RAPAPORT... Chow Tai Fook expects sales in Hong Kong to remain weak after reporting a sharp slump in revenue and profit due to the coronavirus. Consumer demand was slow in the municipality in April and May as tourists stayed away, contrasting with a slight recovery in mainland China following the relaxation of lockdowns."In Hong Kong and Macau, the market will remain challenging in the forese...Read More

The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week ended June 15, 2020.Read More

The UG2 chrome ore price retreated for the first time since March 20 due to reduced buying interest in contrast to the consistent liquidity over the past few weeks. Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China fell to $169 per tonne on Friday June 12, from $170 per tonne a week earlier, putting an end to a five-week uptrend. The market was described as quie...Read More

Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on Monday June 15 in its financial results.The company took the decision to reduce the number of contract-agency employees in its manufacturing plants over the coming months against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.A company spokesperson expects u...Read More

The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was the laggard at the close of trading on Monday June 15, slipping by more than 1% against a tightening forward curve, while a steady correction in LME copper saw it close just above the $5,700-per-tonne support level. Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,845 per tonne on Monday afternoon, down from an intraday high of $16,940 per to...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has issued a discussion paper on the introduction of an electronic warranting process, a step that would remove the physical component to LME warranting after more than two decades, the exchange said on Monday June 15. Since the introduction of its electronic warrant transfer platform, LMEsword, in 1999, the bourse has used an external provider for depository services, sa...Read More

Copper stocks in Shanghai bonded warehouses have increased from the all-time low recorded on June 1, following the closure of the import arbitrage window.Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded copper stocks at 217,000-227,000 tonnes on Monday June 15, up by 2.3% from 212,000-222,000 tonnes on June 1."The growth [in bonded stocks] makes sense because there has been no import...Read More

Aluminium producer Hydro has reported a 42% drop in sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit and a 21% drop in rolled product sales for April-May, due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.The Norwegian company announced that its sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit were down 42% in April and May of this year, compared with the same months in 2019, due to weaker market demand fo...Read More

Base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were lower during morning trading on Monday June 15, pressured lower by weaker-than-expected industrial data out of China, while a fresh inflow of 16,175 tonnes was an added headwind for copper futures prices. Weighing on prices across the complex was economic data out of China released this morning , which showed industrial production year on year fo...Read More

Equity markets started to show some weakness last week, although dips were being bought, but this morning, Monday June 15, the mood seems to have become more concerned about the rise in second waves of Covid-19 in many countries and the socio-economic implications of these. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker, as were most on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Asian-Pacific equ...Read More

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Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States have again risen due to increased raw material costs, but demand remains weak, industry participants told Fastmarkets. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US rose to $33.25 per hundredweight ($665 per shor...Read More

Equity markets started to show some weakness last week, although dips were being bought, but this morning, Monday June 15, the mood seems to have become more concerned about the rise in second waves of Covid-19 in many countries and the socio-economic implications of these. * Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker, as were most on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. * Asian-Pacific...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States slipped back toward the $25-per-hundredweight ($500-per-short-ton) mark, eroding gains achieved in recent weeks due to concerns about weak demand and inventory overhang. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.32 per cwt ($506.40 per ton) on Monday June 15, down by 2.5% from $25.97 per cwt on Friday June 12 and 2...Read More

Prices for the steel plate in the United States held steady for the fifth week in a row after mills were unable to collect most of the price increase they announced in May. North American plate producers announced a round of price rises last month of either $40 per ton ($2 per hundredweight) or $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The announcements said the increases were effective immediately, but market...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved down day on day on Monday June 15 due to low demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?393.75 ($442.92) per tonne on Monday June 15, down by ?,?2.50 per tonne from ?,?396.25 per tonne on Friday June 12 - also down by ?,?5 per tonne week on week and by ?,?18....Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have moved further down in Northern Europe yet remained stable in Southern Europe in the week to Friday June 12 amid low market demand, sources said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at ?,?396.25 ($505.90) per tonne on Friday June 12, down by ?,?2.50 per tonne week on week and by ?,?23.75 per tonne month...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 57 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the June Empire State Manufacturing Survey at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was -35.0 versus -48.59 in May. Actual was down 0.2MMM dropped $4.31 to $151.00 after the company announced a 20% drop in May sales.Shopify gained $32.99 to U...Read More

Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance supply with the demand contraction amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the region's steel association, Alacero, said on Thursday June 11.The seven blast furnaces combined have the capacity to produce around 7 million tonnes per year of crude steel, Alacero added. For context, Latin...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market was quiet on Monday June 15, with mills digesting the bookings made last week at firm prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Nine deep-sea cargoes were booked by Turkish steel mills last week totaling around 250,000 tonnes. At least three additional cargoes from last week were also heard on Monday,...Read More