China's domestic rebar prices fell sharply on Friday October 22 following a drop in the futures market, but the lower prices stimulated an increase in buying interest.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,300-5,350 yuan ($829-837) per tonne, down by 330 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,240-5,270 yuan per tonne, down by 360-380 yuan per tonneThe January rebar futures contra...Read More
London Metal Exchange base metals prices were mostly lower at the 5pm close on October 22, with investors looking to book profits from peaks reached earlier in the week. Aluminium's three-month price rolled back most of the gains made so far this month, with its closing price on Friday at 5pm, at $2,868 per tonne, being the lowest since October 6, with more than 37,000 lots traded. The metal...Read More
Coated steel coil prices in Turkey jumped again during the week to Friday October 22 and some producers are no longer accepting new orders, sources told Fastmarkets.Some coated coil producers have stopped accepting orders because of the sharp rise in the price of hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey was $900-930 pe...Read More
The collapse of the iron ore market and market turbulence over Chinese property developer Evergrande Group are adding to the economic woes caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 for much of this year.It is hard to find bright sparks in the months ahead for the ferrous supply chain, which has been buffeted repeatedly in a short span of few months, starting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's comment...Read More
Unites States steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs plans to increase its share of the US domestic prime scrap market amid increasing demand and the failure of the country's own manufacturing supply to keep up, the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer said.Lourenco Goncalves told a conference call for the Cleveland, Ohio-based company's third quarter earnings that the company didn't hav...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
Steel wire rod prices in Poland have remained broadly unchanged over the past seven days, but the market was expected to move up in November amid high costs for producers, source told Fastmarkets on Friday October 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, remained at 3,800-3,900 zloty ($962-987) per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the...Read More
European trade groups warned about the potentially "catastrophic impact" of a Chinese magnesium supply shortage on metals producers in the region, calling on the European Commission and national governments to take immediate action to mitigate the risks to industry.The groups - European Aluminium, European steel association Eurofer, European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, European metals a...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the global markets continued to strengthen in the week ended Friday October 22 amid firm demand and tight supply. Turkish steel mills continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea scrap cargoes, while buyers in Southeast Asia had to raise their bids because of limited supply.?EUR?Turkish steel mills end the week with five deep-sea cargo trades, prices up?EUR?Tight supply in t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly rebounded during morning trading on Friday October 22, with aluminium the lone metal in negative territory.Aluminium's volumes were by far the highest this morning, with over 11,500 lots traded by 9.30am London time, compared with just 5,145 lots of copper. Despite closing down by 5% on Thursday, the LME three-month aluminium price continued t...Read More
Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Ltd (JSHL) has commissioned a new strip mill as part of the first phase of the latest brownfield expansion at its Specialty Products Division (SPD), the company said on Wednesday October 20.The new 26,000-tonnes-per-year precision strip mill takes JSHL's capacity to 48,000 tpy from 22,000 tpy previously, the company said.The capacity expansion further strengthens the compa...Read More
Mexico's Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) is considering seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its Minera del Norte thermal coal subsidiary, after a Mexican commission canceled state supply contracts, the company said on Thursday October 21.Minera del Norte - also known as Minosa - is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican steelmaker and has the capacity to produce 6.6 million tonnes per...Read More
Domestic prices for steel rebar in Poland were largely unchanged over the past week, but local mills would be looking for higher prices starting next week because of increased costs, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 22.Trading activity in the local market started to pick up this week, sources said."We see an increasing level of inquiries. The market is waking up," a local mill said.The local mi...Read More
Looming backwardations on London Metal Exchange spreads sparked a sell-off of P1020 aluminium in Europe on Thursday October 21, with participants concerned about carrying metal into 2022.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam at $250-270 per tonne on Thursday, down from $285-300 per tonne on Wednesday October 20. The decrease marks the assessment's lowest range sin...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
Seaborne prices for low-volatility pulverized coal injection material (PCI) in both the fob and cfr markets in China have increased because of persistently tight supply, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 22.A trade was finally heard in the fob spot market on Friday. And China's National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) held a meeting during the morning to work out plans to tackle high coal...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Dalila Ouerghi...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the global markets continued to strengthen in the week ended Friday October 22 amid firm demand and tight supply. Turkish steel mills continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea scrap cargoes, while buyers in Southeast Asia had to raise their bids because of limited supply.?EUR?Turkish steel mills end the week with five deep-sea cargo trades, prices up?EUR?Tight supply in t...Read More
Large volumes of steel billet position cargoes held by traders have been offered at lower prices to buyers in Southeast Asia in recent days amid China's continued price decline, sources told Fastmarkets.Closures at Chinese rerolling mills amid power rationing and environmental measures, together with spiraling ferrous futures markets, have badly damaged steel billet demand in the country this week...Read More