Indian steel mills have increased their hot rolled coil export prices by $15 per tonne in the current week on the back of rising domestic demand for the commodity.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil (commodity) export, fob main port India was $435-440 per tonne on Friday from $420-425 per tonne one week earlier."Indian mills currently have their...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled coil in the United States strengthened for the first time in five weeks, while galvanized prices held steady, after a series of mill price increase announcements and indications that demand from the automotive sector is rebounding.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US climbed to $34.50 per hundredweight ($690 per short ton) on Thursday...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe have been under pressure from low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?390 ($436.37) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?2.14 per tonne from ?,?392.14 per tonne on Thursday June 18.The index was also down by ?,?6.25 per tonne week on week and...Read More

Export billet prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) declined by the end of the week amid lower bids from the Asian market, which has been the main outlet for CIS material lately, sources told Fastmarkets on June 19.CIS mills kept offers largely unchanged over the week amid reduced availability of July-rolling material after some mills already started August sales, sources said -...Read More

Pig iron production at Tata Steel IJmuiden in the Netherlands was stopped on Friday June 19, while the plant's workers went on a 24-hour strike, sources told Fastmarkets.The iron ore supply to two of IJmuiden's blast furnaces (BF) was completely stopped, sources close to trade unions said.But Tata Steel said that one BF was stopped for a short planned maintenance, while another BF was taken off fl...Read More

Prices in Turkey's domestic market for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were unchanged in the week to Friday June 19, with demand only moderate, sources told Fastmarkets.The export market, meanwhile, remained weak because the prices offered by the Turkish mills were regarded as too high, the sources added.Domestic pricesLocal producers were offering 0.5mm...Read More

Markets were mixed again this morning, Friday June 19, while participants wait to see if second waves of Covid-19 are going to derail the V-shaped recovery in asset markets.Needless to say the V-shaped recoveries in prices seem to be ignoring the current depressed state of demand and the forecasts for 2020. * Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly firmer this morning, while pre-market major west...Read More

Demand for pig iron in China continued during the week to Friday June 19, with new purchases of Commonwealth of Independent States- and Brazil-origin material further supporting global prices.At least one purchase was heard of Russia-origin material at around $345 per tonne cfr. Another two cargoes were heard to be booked from an international trader at $346 per tonne cfr. That was a slight increa...Read More

Pig iron export prices from Brazil went up again during the week to Friday June 19 on full order books and continued demand in China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $310-320 per tonne on Friday, widening upward by $5 from $310-315 per tonne the week before.Read More

The United States' pig iron price went up again during the week to Friday June 19 despite weak sentiment in the country.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $325-330 per tonne on Friday, up by $5-8 from $320-322 per tonne a week before."Higher pig iron prices do not correlate at all with what...Read More

The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK was unchanged in the week to Friday June 19, consolidating last week's gain of almost 3.5% and reflecting a balance between relatively low levels of scrap arisings and subdued domestic steel demand.There has been enough overseas demand to traditional markets in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent from Europe in June to cement gains in Bri...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 34 points in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US 73.68 cents following release of Canadian April Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 15.1% versus a drop of 10.1% in March. Actual was a drop of 26.4%. Excluding auto sales, consensus was a drop of 13.5% versus a decline o...Read More

Swedish state-owned iron ore producer LKAB reopened one of its plants on Friday June 19 following a temporary closure on Tuesday caused by Covid-19 quarantine measures. About 60 workers at LKAB's Malmberget site in G??llivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, of whom half have been diagnosed as carriers of the virus, stayed at home this week, the company said on Friday. This meant there were not en...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market at the end of the week in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Steelmakers in the country have been quiet most of the week, having booked only two deep-sea cargoes on Monday, with most of the market participants believing that prices have reached a peak.On Monday...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has fined warehouse operator Istim ?30,000 ($37,120) for breaching clauses of its warehouse agreement, the exchange said in a notice to members on Friday June 19. Between September 12 and December 9, 2019, Istim erroneously instructed its London agent to issue primary aluminium warrants containing incorrect brand names and/or shapes on five separate occasions, the LME sa...Read More

Uncertainty in the aluminium market and poor nearby demand have pushed participants on to exchanges, fueling more liquidity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's aluminium European duty-paid contract (EDP). The duty-paid futures contract, based on the Fastmarkets P1020 duty-paid aluminium premium, had 15,522 lots of open interest as of the end of trading on Thursday June 18, compared with 11,6...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices dropped slightly on Friday June 19 on a transaction of premium mid-volatility hard coking coal material at a lower price, while concerns over China's import restrictions constrained Chinese demand, putting pressure on seaborne prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.20 per tonne, down $0.02 per tonne Premium hard coking...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to rise on Friday June 19 on robust trading, which motivated importers to raise their bids.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,750-3,770 yuan ($529-532) per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,650-3,680 yuan per tonne, up 50-70 yuan per tonneSources reported that trading activity in eastern China had picke...Read More

The three-month LME zinc price pushed up in morning trading on Friday June 19 and is now making a steady approach toward the $2,100 per tonne threshold, while more fresh cancellations kept copper's price elevated. Zinc's underlying price on the London Metal Exchange was recently trading at $2,085 per tonne, making further gains after reaching a four-month high of $2,052 per tonne at Thursday'...Read More

Markets were mixed again this morning, Friday June 19, while participants wait to see if second waves of Covid-19 are going to derail the V-shaped recovery in asset markets.Needless to say the V-shaped recoveries in prices seem to be ignoring the current depressed state of demand and the forecasts for 2020. Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly firmer this morning, while pre-market major wester...Read More