Zinc premiums in Singapore and Malaysia have dropped to their lowest annual level - and since Fastmarkets began assessing the market - while stocks begin to pile up in regional warehouses, trading sources said.Fastmarkets assessed the zinc SHG 99.995% ingot premium, fca Singapore at $85-95 per tonne on Tuesday August 11, down from $90-100 per tonne the week previously and $100-110 per tonne at the...Read More
The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Tuesday August 11, climbing by 3% and breaking past nearby resistance, while a continued uptick in producer inflation from the US further supported buying momentum in the afternoon.Lead's outright price on the LME closed at $1,960.50 per tonne on Tuesday afternoon, recovering from an in...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices were relatively flat on Tuesday August 11 due to a lack of transactions, but the premium mid-volatility hard coking coal price was under pressure, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.51 per tonne, down $0.05 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.84 per tonne, down $0.04 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBC...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Tuesday August 11, with supply concerns developing because the Chinese government may extend the processing time for import licenses, while the high price for mid-grade fines has pushed mills to adjust their brand usage.Fastmarkets iron ore indices(Comparisons with August 7 due to National Day holiday in Singapore on August 10.)62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.09 pe...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.?EUR? US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have moved down in line with our expectations, averaging $508 per tonne in July compared with our forecast price of $519 per tonne. While we are forecasting coil price increases in August, we have revised our expectations downward. Although steelmakers are reporting improving dema...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The price for steel scrap in China has risen recently, amid high mill operating rates and at a time of heavy rain, but it remains at a premium to hot metal, we estimate. Heavy rains in China tend to increase the moisture content of iron ore stockpiles, which can cause issues during the sintering process, and this may have en...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Trading activity at a minimumWelded pipe trading activity has been slow globally over July 2020, and while the holiday-period slowdown is partly to blame in several countries, disruptions to projects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were obviously the main cause. In this context, substrate costs were driving much of the prici...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Global markets for coated steel continue to run at different speeds with regards to pricing at the start of the summer season in the northern hemisphere. In Asia, prices continue to rise although, as we note in our Asia analysis this month, much of this is merely cost inflation with steelmakers passing on higher substrate cos...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Heavy rains in China, which can negatively affect iron ore supplies and pig iron production, and bolster demand for scrap, continued in July 2020. Although this was more an upside risk to our bearish base case one month ago, Chinese scrap prices remained strong. The firm prices gained support from the rains and from a more g...Read More
The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More
The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Tuesday August 11, climbing by 3% and breaking past nearby resistance, while a continued uptick in producer inflation from the US further supported buying momentum in the afternoon.Lead's outright price on the LME closed at $1,960.50 per tonne on Tuesday afternoon, recovering from an in...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy moved down slightly in the month to Tuesday August 11, with demand for the raw material reduced by scheduled maintenance outages during the month.Most Italian steel producers stopped production for summer maintenance work in August, but some have changed their schedules this year and planned shorter stoppages with demand recovering from the Covid-19-relat...Read More
Zinc premiums in Singapore and Malaysia have dropped to their lowest annual level - and since Fastmarkets began assessing the market - while stocks begin to pile up in regional warehouses, trading sources said.Fastmarkets assessed the zinc SHG 99.995% ingot premium, fca Singapore at $85-95 per tonne on Tuesday August 11, down from $90-100 per tonne the week previously and $100-110 per tonne at the...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was slightly lower during morning trading on Tuesday August 11, after failing to close above the psychological level of $6,400 per tonne on Monday, while the forward curve has tightened over the day. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $6,371.50 per tonne, 0.4% lower than Monday's closing price of $6,396.50 per tonne....Read More
The dip in base metals prices at the end of last week was a one-day wonder for copper and aluminium after prices for both metals rebounded yesterday, while consolidation has set in again this morning, Tuesday August 11, and the other metals continue to consolidate too.Asian-Pacific equities and pre-market western equity index futures were upbeat this morning. But gold prices are down by 0.9% at $2...Read More
Improving end-market demand has pushed the price of hot-rolled coil in the United States back above $23 per hundredweight, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $23.08 per hundredweight ($461.60 per ton) on Tuesday August 11, an increase of 0.9% from $22.87 on Monday August 10 and up 1.9% from $22.64 per cwt one...Read More
Following a consultation period, Fastmarkets will change the publication time of its Latin American steel price assessments to Friday, 2-3pm New York time, from 2-3pm London time, with effect from Friday August 14. The prices subject to the change are: MB-STE-0102 - Steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South America, $/tonne MB-STE-0133 - Steel hot-rolled coil (dry) export, fob m...Read More
The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States rose over the week to Monday August 10 in line with Russian suppliers testing the market with higher offers, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $460-480 per tonne on Monday, up from $435-445 per tonne a week before.Russian supplier...Read More
The prices paid for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates continued to increase this week, although buying was moderate, market sources said on Tuesday August 11.Domestic rebarThe country's rebar producers were still offering the product at 1,770-1,773 dirhams ($482-483) per tonne ex-works for August-production orders, Fastmarkets understandsLocal producers are due to announce new reb...Read More