Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been stable, supported by a lack of competitive import offers and good order books at domestic steelmakers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 5.Market sources believed that prices would remain stable at least during the coming week, although there were risks in the market related to effects of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV cor...Read More

Turkish steel mills remained out of deep-sea markets on Thursday March 5, with no new bookings following a standoff between mills and suppliers, sources told Fastmarkets. Turkish steel mills continued to hold off on booking cargoes and sources told Fastmarkets they did not expect to hear any new deals this week. The current stalemate was because US suppliers were unwilling to drop their export pri...Read More

Leo Prichard has joined warehouse and logistics firm Istim Metals in a global operations role.He will report to Istim Metals president Chris Wibbelman and will provide support to the operations team.The move reunites Prichard with Michael Whelan, chief executive officer of Istim Metals, along with other current Istim Metals executives and former...Read More

Soci?(C)t?(C) le Nickel will halt operations at its Thio nickel mine in New Caledonia to protect the site and its employees while fresh industrial action continues to jeopardise already-embattled operations, the company said on Thursday March 5."Following a series of blockades over the past month and a half, I can confirm that all activities at Thio mine will be suspended to protect both our emplo...Read More

China Zhongwang holdings - the largest aluminium extrusion company in Asia - has announced it sold 100% equity interests of its direct wholly-owned subsidy Zhongwang Aluminum Material to Yidian Luoyang, according to a document found by Fastmarkets in Hong Kong Exchanges' website earlier in the week starting March 2.Yidian Luoyang procured the aluminium business at a consideration of 4.6 billion yu...Read More

The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday March 5, recovering losses made earlier in the week against high turnover, while nickel futures breached resistance at $12,800 per tonne. Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $2,023 per tonne, up by some 1.8% against Wednesday's closing price of $1,982 per tonne. Turnover in zinc...Read More

Broad-based government action to lower interest rates and make money available to the markets have helped underpin the financial system and confidence, and that has led to some risk-on in some sectors this morning, Thursday March 5. Following on from the United States Federal Reserve's emergency 50-basis-point rate cut on Tuesday, Wednesday saw the US House of Representatives approve an emergency...Read More

China's domestic and export prices for stainless steel dropped over the past week due to a delayed resumption of downstream industries.Some stainless steel mills have resorted to cutting production due to the weak demand after an extended Chinese New Year break as a result of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China, but market inventory levels continued to rise gradually. This weighs o...Read More

Spot prices for steel reinforcing bar in the United States have softened on reports of lower transaction prices while market sentiment has shifted into more neutral territory, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US at $30.50-31.50 per hundredweight ($610-630 per short ton) on Wednesday March 4, down by 1.6% from $31-32 per cwt in the...Read More

The recent weakening of the Brazilian currency, the Real, and more expensive Chinese steel have made room for further price increases in the South American country's domestic market, producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) said on Thursday March 5.Longer-term contracts with carmakers and other industrial clients also required revision, commercial director Luis Martinez said during the compa...Read More

Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest will increase its hot-rolled coil output once it finishes testing a new rolling line at its Ilyich Iron & Steel Works at Mariupol, chief executive officer Yuriy Ryzhenkov told Fastmarkets this week. "Currently, we produce 4,500-4,800 tonnes of HRC per day [on the] new rolling line. Once we finish testing, we will increase production to 7,500-8,000 tonnes pe...Read More

The Turkish long steel export markets have been almost silent over the past week with limited demand in the major outlets, sources said on Thursday March 5.The steel mills in Turkey offered rebar for export at $435-445 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, while bids for material were heard around $430 per tonne.There were no significant export sales heard.The Turkish market was slow because ma...Read More

Turkish steel billet import prices have decreased over the past week while demand has been low, sources said on Thursday March 5.The Turkish market was slow because market participants wanted to see the outcome of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 5.This meeting comes after at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed on Fe...Read More

Iron ore prices and volumes for Brazil-origin material have been affected by heavy rainfall in the first quarter of 2020, according to iron ore and steel producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN).The company has seen lower volumes of iron ore sales from its operations in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state because of poor weather in the region. It expects operations to be back to no...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Thursday March 5, with a premium mid-volatility cargo fetching a price lower than some market participants' expectations because of concerns about the weather in Queensland, Australia.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.64, down $3.11 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $174.23, down $1.63 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DB...Read More

A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian steel and iron-ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) in the fourth-quarter and full-year 2019, as reported on Wednesday March 4.In brief CSN's slab output was significantly lower throughout 2019 while its blast furnace (BF) No3 was idled for revamp work over more than three months until late October. Steel sales volumes were down in...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Thursday March 5 amid fresh concerns about Brazilian shipment volumes in the current quarter, with the traded price for the benchmark Brazilian low-alumina brand moving up during the day.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.57 per...Read More

The United States' ferrous scrap export market has gone quiet on the East Coast amid expectations that prices will fall when the next sale to Turkey is completed.A drop in reinforcing bar prices and demand has provided enough motivation for Turkish mills to stay out of the market for now.Rebar bids in Turkey have declined to $425 per tonne fob from recent sales at $440 per tonne, one East Coa...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were largely stable on Thursday March 5 although supply continued to rise, with an optimistic outlook for demand providing some support to the market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,510-3,520 yuan ($504-506) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,300-3,310 yuan per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonneTrading...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Thursday March 5 on strengthening demand and improved sentiment in the market.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,450 yuan ($494-497) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,280-3,330 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonneSales are gradually improving this week, with a few big traders each selling 1,000 tonnes of rebar during...Read More