Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 21 that are worth another look.Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will launch an initial public offering (IPO) of its mining division stock to fund a $6-billion expansion plan that will increase capacity to 108...Read More
The Chinese steel engine that powered on for a good six months after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic is finally starting to lose steam, according to market sources.Booming domestic demand and equally strong local steel prices had been the savior of steelmakers everywhere in the second and most of the third quarter of 2020, which either indirectly improved sentiment in Asia or opened arbitrage w...Read More
Base metals futures fell on the London Metal Exchange on Monday September 21, with the US markets reacting negatively to the forecast from that country's Federal Reserve bank (the Fed) that it will keep interest rates largely unchanged at low levels for the next three years.The price of zinc on the LME for delivery in three months' time closed at $2,458 per tonne at 5pm on Monday, down by 3.1% fro...Read More
Bearish supply fundamentals and a high London Metal Exchange three-month price continue to spark debate in the nickel market, but while Citi maintains that the much-lauded electric vehicle (EV) metal is its least-preferred for medium-term investment, a quick turnaround in Chinese economic recovery is providing green shoots for physical demand, analyst Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets. "We can't help...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob index jumped on Monday September 21 due to bullish sentiment in the market, with traders in China also being positive about the material's performance in the cfr market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.79 per tonne, up by $5.84 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $135.84 per tonne, up by $1.43 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
Bearish supply fundamentals and a high London Metal Exchange three-month price continue to spark debate in the nickel market, but while Citi maintains that the much-lauded electric vehicle (EV) metal is its least-preferred for medium-term investment, a quick turnaround in Chinese economic recovery is providing green shoots for physical demand, analyst Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets. "We can't help...Read More
Prices for flat steel products in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow remained firm in the seven days to Monday September 21, supported by strong export prices, sources told Fastmarkets at the start of this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled sheet, domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia, was 42,000-43,000 roubles ($554-567) per tonne including 20% value-added tax on S...Read More
New Day Aluminum is evaluating investment opportunities in the aluminium and specialty chemicals businesses in Europe, the company's chairman and chief executive officer said.During an interview on the bauxite and alumina day at Fastmarkets' International Aluminium conference, David D'Addario said that New Day has relocated chief operating officer Tom Robb to London to be in charge of the process....Read More
The United States needs to protect its entire aluminium supply chain and should introduce a national strategic stockpile of bauxite and alumina, according to the chairman and chief executive officer of New Day Aluminum. Potential disruptions to the supply chain - including due to global disasters, pandemics, wars or disruptions to producing assets - add to the need to ensure the domestic productio...Read More
New Day Aluminum has increased its production of chemical grade alumina and is gearing up to make additional investments in the specialty chemicals business, particularly in Europe, the company's chairman and chief executive officer said. New Day had already invested around $30 million in its own chemical grade alumina (CGA) business, which had traditionally been looked at as something of a "stepc...Read More
Copper's biggest squeeze in a year is ratcheting up as cathode continued to be canceled from London Metal Exchange-listed warehouses on Monday September 21.A total of 11,100 tonnes of copper has been freshly canceled, according to LME data released on Monday, showing 4,775 tonnes coming out of Bilbao and 6,325 tonnes from New Orleans sheds.The cancellations mean LME on-warrant stocks of the metal...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States rose after ferrous scrap prices strengthened and JSW Steel USA idled its Texas plate mill, supporting other mills' increases. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US climbed to $27.50 per hundredweight ($550 per short ton) on Friday September 18 from $26 per cwt on Friday September 11. The asses...Read More
European steel industry association Eurofer has filed a complaint to the European Commission (EC) seeking registration of all hot-rolled coil imports from Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 21.If the EC accepts the complaint, then imports of the material in question will have to be registered, and any anti-dumping duties could be imposed retroactively for the three months prior t...Read More
CIS exporters of rebar and wire rod continued to push up their offer prices over the past week because of reduced availability due to repairs being carried out at some facilities.Ukrainian rebar was on offer at $485 per tonne fob Black Sea, while Russian material was available at $475-480 per tonne fob, sources told Fastmarkets.Wire rod price indications from Ukraine were coming in at $5...Read More
Export prices for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were mostly stable in the week to Monday September 21, with market participants expecting prices to move in line with raw material prices.Market participants were unsure about the direction of prices because of the recent price changes in iron ore.Fastmarkets' daily index for 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao was $119....Read More
The domestic steel rebar market in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow picked up on new offers from mills, backed by good demand from the end sector, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 21. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia surged to 40,000-41,000 roubles ($528-542) per tonne on September 21, including 20%...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained out of the deep-sea scrap import markets amid firm stock levels and weak finished long steel demand, sources said on Monday September 21.The country's steelmakers have been absent from the market since September 9, when the last bookings were made at a price level of $301 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis. Some suppliers then tried to increase their offers to $...Read More
Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will launch an initial public offering (IPO) of its mining division stock to fund a $6-billion expansion plan that will increase capacity to 108 million tonnes per year (tpy) by 2033, the company said on Monday September 21.In addition to expanding the capacity of its CSN Minera????o subsidiary from 33 million tpy, mostly...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have remained largely stable over the past week amid steady import values, sources said on Monday September 21.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey, was 2,040-2,270 lira ($268-299) per tonne on Monday, unchanged week-on-week."Imported scrap prices have remained on a sideways track in the past couple of wee...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob index jumped on Monday September 21 due to bullish sentiment in the market, with traders in China also being positive about the material's performance in the cfr market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.79 per tonne, up by $5.84 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $135.84 per tonne, up by $1.43 per tonneHard coking co...Read More