Export prices for rebar and wire rod originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States increased during the week to Monday October 18 on bullish offers from mills amid increased rolling costs, Fastmarkets heard.A steady uptrend in the international scrap market since last week, as well as increasing costs of production due to surging electricity and gas prices, pushed offers for CIS-origin l...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) billet export prices increased following a couple of Black Sea cargoes reportedly sold to Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 18.A 10,000-tonne cargo from Russia was reportedly sold to Turkey at $650 per tonne fob late last week, several sources told Fastmarkets.Another billet cargo of around 20,000 tonnes was sold from Ukraine to Iskend...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil declined in the European Union in the week to Friday October 15, reflecting bearish sentiment in the market and poor demand from the automotive segment.Buyers and sellers have held back from making deals, with only limited volumes traded in Europe during the week.Steel prices have been under downward pressure from weak automotive demand, high distributor stocks...Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market remained subdued on Monday October 18, with mills and buyers both holding back from trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Sentiment remains gloomy due to the drop in demand from the automotive segment. Auto-industry output - and, consequently, steel demand - has fallen due to a shortage of semiconductors. Market sources reported that mills supply...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly rose during morning trading on Monday October 18, due to continued fears of supply tightness.Copper has hit a high of $10,452 per tonne already this morning. The three-month copper price was last at $10,292.50 per tonne, up slightly from $10,281 per tonne at Friday's close. Available stocks on the LME hit their lowest since 1974 per tonne on F...Read More
A summary of Peru-based miner Buenaventura's output and sales figures for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Friday October 15.In brief Mine production and sales volumes were down year on year due to halted operations at Uchucchacua - near the country capital city, Lima - due to a blockade by local community members and lower recovery rates at El Brocal, whi...Read More
Ford Motor will invest $316 million to build electric car components at its Halewood factory in northern England, it said.The US automotive manufacturer expects power unit production to begin in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year, it said in a release on Monday October 18.This vehicle transmission facility, which currently builds transmissions for several...Read More
Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) concluded a two-week maintenance at its hot-rolling mill, it said on Monday October 18.The equipment went through ha "full revamp and revision," which will secure its continuous operation, Ahmsa said.During the stoppage, demand for hot-rolled coil was...Read More
The total amount of lead held outside of the London Metal Exchange's warehouses fell by 77.6% over August, with most other metals also posting declines, according to the LME's latest report. After a small rise in July, the total amount of metal held outside of LME sheds was down by 150,694 tonnes to 813,916 tonnes in August. Lead had the biggest decrease - just 1,053 tonnes were left off-wa...Read More
Ford Motor will invest $316 million to build electric car components at its Halewood factory in northern England, it said.The US automotive manufacturer expects power unit production to begin in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year, it said in a release on Monday October 18.This vehicle transmission facility, which currently builds transmissions for several...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil declined in the European Union in the week to Friday October 15, reflecting bearish sentiment in the market and poor demand from the automotive segment.Buyers and sellers have held back from making deals, with only limited volumes traded in Europe during the week.Steel prices have been under downward pressure from weak automotive demand, high distributor stocks...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally up strongly this morning, Monday October 18, with energy shortages and high energy prices continuing to affect supply. The market seems to be ignoring, for now, the weaker economic data out of China.China's gross domestic product climbed 4.9% in the third quarter, down from 7.9% in the second quarter.Autom...Read More
Silicon sales upward of $5 per lb reported in Mexico and Canada indicate continued upward pressure on prices of the aluminium alloying metal in the United States, which reached another all-time high on Thursday October 14.Fastmarkets assessed the price of silicon, ddp US at $3.35-4.25 per lb on October 14, up by 18.75% from $2.90-3.50 per lb on October 7.This was the fourth week in a row...Read More
A summary of Rio Tinto's third-quarter production and shipment results, released by the company on Friday October 15. In brief Pilbara iron ore production (100% basis) in the third quarter of 2021 was 4% lower year on year due to heritage management, brownfield mine replacement tie-ins and project completion delays.Iron ore shipments from Pilbara increased by 2% year on year in the third quarter d...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China retreated on Monday October 18 with the latest economic data sparking concerns over demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai) was 5,700-5,800 yuan ($886-901) per tonne, down by 30-60 yuan per tonne.Offers for spot HRC in Shanghai slipped to lows of 5,700-5,720 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, with the most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Ex...Read More
Giuseppe Pasini, chairman of Italy's Feralpi Group, one of the leading long steel manufacturers in the European Union, spoke with Fastmarkets' Julia Bolotova about the challenges facing the European steel sector and Feralpi's strategy in light of the EU's ambitious greenhouse emissions reduction goals and global trade restrictions.Energy crisis in EuropeThe recent jump in electricity and gas price...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 18 that are worth another look.Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said on October 18.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday October 18 following the release of data by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showing a decrease in new housing starts.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,730-5,770 yuan ($890-896) per tonne, down by 30-40 yuan per tonneThe construction area of newly started houses came to 1.53 billion square meters in the first three quarters of 2021, down by 4.5%...Read More
Giuseppe Pasini, chairman of Italy's Feralpi Group, one of the leading long steel manufacturers in the European Union, spoke with Fastmarkets' Julia Bolotova about the challenges facing the European steel sector and Feralpi's strategy in light of the EU's ambitious greenhouse emissions reduction goals and global trade restrictions.Energy crisis in EuropeThe recent jump in electricity and gas price...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More