Seaborne iron ore prices jumped above $85 per tonne cfr China on Thursday January 31, with deals for Brazilian fines closing at higher levels after Vale's decision to reduce the output of its southern systems.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.34 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.18 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low...Read More

Zinc gained more than 1% in morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday January 31, breaching technical support at its 100 DMA for the first time since July 2018 amid continued stock drawdowns and cancelations. Volumes were decent at more than 5,000 lots as of 10:00am London time, just behind copper's 5,800 lots. Easing tightness in zinc's cash/three-month spread, which has narrowed t...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil in Europe resumed their downward trend this week, but have now "reached the bottom," sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants said that prices moved down this week on slow trading because buyers have sufficient stocks.Demand, however, is expected to improve due to the restocking that is expected to start in February."Buyers will be maki...Read More

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices moved down on Thursday January 31 following more bookings done at slightly lower levels, sources told Fastmarkets.Four more bookings add to the 16 other bookings that have come to light this week. A steel mill in the Samsun region booked a US cargo comprising 28,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) and 6,000 tonnes of shredded at an average price of $316 per tonne cfr...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 31 that are worth another look.United States President Donald Trump strengthened Buy America requirements for infrastructure in an executive order on Thursday January 31, in a potential boost to domestic iron, steel and aluminium industries, among others. Lawmakers in the United States have introduced legislat...Read More

Comex copper prices moved higher on Thursday morning in the United States, with an improving macroeconomic backdrop lifting the entire base metals complex.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.25 cents to $2.79 per lb. "The improved macroeconomic backdrop has provided risk sentiment with a good bullish vibe, allowing the red met...Read More

Zinc gained more than 1% in morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday January 31, breaching technical support at its 100 DMA for the first time since July 2018 amid continued stock drawdowns and cancelations. Volumes were decent at more than 5,000 lots as of 10:00am London time, just behind copper's 5,800 lots. Easing tightness in zinc's cash/three-month spread, which has narrowed t...Read More

In Zhuzhou - former home of China's top zinc smelter - the skies aren't exactly blue, but they're starting to clear up. Today the city in Hunan province registered an air quality index of close to 250, regarded as "very unhealthy". Still, the index, which measures particulate matter PM2.5, was close to 280 at the same time last year. It was home to the Zhuzhou Smelter Group, the world's fifth larg...Read More

Trade log for nickel sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are yuan per tonne on an ex-works basis. Fastmarkets MB prices Click here for Fastmarkets MB's price assessment for nickel sulfate, Ni 21% min 22.5% max, China ex-works, yuan/tonne. The exchange rate according to...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday January 31 *Copper -$140.48 (-943.56 yuan) Aluminium -$371.26 (-2,493.56 yuan) Zinc -$60.86 (-408.77 yuan) Nickel -$290.82 (-1,953.32 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More

A dovish US Federal Reserve stance, a weaker dollar and a firmer Chinese yuan, which may indicate confidence in US-China trade talks, are all helping to underpin the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Thursday January 31.Lead and zinc prices led on the upside with gains of 0.6% and 0.5% respectively,followed by rises of 0.4% in tin, 0.3% in aluminium, 0.2% in...Read More

Swedish steelmaker SSAB forecasts that demand for heavy steel plate will remain strong in the United States in the first quarter of 2019, while in Europe demand will be fairly stable.SSAB, which has operations in Sweden, Finland and the US, expects steel prices in the first quarter to be "somewhat higher for SSAB Americas, compared with the fourth quarter of 2018. Prices realized by SSAB Europe du...Read More

Steel billet import prices in Egypt increased this week on higher offers, and the market is expecting rebar prices to increase as well, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 31.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet imported into Egypt was $450-455 per tonne cfr on Thursday, rising from $425-440 per tonne cfr last week.Billet producers in the CIS were offering material to Egy...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBilletCIS, export, billet, offered...Read More

The world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, has announced a price rise of ?,?30 ($34) per tonne on flat steel products, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 31.The price increase will be applied to hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) across Europe with immediate effect, according to market participants. ArcelorMittal has been trading...Read More

Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Europe have been largely stable over the week amid slow market activity, market sources told Fastmarkets MB.Buyers in the region are reported to have sufficient stocks of plate so therefore, are not interested in making new deals, market participants said.Fastmarkets MB's weekly price assessment for domestic grade-S235JR heavy steel plate in Southern Europe...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices jumped above $85 per tonne cfr China on Thursday January 31, with deals for Brazilian fines closing at higher levels after Vale's decision to reduce the output of its southern systems.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $85.34 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $86.18 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $2.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low...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, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex),...Read More

The seaborne coking coal spot market quietened down on Thursday January 31 amid a softening of sentiment in China, where import restrictions have emerged at ports in the country's northeastern region.While word had emerged on Wednesday about customs authorities not clearing Australian coking coal for entry at the Port of Dandong in Liaoning province, a mill source in the northeastern region said t...Read More

Fastmarkets MB is seeking feedback on a proposal to begin publishing on a weekly basis its value-in-use (VIU) indices for the market-implied value impact of 1% iron, silica and alumina, and 0.01% phosphorus on the price of iron ore. Depending on market feedback, this proposal would be implemented from Monday March 4.These indices are currently calculated on a monthly basis and published on the fir...Read More