Copper stocks in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses in Rotterdam have been steadily rising over May, indicating weak European copper consumption during a period of heightened economic uncertainty. And with manufacturing in the region still reeling from the effect of Covid-19 on supply chains, market participants are pessimistic that improvements will come this year. Total LME stocks in Ro...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange tumbled at the close of trading on Thursday May 21, losing some 3.6% in an afternoon downturn, while a fall in US unemployment claims failed to boost market sentiment.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $1,983.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $2,048 per tonne, while turnover was strong at more than 9...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Thursday May 21 with active trading driven by improving steel production and demand, despite renewed concerns over supplies from Brazil. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.26 per tonne, up $1.31 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $101.63 per tonne, up $2.09 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Q...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat product prices outperformed our expectations over the past month. In an attempt to lend the market confidence that sheet prices had reached a floor, US steel mills announced price increases of $50-60 per ton at the end of April. In the announcement, mills cited the expectation of higher scrap prices, tight domestic s...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Activity in China has picked up, and although the impact from the Covid-19 did not spare the country with its gross domestic product contracting at its largest rate since recording began in the 1990s, the latest crude steel output figures for April from China's National Bureau of Statistics show a strong recovery, albeit sti...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have moved down slightly due to poor trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 21.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?409.17 ($448.48) per tonne on Thursday, down by ?,?0.83 per tonne from ?,?410 per tonne on Wednesday.Thursday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices...Read More

Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap bookings as expected on Thursday May 21, but prices rapidly increased because of the improving demand, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a US cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $254.50 per tonne, 7,000 tonnes of shredded at $257.50 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $262.50 per tonne cfr....Read More

The United States is uniquely positioned to keep a leadership role in energy independence while it transitions to a low-carbon footprint, the chief executive officer of Enertopia Corp (ENRT) has said.According to Robert McAllister, the large landmass of the United States is ideal for wind-power generation and for high solar isolation, a requirement for peak solar photovoltaics production.These geo...Read More

A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) in the first quarter, as reported by parent company Votorantim on Thursday May 21. In brief The Covid-19 pandemic affected aluminium demand in Brazil, particularly from the transportation and construction sectors, during the first quarter, CBA said. Sales volumes from the downst...Read More

The LME three-month zinc price fell 1.8% on moderately high turnover in morning trading on Thursday May 21, while the fresh cancelation of 21,775 tonnes in LME copper kept the red metal's outright price elevated. Zinc's underlying price on the London Metal Exchange was recently seen at $2,006.50 per tonne on Thursday morning, falling from an intra-morning high of $2,048 per tonne, while turnover w...Read More

Global refined zinc production exceeded consumption by 240,000 tonnes in January-March this year in large part due to a rise in Chinese smelting of the metal, the International Lead & Zinc Study Group said in its latest market roundup. Refined zinc production the world over rose to 3.314 million tonnes in the first quarter, up from 3.212 million in the same period of 2019. Meanwhile, usage for the...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected the LME copper and lead cash and 3 month settlement ? per tonne prices, which were published incorrectly on Monday May 18 due to an input error.The figure were previously published as:Copper LME Cash ? per tonne: ?4,195.482Copper LME 3 Months Settlement ? per tonne: ?4,218.375Lead LME Cash Settlement ? per tonne: ?1,301.918Lead LME 3 Months Settlement ? per tonne:...Read More

The recently opened anti-dumping investigation into Turkish exports of hot-rolled coil to the EU fails to comply with the principles of the Customs Union and Free Trade Agreements between Turkey and the European Commission (EC), the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 21.The EC started an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled coil originatin...Read More

Turkish billet prices increased over the past week in line with rising prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, sources said on Thursday May 21.Suppliers in the CIS region managed to secure some billet export sales to China, which have supported prices over the past week.Therefore, offers...Read More

CIS exporters of steel billet have continued to enjoy strong demand from China over the week to Thursday May 21. Suppliers have been concentrating most of their efforts on this market recently because Chinese customers have been paying the highest prices.Around 40,000 tonnes of Ukraine-origin billet scheduled for shipment in July were reported sold to China at $393 per tonne cfr, equivalent to $36...Read More

Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices remained firm over the past week, despite some lower-priced rebar sales to Asia, sources said on Thursday May 21.Two steel mills were heard to have sold a combined total of 100,000 tonnes of rebar at $390 per tonne fob on an actual-weight basis to Hong Kong. Turkish steel mills, however, were trying to keep their prices firm...Read More

ArcelorMittal has temporarily stopped operations at its steel mill in Bosnia while Sweden's SSAB has decided to extend layoffs at some of its productions assets in the week to Thursday May 21.The decisions were made in a response to a drastic decline in steel demand across Europe due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.ArcelorMittalArcelorMittal decided to stop production at its Zenica plant f...Read More

Demand for imported steel billet and domestic steel reinforcing bar (rebar) in Egypt remained weak in the seven days to Thursday May 21, but billet import prices increased because of higher offers, sources told Fastmarkets.No improvement in demand is expected any time soon, sources said, due to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the Covid-19 pandemic.In addition, Egypt's president, Abdel F...Read More

Trading activity in the Bangladesh import ferrous scrap market has ground to a halt in a week that has featured the continued Ramadan lull and the emergence of category-2 Cyclone Amphan over the country, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 21."No deals have been done recently. The market is very quiet because we are going into a long holiday for the eid festival," one South Asian...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Thursday May 21 with active trading driven by improving steel production and demand, despite renewed concerns over supplies from Brazil. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $98.26 per tonne, up $1.31 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $101.63 per tonne, up $2.09 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Q...Read More