The Turkish steel industry managed to increase its export volumes in 2018 despite the creation of international trade barriers that had a huge effect on the market, the Turkish Steel Exporters' Assn (??IB) told Fastmarkets on Friday February 22.Turkey increased its steel exports by 20.80% year-on-year to 21.40 million tonnes in the full year of 2018, while the value of those exports rose by 36.10%...Read More

Prices for flat steel exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held steady this week although market participants were expecting discounts, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday February 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS-origin exports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) was unchanged at $520-530 per tonne fob Black Sea on February 25.Ukraine-origin HRC was offered at $530-535 per...Read More

South Korea has recommended five-year anti-dumping duties on stainless steel bar from Taiwan and Italy, after its trade commission found that imports had injured the domestic industry.The Korea Trade Commission requested the finance ministry to set tariffs of 9.47-18.56% against Taiwanese products and 10.21-13.74% against Italian products for five years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industr...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil, pre-painted galvanized iron, steel plate, steel sheet and other flat steel products. Latest transaction: hot-rolled coilHot-rolled coilEast China, domestic, commercial-grade...Read More

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia moved up again over the past week amid higher offers and limited availability, although no transactions were heard due to the large bid-offer spread.Fastmarkets' weekly import price assessment for slab imports to Southeast Asia and East Asia was $460-480 per tonne cfr on Monday February 25, widening upward by $10 per tonne from $460-470...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters raised their offers on Monday February 25 following surges in the stock market, while domestic prices edged up.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,810 yuan ($564-567) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,740-3,750 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonnePrices in Shanghai posted moderate gains, with trading volumes being reported to be c...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore held steady over the past week on limited activity in the spot market.Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for rebar in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - was $500-515 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday February 25, unchanged from the previous week.Turkish rebar was offered at $520-525 per to...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxNautilus said it was not bankrupt and remained in control of all its business, but it continued to receive debt support from lending partner Deep Sea Mining Finance to complete its corporate andRead More

Niron Metals PLC, an investment vehicle with shareholders including former Xstrata chief executive officer Mick Davis, is in exploratory talks with the government of Guinea to develop the Zogota iron ore project. Niron believes that the Zogota deposit, located in southeastern Guinea, can be brought into production on an accelerated timetable. It had been envisaged that the mine would be connected...Read More

The Turkish steel mills stayed out of the deep-sea scrap market on Monday February 25 and made no bookings, preferring to remain in wait-and-see mode after the recent sharp decrease in the prices, Fastmarkets heard.Following the news of a Baltic Sea cargo sold on February 22 at $307 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and $317 per tonne for bonus, prices went down by around $10 per tonne at the end...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone down over the past week in line with the downturn in imported scrap values, sources said on Monday February 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Monday for domestic auto bundle (DKP-grade) scrap in Turkey was TRY1,630-1,820 ($306-342) per tonne delivered, widening downward from the TRY1,680-1,820 per tonne of last week.A number of steel mills and a maj...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell significantly on Monday February 25 amid limited trading activity after losses in the futures and swaps markets. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $84.24 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.81 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $86.42 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $2.01 per tonne....Read More

Seaborne coking coal spot prices held steady on Monday February 25 amid thin trading."The market is taking a breather for now but the short-term trend is still up due to tight seaborne supply," an Indian trading source said.While there are at least 12 cargoes of premium hard coking coal and four shipments of second-tier materials - all of which are scheduled for loading in February-April - in the...Read More

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday February 25*Copper -$175.84 (-1,179.03 yuan) Aluminium -$341.13 (-2,287.27 yuan) Zinc -$119.98 (-804.44 yuan) Nickel -$278 (-1,863.97 yuan) *Fastmarkets calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month...Read More

The most-traded tin contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange surged during the Asian trading session on Monday February 25, which market participants attributed to concerns of tighter tin concentrate supply after China's Yinman Mining was suspended by the local Emergency Management Agency the previous day. The most-traded May tin contract hit a high of 153,490 yuan ($22,860.80) per tonne at 9:28...Read More

US President Donald Trump has postponed his administration's plans to increase the current import duties on $200 billion-worth of Chinese goods, de-escalating the trade tensions between the two countries."I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs scheduled for March 1," Trump announced via social media on Sunday February 24.According to Trump, there has been "substantial progress in our trade...Read More

The Chinese antimony market remained quiet amid sparse buying interest during the week ended Friday February 22.Fastmarkets assessed the price for MMTA standard-grade II antimony, delivered duty-paid in China, at 48,500-49,500 yuan ($7,231-7,380) per tonne on February 20, unchanged since January 16.The Chinese antimony market has shown limited trading activity since downstream consumers maintained...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in London and Shanghai on Friday February 22.ChinaKey drivers- The Chinese silicon fob export price held steady while exporters wait for Japan's quarterly tenders in the days to come.- A lot of off-grade silicon has flowed into the spot market, but considering the quick appreciation of the yuan, most traders are keeping their offers unchanged for the time being t...Read More

Fastmarkets proposes to increase the minimum tonnage of its domestic Chinese indium assessment. The goal of a minimum tonnage is to exclude any deal that, because of its small size or high price, could add bias to the Fastmarkets published price. At the same time, the minimum tonnage must be as low as possible so that the number of deals excluded is the smallest. Initial consultations with market...Read More

Last Thursday's brief correction in metals prices was just a pause in what is turning into a strong rally, with the three-month base metals prices traded on the London Metal Exchange up by an average of 0.6% on the morning of Monday February 25.Copper and tin prices are extending into fresh highs for the year, while the other base metals are rallying. Copper prices were up by 0.4% this morning at...Read More