Asian import scrap prices continued to rise in the week to Friday August 21 amid solid demand in Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea, but buyers in Turkey remained away from the market while the Indian market softened.Turkish mills face weak lira, low long-steel demand, and want lower scrap pricesUS export markets quiet with lack of recent sales from East CoastVietnamese import scrap prices benefit fr...Read More
Brazil's pig iron export market was quiet during the week to Friday August 21, but suppliers remain optimistic amid full order books, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets assessed the price of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil at $343-348 per tonne on Friday, up from $340 per tonne one week earlier.Almost no...Read More
The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK edged up this week on higher nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap, 18/8 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?840-850 ($1,104-1,117) per tonne on Friday, up by ?10-20 per tonne from ?820-840 per tonne a week ago.The daily official three-month nick...Read More
Turkish steel producers have ended a second consecutive working week with no deep-sea scrap bookings due to poor demand for their long steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21.The most recent deep-sea bookings were heard on August 7 for United States- and Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $285 per tonne cfr.Since then, the Turkish mills have paused their scrap purchases as d...Read More
The price of containerized ferrous scrap imports into India was little changed this week, ending its six-week rally, following other global markets' pause in buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21. Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $309.47 per tonne on Friday, just 17 cents down from $309.64 per tonne one week pre...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices edged up on Friday August 21, with ex-China demand picking up, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.71 per tonne, up $0.54 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $114.63 per tonne, up $0.03 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $85.19 per tonne, up $0.17 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $98.29 per tonne,...Read More
Iron ore fines prices were lower across the board on Friday August 21 after news Tokyo Steel will resume exports to China delivered a blow to market expectations for domestic steel production and demand for iron ore. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.38 per tonne, down $1.94 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $126.71 per tonne, down $1.88 per tonne&nbs...Read More
Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco), China's second-largest stainless steel producer, suspended the trading of its stock on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Friday August 21 following an announcement on Thursday evening that there will be a change in its controlling shareholder.Market participants expect the Baowu Steel Group, the country's largest producer of carbon steel, to replace Shanxi province's Sta...Read More
The cobalt market has consolidated recent gains and sellers are now looking at an anticipated return of consumer demand in Europe to stoke further price increases, but not all market participants are certain this will materialize. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam stood at $15.25-15.50 per lb on Friday August 21, unchanged from the previous day. The sta...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade 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 assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 15.25-15.50 on Friday...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
Government incentives will help solidify a future shift to cleaner energy, in addition to buffering electric vehicles (EVs) from the trend of declining sales faced by the wider automotive sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, attendees heard during a Fastmarkets webinar this week. "The question with incentives is always whether they just pull sales forward, and to some extent, we do feel like that...Read More
The Baowu Steel Group, China's largest steelmaker, is now the controlling shareholder of the Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group (Tisco), the country's second-largest producer of stainless steel, the latter has announced.Shanxi province's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission, which owned all of Tisco's shares, transferred 51%...Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported to South Korea moved upward over the past week following a rise in demand from steelmakers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 21.Most buyers had been out of the market over the past few weeks, largely due to holidays in Japan and high offer prices from the United States West Coast.But the market gained ground in recent days following the increase in J...Read More
Strong demand for ferrous scrap imports in the key Southeast Asian market of Vietnam has resulted in prices in the country catching up with those in Bangladesh, a major buyer in South Asia.Keen interest was reported for deep-sea bulk cargoes of heavy melting scrap from the United States West Coast this week, and at least four cargoes have been sold to Vietnam in the past two weeks - three to the s...Read More
Sellers of imported containerized scrap from the United States West Coast to Taiwan abstained from offering material over the past week because of continued bullish sentiment in the spot market.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $262-265 per tonne on Friday August 21, unchanged from a day...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 20 that are worth another look.The domestic hot-rolled coil price in Northern Europe moved up on August 20, following producers' bullish pricing policy, sources told Fastmarkets.China's domestic stainless steel prices rose for an eighth...Read More
The three-month price of copper on the London Metal Exchange was the underperformer at the close of trading on Thursday August 20, with the price holding above nearby support despite losing more than 1.2% over the day.Meanwhile, zinc futures struggled to hold ground above the $2,500-per-tonne threshold.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $6,601.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, falling...Read More
The LME three-month copper price was the biggest faller in morning trading on Thursday August 20, dropping by 1.7% against a slight uptick in the US dollar index, while a fresh cancellation supported the nickel price.Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange was recently trading at $6,575.50 per tonne on Thursday morning, wiping out gains made on Wednesday after closing at its highest l...Read More