Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged down on Friday October 23, with market participants from China unable to purchase Australian coking coal while sources from India were in wait-and-see mode.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.25 per tonne, down $0.49 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $126.05 per tonne, down $0.73 per tonneHard coking coal, fob D...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell sharply on Friday October 23 amid high inventories at Chinese ports that signaled weak demand, according to sources. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.60 per tonne, down $4.31 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.70 per tonne, down $4.29 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $109.09 per tonne, down $2.69 pe...Read More
Deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses diverged in the week to Friday October 23, with aluminium dominating the declines and tin leading the growth side of the equation, in percentage terms.Aluminium stocks came in at 237,777 tonnes over this week, a decline of 10,188 tonnes, or 4.1%, from a week ago, with the largest outflow, of 4,392 tonnes...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters raised offers on Friday October 23 amid limited supply, while domestic price gains also boosted sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,930 yuan ($587-589) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,750-3,770 yuan per tonne, unchangedSpot prices in the domestic market gained on high futures prices in morning trad...Read More
Rebar prices in eastern China lost their upward momentum on Friday October 23 amid destocking pressure experienced by sellers. But prices in the region ended the week 30 yuan per tonne, largely due to Monday's gains. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,710-3,740 yuan ($576-561) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 3,630-3,680 yuan per tonne, unchangedhttps://www.metalbul...Read More
The London Metal Exchange base metal prices barring aluminium traded higher on Friday October 23, with the US dollar on shaky ground. US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that could be a settlement "pretty soon" on the bill which Democrats and President Donald Trump propose providing $2.2 trillion in targeted relief in what is the world's largest economy. The dollar i...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves.Read More
The United States silicon metal price reached $1.03 per lb on the high end on Thursday October 22, further surpassing domestic producers' $1 per lb cost of production and attaining its highest price since September 2019. The high end broke the psychological price barrier of $1 per tonne last week and rose for the third consecutive week in this Thursday's assessment because of recent widesprea...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday October 23.China Seaborne 37% and 44% manganese port indices both slid after market sentiment weakened further amid falls in the portside ore and futures alloy markets amid growing port inventories.Portside manganese ore prices for both grades weakened further after some ore traders slashed the...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves. Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets...Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets...Read More
Liberty Steel, part of the GFG Alliance, has restarted Adhunik Steel in India six months after it acquired the plant, the company said on Thursday October 22. The company said that it had restarted the first phase of production at Adhunik Metaliks Ltd and Zion Steel following the acquisition of the steel businesses in February 2020. The acquisition of the Indian site is a strategic investment in o...Read More
Prices for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the UK market were unchanged during the week to Friday October 23 on tight domestic supply and a pick-up in export demand to deep-sea destinations, industry sources told Fastmarkets.Scrap coming into yards was reported to be down about 40% year-on-year and there is healthy demand from British steelmakers since August because steel production has picked...Read More
A temporary freeze in copper scrap generation boosted semi fabricators' usage of refined copper in 2020, market participants said.Many fabricators had to use cathodes instead of copper scrap due to tightened supply, Mark Loveitt, president of the International Wrought Copper Council (IWCC), said during the "2020 Copper Demand Update: Copper Fabricator Industry During COVID-19" virtual workshop on...Read More
Import scrap buyers in Taiwan failed to keep prices stable in the week to Friday October 23 after the bellwether market in Turkey reported price increases, sources said.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $275-280 per tonne on Friday, widening upward by $5 per tonne from the previous day and up...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 22 that are worth another look....Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Thursday October 22, making a steady approach toward resistance at the $2,600-per-tonne threshold.Copper futures were the laggard over the day, in spite of Wednesday's upsurge.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,578.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, climbing from an intrad...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan has proposed expanding its existing copper smelter at Gresik in Indonesia by 30% and adding a precious metals refinery in place of constructing an entirely new smelter nearby. The chief executive officer of the US copper producer said this option was attractive to the government of Indonesia as an alternative to undertaking a major construction project during the Covid-19 pandemic...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 22 that are worth another look....Read More