Prices for long and flat stainless steel products in Europe were stable this week, but at least one producer has announced sharp increases for March and the rest of the market is expected to follow suit.Finland-based Outokumpu announced on its website on Thursday February 21 that alloy surcharges for grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheets for March will increase by ?,?123 ($139) per tonne to ?,?1,351 (...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday February 22. Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday February 22.China  The domestic ferro-chrome spot price rose in response to higher raw material prices pushing up production costs. But Tisco steel mill announced their March tender...Read More

Major Vietnamese integrated steel producer Formosa Ha Tinh Steel has increased its new hot-rolled coil offers by $40 per tonne for April-delivery and shipment cargoes due to the recent increases in raw materials costs.The producer's SAE1006 HRC is now on offer at $535 per tonne on a cif basis, up $40 per tonne from $495 per tonne cif for iMarch-shipment materials. And its SS400 and pipemaking...Read More

Major Chinese mills' daily crude steel output edged up in late January, but finished steel inventories dropped sharply.Members of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) produced crude steel at an average rate of 1.82 million tonnes per day during the last 11 days of January, up 0.55 % from 1.81...Read More

Eastern China's Shagang has increased the prices for its long steel products for orders booked in late February. The mill is selling its HRB400 16-25mm rebar at 3,950 yuan ($587) per tonne over the February 21-28 period, up 50 yuan per tonne from its last set of prices released on February 1,...Read More

The import pig iron market in the United States calmed down during the week ended Friday February 22, after several bookings were completed, sources told Fastmarkets on the day.Fastmarkets' import price assessment for pig iron in the US was $355-360 per tonne cfr on February 22, stable week on week."The workable price for buyers is still below the target price for suppliers, but everything will de...Read More

Prices for imported flat steel products in South America continued to rise over the past week with Chinese mills not backing down from more expensive offers made after the Lunar New Year celebrations, despite faltering demand in the region, Fastmarkets heard on Friday February 22.Fastmarkets assessed the import price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in South America at $560-570 per tonne cfr on February...Read More

Brazilian slab export prices have jumped for a third consecutive week following the positive trend in steel prices and the costs of raw materials.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of Brazilian slab export prices was $490-530 per tonne fob on Friday February 22, compared with $460-510 per tonne fob a week earlier.Some volumes were still available for April shipment, and sellers were waiting to place o...Read More

Steel scrap prices in the principal trading regions have fallen sharply, as was expected by the majority of market participants, during the working week from Monday February 18 to Friday February 22.The price falls followed the decrease in Turkish scrap import prices this week, which was itself the result of limited demand for rebar and billet in the country's domestic market.Prices in Taiwan mana...Read More

Section 232 tariffs on aluminium and steel raised $3.6 billion in their first nine months, and revenues for the last two months are likely to push that figure up by around another $1 billion, US government data shows.That figure would be enough to cover the shortfall in funding sought by United States President Donald Trump for border security. In other words, aluminium and steel tariffs could fun...Read More

Detailed data for Chinese trade is still not available, but there are indications that the East Asian country may have become the biggest importer of pig iron in Asia last year, according to Fastmarkets' research team.We pointed out in June last year that the Chinese import pig iron market might revive to fill the widening gap between iron and steel production in China, alongside ferrous scrap.Hon...Read More

The process to exclude steel and aluminium from the Section 232 import tariffs applied by the United States is having some interesting consequences.Notably, in the event of a national security issue - which Section 232 was designed to address - the United States would theoretically rely on Japan for its steel and Saudi Arabia for its aluminium.Those countries have been granted the highest volume o...Read More

Zinc and lead concentrate treatment charges (TCs) rose in February deals for spot cargoes with liquidity sinking over the Lunar New Year and while market participants became insular ahead of annual contract negotiations.Fastmarkets assessed zinc concentrate TCs at $215-250 per tonne on February 22 from $210-240 per tonne in January, which reflects the gap between the low volumes of trader and smel...Read More

Coal trading has become too risky, a trader remarked on Thursday February 21 amid news that customs authorities in Dalian, a major city in northeastern China, had slashed the yearly coal import quota for ports under their jurisdiction by 25%.The fallout of the move, which is expected to affect Australian coal shipments, came in the form of a weakening of the Australian dollar amid concerns about p...Read More

Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its strong performance at the close of trading on Friday February 22, reaching a seven-month high, while low LME stocks and a fresh cancelation of more than 37,000 tonnes in the morning supported the price.Trading was at its highest level since July 2018, and only a month earlier copper's three-month price had reached levels in exce...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Friday February 22 following a flurry of transactions through the week that sent prices of premium hard coking coal up by more than 4% over the week.Fastmarkets' cfr China Premium Hard Coking Coal Index was unchanged from the previous day at $212.60 per tonne on Friday, but up 4.8% from Monday, while the fob Australia Premium Ha...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher during morning trading on Friday February 22, with three-month copper and nickel prices breaching nearby resistance levels, while trade sentiment around US-China trade talks continues to support commodity investments. Copper's three-month price continues to trade in an uptrend amid a decade-low in LME stocks, while traded volumes r...Read More

Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) shares jumped higher Friday amid reports that rival Barrick Gold Corp  (GOLD) is prepping a hostile takeover bid that would value the mining group at around $19 billion. Canada's Globe & Mail Newspaper reported Friday that Barrick, the world's biggest gold producer and fresh off a $6.1 billion takeover of Randgold Resources, is looking to buy Newmont and dump...Read More

Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its strong performance at the close of trading on Friday February 22, reaching a seven-month high, while low LME stocks and a fresh cancelation of more than 37,000 tonnes in the morning supported the price.Trading was at its highest level since July 2018, and only a month earlier copper's three-month price had reached levels in exce...Read More

An overview of the noble alloys markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More