Base metals prices were down across the board on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange this morning, Wednesday October 20, with relatively high volume being seen on the LME.After the upward spikes in LME cash prices, ahead of the October prime data, it is perhaps not surprising a reality check is underway......but once again let us see how far the pullback goes.Broader marke...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea ferrous scrap cargoes scheduled for shipment in December, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 32,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap at $502 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus-grade scrap at $522 per tonne cfr.Pre...Read More
Steel rebar producers in Egypt increased their prices by around E ?400-600 ($25-38) per tonne with effect from Wednesday October 20, Fastmarkets has heard.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, was now offering rebar at E ?15,000 ($952) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT, rising from the previous E ?14,600 per tonne. The price was previously unchanged since May 17.Rebar producers in Egypt...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's base metals production results for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Tuesday October 19. Vale's nickel production declined in the third quarter from the prior quarter due to a labor disruption at its Sudbury mine in Canada, which halted operations for 70 days, of which 40 days were in third quarter, with an impact of 11,0...Read More
Taiwan's import prices for containers of steel scrap were expected to continue to rise because of a huge premium for bulk import prices over material arriving in containers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.?EUR?Taiwanese buyers continue to book containerized cargoes?EUR?Chinese market muted by wide bid-offer gaps?EUR?China's ferrous scrap import volumes down by 49% month on...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Alex Cook...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 20 that are worth another look.Workers at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's plant in Ghent, Belgium, might go on strike from Thursday next week in a dispute over salaries, Fastmarkets heard on October 20.Trafigura has been drawing...Read More
Japanese local and export buyers have been locked in a fight for steel scrap in the week to Wednesday October 20, pushing up prices across the board, sources told Fastmarkets.Major electric arc furnace (EAF) mill Tokyo Steel on Wednesday announced it would raise its scrap buy prices by ?500-1,000 ($4.38-8.75) per tonne at some of its works starting Thursday October 21. This marks the second price...Read More
Suppliers in China's domestic spot ferro-chrome market lowered their offer prices during the week to Tuesday October 19, while trading remained light due to very limited supply, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' assessment of ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China fell by 4.8% to 10,700-11,300 yuan ($1,673-1,767) per tonne on Tuesday, from 11,100-12,000 yuan per tonne one week earlier.Th...Read More
A summary of BHP's operational review for iron ore and metallurgical coal for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, as released on Tuesday October 19.In brief Total production of iron ore for the three months ended September 30 was 63.3 million tonnes (70.6 million tonnes on 100 % basis), down by 4% year on year.Iron ore production was down by 3% quarter on quarter over July-September. The dip in...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's iron ore results for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its latest production and sales report published on Tuesday October 19.In brief?EUR? Vale produced 89.4 million tonnes of iron ore fines in July-September, up by 0.8% year on year and 18.1% higher compared with April-June. ?EUR? It attributed the increases to high production at its Serra Norte and S11D...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies in...Read More
Wire rod prices in the United States rose by $40 per short ton ($2.00 per cwt) in October, to hit record highs for domestic and imported low-carbon wire rod, high-carbon wire rod and cold-heading quality wire rod.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was $59.50-62.50 per hundredweight ($1,190-1.250 per short ton) on Tuesday October 19, up 3...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices remained relatively stable on Wednesday October 20 with no trading activity. In China, market participants were cautious after the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) held meetings on thermal coal price controls on Tuesday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $612.12 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $563.37 per tonn...Read More
Australia-based global miner BHP has raised its offer in a bidding war to acquire prospective Canadian nickel producer Noront Resources.The Toronto-based junior miner recommended to its shareholders in July that they accept BHP's offer, worth at that time C$325 million ($263 million), instead of a competing offer from another Australian miner, Wyloo Metals.Wyloo counteroffered, and BHP raised its...Read More
Domestic and imported steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States were sideways on Wednesday October 20, but sources noted growing uncertainty around what the rest of the quarter may look like.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on October 20, unchanged since August 11 at its highest since late 2008. Notably...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea ferrous scrap cargoes scheduled for shipment in December, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 32,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap at $502 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus-grade scrap at $522 per tonne cfr.Pre...Read More
Vietnam's Hoa Phat Steel is close to obtaining certification from the United Kingdom Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (Cares), which would allow it to sell its rebar to the key markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Obtaining the certification means that a mill is able to produce construction steel to certain standards. For instance, in Singapore, reba...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe moved downward in the week to Wednesday October 20, due to recent imports and falling feedstock costs, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,230-1,275 ($1,432-1,484) per tonne on October 20, down from ?,?1,275-1,330 per tonne on October 13.Domestic hollow se...Read More
Japanese local and export buyers have been locked in a fight for steel scrap in the week to Wednesday October 20, pushing up prices across the board, sources told Fastmarkets.Major electric arc furnace (EAF) mill Tokyo Steel on Wednesday announced it would raise its scrap buy prices by ?500-1,000 ($4.38-8.75) per tonne at some of its works starting Thursday October 21. This marks the second price...Read More