The CIS export billet market was under pressure from lower bids from foreign customers early this week, Fastmarkets has heard, and trading activity on Tuesday August 18 was limited.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $397 per tonne on August 18, down by $3 per tonne day on day.Customers in Turkey were ready to pay $410 per tonne cfr for material with prompt deliv...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased day on day on Tuesday August 18, with the mills pushing their offers further upward, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?424.50 ($503.41) per tonne on Tuesday, up by ?,?5.33 per tonne day on day from ?,?419.17 per tonne on Monday.The index w...Read More
Miner BHP has identified what it has termed "future-facing commodities" in which it plans to invest further, based on trends for demand growth in the medium to long term - these are copper, nickel and potash.According to the mining giant's chief executive officer, creating and securing more options in these commodities will be a priority because this will protect and grow value over the long term....Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange consolidated slightly higher during morning trading on Tuesday August 18, building on a rally at Monday's close, while tin futures remained subdued over the morning. Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $2,470.50 per tonne, climbing by 0.8% from $2,442 per tonne at yesterday's close. Turnover was moderate at just over 3,70...Read More
There are numerous crosscurrents running through the markets this morning, Tuesday August 18, with the base metals mainly firmer and gold rebounding strongly, while equity markets were mixed and the dollar continued to weaken.Broader US equity markets were weaker this morning following Monday's poor US manufacturing data and rising mortgage delinquencies, but the Nasdaq established a fresh record...Read More
The annual Asia Copper Week gathering has been canceled this year due to the global spread of Covid-19, its Chilean organizer, the Center for Copper and Mining Studies (Cesco), announced on Tuesday August 18."We regret to announce the cancellation of all Asia Copper Week hosted events during ACW2020. However, we will maintain our presence during the week by offering a series of complimentary webin...Read More
Sales volumes from flat-rolled steel distributors in Brazil grew by 19.4% in July 2020, compared with figures from the corresponding month in 2019, amid lower availability from steelmakers, distributors' association Inda said on Tuesday August 18.Domestic shipments from Inda members totaled 344,000 tonnes in July, up from 288,000 tonnes a year before. Volumes also rose from 290,500 tonnes in June,...Read More
Hot-rolled coil import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia continued to increase this week while demand was moderate, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 18.Buyers said they preferred to postpone booking because the recent price increases were too sharp and they expected some correction.Additionally, some buyers were in no rush to secure deals after bookings were made last w...Read More
Prices for steel rebar in the United Arab Emirates have continued to increase over the past week but buying was only moderate, market sources said on Tuesday August 18.Domestic rebarSince Monday, the country's biggest rebar producer has been offering the product at 1,830 dirhams ($498) per tonne ex-works for orders to be produced in September. This was up from 1,773 dirhams per tonne ex-works for...Read More
Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased in the first half of August, supported by a combination of favorable market factors, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday August 18.The revival of interest in finished long steel products among some European and Middle Eastern suppliers, reduced allocation of materials from Russian mills and the positive...Read More
The uptrend continued in the export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States during the week to Monday August 17 on higher sales to Turkey, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $475-480 per tonne on Monday, narrowing upward from $460-480 per tonne a week before.A sale of Rus...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept offering high on Tuesday August 18 based on stable domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,080-4,090 yuan ($588-590) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneOne Shanghai-based trader said the futures price gains continued to improve market sentiment in the spot market, however, the demand mainly came from speculators who w...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap markets due to weak demand for their finished long steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 18.Turkish steel mills paused their deep-sea bookings on August 7, when the price for HMS 1&2 (80:20) reached $285 per tonne cfr for US- and Baltic Sea-origin material.The poor demand for long steel was the mai...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were relatively flat across the board on Tuesday August 18 in a day of muted trading. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $103.49 per tonne, down $0.06 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.07 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $85.02 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking...Read More
Digital financing will ease a lot of strain businesses are facing on liquidity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, DBS Bank group head of trade product management Sriram Muthukrishnan told Fastmarkets in a recent interview. "Quicker and more cost-efficient financing" available to suppliers earlier in the business cycle compared with conventional post-shipment supplier financing programs is especially re...Read More
Market participants believe that the strong demand from steelmakers has prompted seaborne iron ore prices to rise sharply on Tuesday August 18, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $128.57 per tonne, up $6.63 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $127.08 per tonne, up $5.58 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $113.15 per tonn...Read More
Iron ore fines prices held steady in the physical market on active trading on Monday August 17, largely due to low mid-grade fines port inventories in China and despite a decrease in Dalian Commodity Exchange futures values, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.94 per tonne, down $0.50 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.50 pe...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices edged up further on Tuesday August 18 amid rising futures, though demand in the spot market was largely flat. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,650-3,680 yuan ($527-531) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonne Sellers in the spot market raised their prices following the gains in the futures market, but buyers did not raise their procurement rates. High temperatures...Read More
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined there is "a reasonable indication" of injury to domestic silicon metal producers from imports of silicon metal from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, allowing a trade case to proceed.The unanimous ruling, released on August 13, followed a June-30 petition to the commission by the two dominant US producers, Fe...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 transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs...Read More