment...Read More

Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet increased by 1,000 rupees ($13) per tonne in the week to Friday November 20, on a continued rise in the price of direct-reduced iron (DRI) and steady demand for semi-finished steel materials from finished product makers.The price of steel billet, domestic, exw India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on November 20 to be up by 1,000 rupees per tonne to 3...Read More

The domestic price for steel rebar in Poland inched higher this week on bullish offers from mills, reflecting the growth momentum in international scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 20.Polish rebar producers were looking for higher prices this week, following the uptrend in the long steel markets in the EU and internationally, and with a rise in global scrap prices also sup...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices surged to a new two-year high on Friday November 20, despite thin trading, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,140-4,160 yuan ($629-632) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,990-4,010 yuan per tonne, up 90 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said sellers there continued to off...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar added 0.04 to US76.62 cents following release of Canada's September Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase of 0.2% versus a gain of 0.4% in August. Actual was an increase of 1.1%Workday added $10.20 to $241.00 after reporting higher than consensus quart...Read More

Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the UK market were higher over the week to Friday November 20, adding to gains made the week before amid strong European export markets to Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources told Fastmarkets.The British light iron market was likely, along with monthly delivery settlements to domestic consumers in December, to climb more firmly in the near term...Read More

Turkish steel mills completed the week with the purchase of an additional deep-sea scrap market cargo at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 20.The mills stepped back into the market on the final day of the week to purchase a UK cargo comprising 35,000 tonnes of shredded at $340 per tonne, booked by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region.This compared with the most recent UK...Read More

The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan jumped on Friday November 20, with available material in short supply and a strong Turkish market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $355.76 per tonne on Friday, up from $337.41 per tonne one week earlier.A deal concluded earlier in the week saw...Read More

Prices for pig iron exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) pushed up again in the week to Thursday November 19 on new sales.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $375-390 per tonne on Thursday, up from $370-374 per tonne a week earlier.Early this week, a sale of Ukraine-origin pig iron was...Read More

Deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses showed significant divergences in the week to Friday November 20, with copper slumping by 18% and tin surging by 10%.Copper stocks were at their lowest since Fastmarkets began to track SHFE copper inventories in 2015, according to Fastmarkets analyst Boris Mikanikrezai.On a week-on-week basis, copper stocks in Sha...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in both fob DBCT and cfr Jingtang markets edged up on a daily basis on Friday November 20 although the ongoing restriction from China on Australian coal imports has caused a widening differential between the prices since late October. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $98.40 per tonne, up $0.82 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr J...Read More