China's domestic rebar prices lost their upward momentum on Tuesday March 5 amid declining futures, while trading activity also thinned. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,840 yuan ($567-573) per tonne, narrowed downward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,800-3,830 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneDeclining futures led sellers to lower their prices in the morning. The...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for April shipments due to low stock levels, with prices continuing to nudge up, sources said on Tuesday March 5.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), a 10,000-tonne mixture of HMS and plate & structural (P&S) scrap, and 5,000 tonnes of new cuttings at an....Read More
Iron ore prices corrected on Tuesday March 5 despite the addition of further production restrictions for steelmakers in China, sources told Fastmarkets.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.03 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.66 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.43 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.66 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $89.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.68 pe...Read More
Price assessments for steel rebar and billet imported into the United Arab Emirates have decreased slightly this week because of lower prices in agreed deals, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 5.Demand for rebar in the country remained only moderate.Rebar importsOman sold rebar to its northern neighbor state at $530 per tonne cpt UAE.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UAE rebar impor...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices lost their upward momentum on Tuesday March 5 amid declining futures, while trading activity also thinned. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,840 yuan ($567-573) per tonne, narrowed downward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,800-3,830 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneDeclining futures led sellers to lower their prices in the morning. The...Read More
Nickel demand is set to outstrip supply as soon as 2023, Amur Minerals chief executive officer Robin Young told Fastmarkets in an interview on Wednesday February 27. The junior mining company owns the Russia-based Kun-Manie project, the world's largest Asia-adjacent unexploited nickel deposit, home to an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of mineable nickel ore. And if nickel demand outstrips supply as...Read More
Turkey's flat steel export volumes rose by 55.37% year-on-year in January, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK). The main reason for the increase was that the local demand was weak in the country in the last quarter of 2018, when orders to be...Read More
Turkey's import volumes of flat steel decreased by 27.06% year on year in January 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).The country imported 497,487 tonnes of flat steel in January of this year, compared with 682,069 tonnes in January 2018, TUIK statistics showed.Demand for flat steel in Turkey has been weak since August 2018, when United States president Donald Trump doubled...Read More
Vale's chief executive officer Fabio Schvartsman has temporarily stepped down from his position in the wake of a tailings dam collapse at one of its iron ore mines in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in January. The miner, on Saturday March 2, named its executive director of base metals, Eduardo de Salles Bartolomeo, as its interim CEO.Three other top executives - including Gerd Peter Poppinga,...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 5.Please click...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by just under 3% at the close of trading on Tuesday March 5, with bullish sentiment emerging from robust fundamentals, while trade optimism continues to boost risk-appetite amid broad strength in the US dollar index.The metal's three-month price has been the standout commodity across the complex, with its price action climbing over 5%...Read More
Export offer prices for wire rod from the CIS region have increased in early March, with suppliers citing reduced availability of the material due to high volumes in earlier bookings, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday March 5.Recent offers of CIS-origin wire rod were reported within the range of $520-535 per tonne fob Black Sea, depending on the grade, up from $500-510 per tonne fob a week earlier."We....Read More
OM Holdings doubled its profits in 2018, compared with 2017, due to an increase in traded volumes of ores and alloys and stronger prices, underpinned by consistently high demand, the company said.The Australia-listed manganese and ferro-silicon producer reported an after-tax profit of A$184.7 million ($130.63 million) for the 12 months to December 31, 2018, compared with A$91.4 million for the sam...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 5 that are worth another look.The United States Commerce Department launched a Section 232 investigation into titanium sponge imports on Monday March 4 after domestic producer Titanium Metals Corp (Timet) filed a petition in September.Ferro-chrome prices are likely to be supported in the near to medium term by co...Read More
Ferro-chrome prices are likely to be supported in the near to medium term by concerns over South Africa's power constraints, market sources believe.South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom implemented load shedding - controlled power outages that aim to reduce strain on the country's system - in February.The resulting blackouts had minimal impact on prices but did affect ferro-chrome product...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 5.Please click...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by just under 3% at the close of trading on Tuesday March 5, with bullish sentiment emerging from robust fundamentals, while trade optimism continues to boost risk-appetite amid broad strength in the US dollar index.The metal's three-month price has been the standout commodity across the complex, with its price action climbing over 5%...Read More
The price of copper on the Comex exchange in the United States bounced back in morning trading on Tuesday March 5, with continued optimism about the outcome of international trade talks.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded by 2.05 cents to $2.9295 per lb.Continued optimism about US-China trade talks has improved risk sentiment acro...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for April shipments due to low stock levels, with prices continuing to nudge up, sources said on Tuesday March 5.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), a 10,000-tonne mixture of HMS and plate & structural (P&S) scrap, and 5,000 tonnes of new cuttings at an....Read More
The price of copper on the Comex exchange in the United States bounced back in morning trading on Tuesday March 5, with continued optimism about the outcome of international trade talks.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rebounded by 2.05 cents to $2.9295 per lb.Continued optimism about US-China trade talks has improved risk sentiment acro...Read More