The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange recouped the previous day's losses during morning trading on Friday March 13, while zinc futures also made a 3.6% recovery to push back above nearby resistance levels. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,545 per tonne, with trading volumes over the morning exceeding 8,300 lots, second to copper's 15,300 lots exchanged as...Read More

Hot band prices in the United States took a drop on Friday March 13, with market participants unsure about how to navigate the potential impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.25 per hundredweight ($565 per short ton) on Friday March 13, down by 2.9% from $29.09 per cwt the day before and down 6.5% fro...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized sheet in the United States weakened after the spread of coronavirus and financial-system volatility convinced market participants that inventory buys will dry up until American businesses can better measure health and economic outcomes.Some sources said they spent more time this week assessing the impact of the broader economic events on their companies than t...Read More

The hot-rolled coil market in Northern European weakened slightly on Friday March 13 on negative sentiment due to uncertainty relating to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?481.18 ($540.29) per tonne on Friday March 13, down by ?,?1.32 per tonne from ?,?482.50 per tonne on M...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely unchanged this week on flat scrap values and stable demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday, March 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, ex-works Poland, was unchanged at 1,900-1,930 zloty ($502-520) per tonne on Friday March 13.The assessment includes deals and offers heard in the market at 1,930-1...Read More

Trading activity in the CIS export billet market remained quiet in the week ended Friday March 13 despite the fact that most CIS mills have reduced their offer prices.Offers from Russia and Ukraine were heard mainly within the range of $390-395 per tonne fob Black Sea, down by $5 per tonne week on week. One Russian producer even offered billet as low as $380 per tonne fob Black Sea, but the offer...Read More

Indian hot-rolled coil (HRC) producers have dropped their export prices of the commodity after the Indian rupee continued to weaken against the dollar. Fastmarkets' price of steel HRC export, fob main port India fell to $465-470 per tonne on Friday March 13, a drop of $15 per tonne or 3.1% from last week's assessment of $480-485 per tonne fob...Read More

Global trade is being slowed down by the sluggish recovery of China's logistics sector, with a build-up of containers at the country's ports creating problems around the world.Subsequent to the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus that began in China's Wuhan province, not all of the country's workers have returned to their jobs after the extended break for the lunar new year holiday. This has slo...Read More

German steelmakers have settled their monthly contracts for ferrous scrap in March with a month-on-month increase of ?,?10-15 ($11-17) per tonne, following the rise in the international market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.The steelmakers, however, had wanted lower prices for scrap due to the fall in long steel demand that has resulted from the uncertainties related to the 2019-nCoV...Read More

The pig iron export price from the Commonwealth of Independent States has rolled back under pressure from the bearish mood caused by the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $320-327 per tonne on March 12, down from $329-340 per tonne a week earlier."Crashed oil pric...Read More

The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was steady for a fifth consecutive week, but there may be losses in the near term as other grade spot prices delivered to British steelmakers dropped after monthly settlements were agreed up on February, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant,...Read More

Activity in the Italian ferrous scrap market has almost vanished due to the country's lockdown to deal with the outbreak of 2019-nCoV coronavirus, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.On March 11, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree tightening the country's lockdown from the conditions set out in a previous decree on March 9. While there were no explicit measures to restri...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap imported into India moved down further this week, with market conditions continuing to worsen, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $297.50 per tonne on Friday, down from $302.54 per tonne one week earlier.There were no deals heard for shredded material this week, but offer...Read More

The Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases because they managed to agree lower prices, sources said on Friday March 13.A steel producer in the Izmir region booked a US cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per tonne, 16,000 tonnes of shredded at $280 per tonne and 2,000 tonnes of bonus at $285 per tonne cfr late...Read More

The main coking coal exports hub of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) in Queensland, Australia, declared force majeure after vessel loading operations were suspended earlier this week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $162.13 per tonne, up $2.57 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.68 per tonne, up $1.82 per...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices moved higher on Friday March 13 as portside iron ore stocks fell, steel and steelmaking raw materials futures rose, China's central bank provided another boost to the economy and global equities market found a footing following a rout earlier this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.71 per tonne, up $0.96 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr...Read More

Copper recorded the largest percentage increase in stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses in the week ending Friday March 13, with inventories soaring by 10% week on week. Copper stocks rose for about the fifth consecutive week, with total inventories at 380,005 tonnes, up from 345,126 tonnes last week. China Reserve Shanghai Dachang Branch warehouse in Shanghai recorded the large...Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJIA) closed down by 10% on Thursday March 12, taking the loss from the February high to 28.3%, while the London Metal Exchange three-month base metals at their recent lows have been down by an average of 16% - ranged between 10.4% for aluminium and 22.2% for zinc.DJIA futures were up by 1.6% in pre-market trading at 6.45am on Friday morning, although most A...Read More

The Chinese alumina price edged downward for the first time in four weeks on Thursday March 12, following further declines in aluminium futures over the past week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China slipped to 2,470-2,570 yuan ($353-367) per tonne on Thursday, down by 50-70 yuan per tonne from 2,540-2,620 yuan per tonne a week earlier.The latest drop fol...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down across the board at the close of morning trading on Friday March 13, with the complex tracking pronounced weakness in broader markets overnight and this morning. Heightened fear among investors that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) outbreak will wipe out economic growth led to further steep losses in the US stock market overnight, with...Read More