Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States have continued to hold steady after neither producers nor distributors reported any impetus to offer cheaper prices or to book bigger tonnages.Buyers saw no urgency to book large inventory buys from the mills at the moment, because there is plenty of material on the ground at various service centers that can sell to each other at competitive price...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 3 that are worth another look.The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operatin...Read More
Ferrous scrap sellers in Brazil were expecting to raise their prices in new negotiations with steelmakers, with domestic consumption starting to recover and with increases seen in international prices for scrap and local prices for steel rebar, according to national ferrous scrap association Inesfa.After a lackluster first half of the year in terms of scrap demand, which led in turn to higher expo...Read More
Prices for domestic and imported merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel in the United States were again flat in July while demand was generally stable and modest gains in sales volumes were seen in some markets. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US was $33.80 per hundredweight ($676 per short ton) on Friday July 31, unchanged since...Read More
Turkish steel mills made no moves in the deep-sea scrap markets on Monday August 3 due to the Eid al-Adha religious holiday in the country.Turkey has been out of the market for the eid since Thursday of last week, when the latest known purchases were heard on the market. The holiday will...Read More
Bangladesh is one of the world's fastest-growing import markets for steel scrap. The country's rapid industrialization in recent years and its lack of natural steelmaking raw material resources mean that scrap imports - in addition to domestic material - are of high importance to the country's steelmakers.But why has 2020 been a particularly important year for the Bangladesh market? And how is Ban...Read More
Export billet prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region continued to increase in early August in line with higher offers from mills, which were supported by rising import scrap costs globally.Fresh billet offers from both Ukrainian and Russian suppliers were heard within the range of $395-400 per tonne fob Black Sea, while some producers asked for as much as $405 per tonne fo...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 US automotive industry's recovery is a tale of two trends - production and sales - and while a strong rebound in production has a more immediate impact on demand for steel, so far the bounce back has been greater in sales.This has translated into a slower rebound in steel demand, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) chief economist Timothy Gill said. "The auto market situation has certainl...Read More
Most Italian steel producers plan to stop production for summer maintenance in August, but some have changed their schedule this year and plan shorter stoppages due to demand recovering from the Covid-19-related lockdown in March-April, sources told Fastmarkets. Long steel Major steelmakers in Italy are expected to stop all operations during the second week of August for the usual summer maintenan...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 3 that are worth another look.The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operatin...Read More
Zinc concentrate treatment charges (TCs) rose for the second consecutive month in July after hitting a 19-month low in May, with spot availability increasing slightly.Fastmarkets' price assessment for zinc spot concentrate TCs, cif China was $165-185 per tonne on Friday July 31, up by $5 from $160-180 per tonne on June 26.Mining companies are beginning to recover lost production after Covid-19 pan...Read More
Amid a hot market for copper, China's smelters are jumping in on a profitable niche business dominated by traders.Eight major copper smelting and mining companies - China Gold, China Copper, Baiyin, Daye, Yantai Guoxing, Jinchuan, Minmetals and Nanguo - are lobbying for licenses to import and process complex concentrate, Fastmarkets has learned. In a race to receive final approv...Read More
The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operating on 70-90% of its usual demand strength due to the pandemic, with huge portions of previously high-demand g...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 3 that are worth another look.The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operatin...Read More
Amid a hot market for copper, China's smelters are jumping in on a profitable niche business dominated by traders.Eight major copper smelting and mining companies - China Gold, China Copper, Baiyin, Daye, Yantai Guoxing, Jinchuan, Minmetals and Nanguo - are lobbying for licenses to import and process complex concentrate, Fastmarkets has learned. In a race to receive final approv...Read More
Three-month base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were higher at the close of trading on Monday August 3, with positive manufacturing data prompting an afternoon surge in buying.Aluminium led the charge in a 2% rise at the 5pm close, against standout turnover.Aluminium's outright price closed at $1,752 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its highest closing price since February 13, while turno...Read More
Aluminium premiums in Rotterdam are on an upward trend for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of Europe, with benchmark P1020 premiums at four-month highs. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam at $90-95 per tonne on Friday July 31, up from $85-90 per tonne the week before. The midpoint of $92.50 per tonne is the highest since April 3 - the...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices remained relatively flat on Monday August 3 on a lack of transactions in the spot market, while most Chinese market participants can only stand by due to the country's stringent import restrictions on seaborne materials. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $108.36 per tonne, down $0.13 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $11...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