Our focus this week is rounding up the main Q2 production results published this reporting season. Although some big target misses have made the headlines and helped to fuel the price rally, production disappointments are not the whole story, especially if we look at producers who don’t publish their results in the public domain. (Q2 comparisons are year on year unless otherwise stated.) Norn...Read More

The purge continues LME tin continues to trade poorly relative to its peers, suggesting that the purge of the overly long position held by speculative funds is not done yet. It is interesting to notice that only tin and zinc, for which money managers are relatively the most bullish among the complex posted a loss last week. Once the purge is over, however, we believe that tin prices are likely to...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap markets were unchanged today while trading paused in the country due to the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 13.The Turkish market and those in other Middle Eastern territories will be closed until August 15 for Eid al-Adha; no new cargoes are expected...Read More

Zinc price extend to fresh lows Zinc prices came under increasing downside pressure across the past week, reflecting risk-off sentiment across wider markets. The LME three-month price has extended to a fresh multi-month low of $2,230.50 per tonne on Monday, August 12, the lowest since October 2016. Zinc demand may be set for seasonal up tick... At the same time, however, stock flows support our vi...Read More

The UK ferrous scrap market for deliveries to domestic consumers in August has settled with prices unchanged for the third month in a row, balanced between relatively tight supply and low key demand, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday August 13.The uncertainty about underlying consumption in the UK and Europe, because of weaker manufacturing, helped to confirm the downward trend. And the weakness of ste...Read More

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Seaborne iron ore prices continued to retreat on Tuesday August 13 below the $90-per-tonne-cfr mark.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.25 per tonne, down $4.87 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.75 per tonne, down $4.87 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.52 per tonne,...Read More

Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of  market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, Global Ore, 170,000 tonnes of 62% Fe Brazilian...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Tuesday August 13, though Chinese market participants remained bearish about the market.Buyer and trader sources in the country cited weak downstream markets, ample supply and import restrictions on coal at Chinese ports as the main reasons for their pessimistic outlook for prices over the next few weeks."The margins for steel mills in China have narrowed...Read More

The economic and geopolitical clouds are getting more widespread and darker with unrest in Hong Kong and debt default concerns in Argentina adding to market concerns that are already stressed by the continuing US-China trade dispute, poor global economic data, stalemate over Iran and the potential for a hard Brexit. Gold has pushed up to another fresh multi-year high on Tuesday August 13, of ...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 5 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the July U.S. Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.1% in June. Actual was an increase of 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, consensus was an increase of 0.2% versus a gain of 0.3...Read More

US domestic mills resoundingly won the tug-of-war with ferrous scrap sellers this month and successfully limited the upside on prices, yet the outlook for September remains unclear, with some sellers hopeful for further increases while others believe the market may have peaked.Ferrous scrap markets across the country - including Detroit and Chicago - saw a $20-per-gross-ton increase on most grades...Read More

News of a Europe-origin cargo of ferrous scrap booked at lower prices by a Turkish steel mill came to light on Monday August 12, only the second such cargo to be traded this month, sources have told Fastmarkets.News of the cargo came to light late on Friday after the deadline for the indices on that day.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices picked up some strength on Tuesday August 13 amid early gains in the futures market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($517-521) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,610-3,640 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneRebar futures picked up late on Monday and stayed high for the rest of the day. The most-traded October contract stay...Read More

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China's shock currency devaluation last week begs the following questions: Is China a rising giant of the twenty-first century poised to overtake the United States in wealth and military prowess? Or is it a house of cards preparing to implode?Conventional wisdom espouses the former. Yet, hard evidence suggests the latter.Your correspondent in the world famous Long Bar on the Bund in Shanghai, Chin...Read More

Markets are still digesting last week's Chinese devaluation that sent the Dow crashing over 700 points last Monday.And as everyone knows by now, the Trump administration labelled China a currency manipulator.The ironic part of it is that China has been manipulating its currency to strengthen it against the dollar.Here's the dynamic you need to understand…The Chinese yuan is softly pegged to...Read More

Silicon prices in the United States logged their 17th consecutive month of declines in August, a trend sources attributed mostly to surplus supply.Fastmarkets' price assessment for silicon, ddp US, dropped to $1.01-1.07 per lb on Friday August 9, down from $1.05-1.10 per lb on July 10 and its lowest since the price stood at $1.01-1.03 per lb in February-March 2017.The price had climbed to $1....Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ended Friday August 9.  US Key drivers  Excess supply endures, with contracted material, silicon-rich scrap alternatives and grade 5-5-3 increasingly coming to the United States from numerous overseas suppliers.  Business remains subdued for automakers, lowering their demand for secondary aluminium...Read More