A spike in ammunition sales amid concerns over civil unrest in the United States in the wake of the death of George Floyd has boosted lead scrap prices, with increased demand for firearms putting domestic supplies under pressure.A lead and zinc scrap dealer told Fastmarkets that physical demand for lead scrap was being underpinned by robust buying activity from ammunition manufactures amid a rise...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States diverged this week, with the 300-series grades inching higher - supported by rising nickel prices - while the 400-series grades lost ground."I would call this market stable. Supply and demand appear to be in balance, and the London Metal Exchange is supporting pricing for the 300 stainless grades despite the mills operating at less than stellar cap...Read More
The publication of Fastmarkets' UK aluminium scrap price assessments for August 12 will be delayed because of a technical issue. Fastmarkets' pricing database, MInD, will be updated later in the day at around 10:45pm London time to reflect the price changes for the following prices: MB-AL-0011 Aluminium scrap commercial pure cuttings, delivered consumer UK, ?/tonne August 5 price: ?750-800...Read More
Tin premiums around the world were unchanged over the past fortnight, with a downtrend in LME futures prices failing to kickstart purchases from consumers, Fastmarkets heard. European and Shanghai tin premiums flat LME price drops to $17,660 per tonne from one-year highs in July Spread tightness eases in the tin cash/three-month chart Stagnant demand leaves European tin premiums steady In Europe...Read More
Premiums for grade A copper cathodes in Asia declined in the week ended Tuesday August 11, with buying activity diminished against reduced demand, and a closed import arbitrage window similarly hampering business, while seasonal maintenance closures across Europe kept premiums steady.Asian market participants expect weaker demand Business still hand-to-mouth across Taiwan, Vietnam European sellers...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued to hover around $23 per hundredweight ($460 per short ton) this week, while demand outlook remained unclear, according to sourcesFastmarkets' daily hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $22.96 per cwt ($459.20 per ton) on Wednesday August 12, down 0.5% from $23.08 per cwt on Tuesday August 11, but up 0.2% from $22.91 per...Read More
Consumption of steel end-products by Turkey increased by 8.7% year-on-year in January-June 2020, while crude steel production decreased by 16.3% compared with the first six months of 2019, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said on Tuesday August 11.The TCUD believed that the decline in production was a consequence of exports decreasing as a result of quota regimes in external markets...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Egypt's biggest steelmaking group, Ezz Steel, for the period from January 1 to March 31, 2020.In briefEarnings were down because "the negative effect of Covid-19 damped the positive volume trend [seen by Ezz Steel] at the beginning of the first quarter of 2020... Export quantities suffered the most," according to Paul Chekaiban, chairman and managing director...Read More
Prices for domestic cold-rolled in Europe were largely unchanged in the week to Wednesday August 12 due to the seasonal summer slowdown, although sources believe some mills will push offers up, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessmentfor steel cold-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?500-510 ($588-600) per tonne on August 12, compared with ?,?490-510 per tonne a week ea...Read More
The price of steel H-beams in Europe was unchanged this week amid quiet summer market activity, but market participants said they expect increases in the coming weeks because of rising raw material costs and improving demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 12. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?530-560 ($623-658) per...Read More
The Iranian export billet and slab market was under pressure from lower export demand, particularly in Asia, as well as domestic demand in the week ended Wednesday August 12, sources said.Demand in the Asian region, which has been largely limited to China in recent months, decreased also due to the weakening futures market.The most-traded October rebar futures contract closed at 3,805 yuan per ton...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices remain relatively flat on Wednesday August 12 amid a quiet seaborne spot market until one transaction was heard later in the evening, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.42 per tonne, down $0.09 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.86 per tonne, up $0.02 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $87.15 p...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices showed slight upticks on Wednesday August 12 with firm support from a healthy appetite for the raw material among steelmakers, according to trade sources.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.51 per tonne, up by $0.42 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.00 per tonne, up by $0.55 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:...Read More
ABN Amro will end its financing activities of commodity clients globally, it said on Wednesday August 12.The Dutch bank will stop all non-European corporate financing, which accounts for around 45% of its current client loan portfolio, and will wind down units in the United States, Asia, Australia and Brazil, in a process expected to take around three to four years."The Trade & Commodity Finance a...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept their offers high on Wednesday August 12 despite a weakening of domestic prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,040-4,050 yuan ($581-583) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai lowered their offers slightly due to HRC futures having a weak start to the day. But trading activity picked up after HRC futures trended upward over the rest of the...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's latest data shows a rise of 109,968 tonnes of off-warrant stock available outside of the LME network, including nearly 70,000 tonnes more aluminium. The data, released on August 10, reports on the stock level as of the end of June. The data is released with a one-month delay. As of the end of June, there was a total of 1,349,524 tonnes of metal recorded by the LME as b...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price made the biggest downward move during morning trading on Wednesday August 12, with selling pressure emerging overnight and in Asian trading sessions, while a fresh inflow of 15,225 tonnes pushed LME zinc lower.LME nickel's outright price was recently at $14,160 per tonne, falling by more than 1.1% from Tuesday's closing price of $14,350 per tonne,...Read More
The Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange plans to launch electronic trading contracts for cobalt sulfate in September, to align with the development of the electric vehicle (EV) sector in China, a spokeswoman for the exchange told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 12. Cobalt sulfate is a key chemical used in the production of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) lithium-ion batteries that are used in EVs, and Chi...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade 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 the price of cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, at $15.05-15.30 per lb on Wednesday...Read More