The widespread adoption of steel price indices used for risk management will depend on educating steel industry stakeholders on the benefits and best practices of hedging while also overcoming the challenges of the fragmented nature of the steel markets, a panel of experts said at the London Metal Exchange's Ferrous Focus Session on Thursday October 31.Educating steel industry stakeholders, in par...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 31 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has be...Read More

The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30 on lackluster China PMI, shrugging off the interest rate cut announced by the United States' Federal Reserve the day before.The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30...Read More

A spike in nickel prices as a result of a flip-flop decision in Indonesia regarding an ore export ban of the alloying metal failed to offer any support to China's stainless steel market over the past week.Reports of an immediate commencement of the nickel ore export ban in Indonesia had emerged on Monday October 28, but a day later, Indonesian officials said that the prohibition will only come eff...Read More

A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has been scheduled for November 14, a United Steelworkers (USW) union spokesperson told Fastmarkets."We are scheduled to meet on November 14," Manuel Armenta, a sub-district director for USW told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30."The strike is going on, people are on the picket lines," Armenta added, referring to the ongoing picke...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during the morning trading session on Thursday October 31 despite the US Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to cut interest rates for a third consecutive time.As expected, the US central bank lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 1.5-1.75% at the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) October...Read More

Prices for imported flat steel products have declined further or remained low over the past two weeks, and buyers in the United States have shown renewed interest in booking foreign products for the first time since domestic prices began falling this year, sources said. The biggest reason for such sudden interests in offshore products is the expectation that domestic flat-rolled mills may be able...Read More

(IDEX Online) - While the price of round diamonds was mostly stable in October, especially for the smaller goods, there was some positive movement in the 0.3 to 0.5 carat rounds. Prices of goods sized 2 carats and above saw more movement with a number of categories experiencing a decline. There was more movement in the prices of fancy goods, especially from 0.70 carats and up. Certain categor...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will make a maintenance stoppage at its Ara??ariguama unit, located in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, during December, which market participants believe could help boost the domestic rebar price.The plant has capacity to produce 950,000 tonne per year (tpy) of crude steel, and has a 600,000-tpy rolling capacity, Gerdau said. The company expects the maintenance st...Read More

CIS billet producers failed to pass on higher prices to customers this week as demand in the major destinations was weak, Fastmarkets learned on Thursday October 31.CIS-origin billet was offered within the range of $380-385 per tonne fob Black Sea. The material was mainly heard available from Russian mills, particularly Novorosmetal and Abinsk Electric Steel mill, which can ship material quickly a...Read More

Export prices of rebar from Turkey have decreased over the past week, because of weak demand and deals heard at low prices, sources said on Thursday October 31. The country's mills are offering rebar for export at $410-430 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, compared with last week's $410-420 per tonne. Deals were heard to Africa and several other destinations at $409-410 per tonne...Read More

Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday October 31, with market participants contemplating a possible change in direction in the coming weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.With no new cargoes booked market participants were uncertain of whether the next bookings would be at similar or even higher prices.One market participant said that demand for scrap was...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices weakened on Thursday October 31 amid losses in the derivatives markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.97 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.79 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.63 per tonne, down $0.97 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $7...Read More

The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, tender, 63,408 tonnes of 63.34% Fe Lump Ore Carajas, traded at the December average of Fastmarkets' index...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was largely steady on Thursday October 31, with participants awaiting the conclusion of a tender in the fob Australia premium segment to gauge the direction of prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $143.45 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $161.53 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.84 per...Read More

Chinese steelmakers appear to be divided on the approach to take with exports, with a major mill issuing a significantly lower offer than the rest of its peers on Thursday October 31, though that still failed to stimulate sales.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($496-499) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, unchangedMajor Chinese steelmakers produc...Read More

China's cobalt sulfate price fell in the mid-week pricing session on Wednesday October 30 after coming under pressure from lackluster demand amid an underperformance in the country's electric vehicle (EV) market.Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China at 52,000-55,000 yuan ($7,365-7,790) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne - or 6.1% - from...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 30.Key drivers Low demand has resulted in only very limited activity in the ferro-titanium and scrap markets.Some liquidity was reported at lower prices than the previous range of $4.40-4.60 per kg as some market participants attempted to clear...Read More

China produced 22.49 million tonnes of crude stainless steel in the first nine months of 2019, according to data released by the China Stainless Steel Council on Thursday October 31. This is a 10.5% increase compared with the output over the same period of last year, which it said had been adjusted after verification by...Read More

The worst unrest in Chile in a generation threatens to overturn assumptions about one of South America's most stable countries and the world's leading copper producer.All it took was a US4 ? rise in the peak hour fares on the Santiago metro on Oct. 6. But by Oct. 18, a week of mass fare-jumping by high school and university students had descended into widespread vandalism and pitched battles with...Read More