Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 8.52% year on year in September amid a surge in imports and an increase in long steel demand, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said.Consumption totaled 2.20 million tonnes in September, up from 2.03 million tonnes in the corresponding month last year, the association said on Friday October 15.Growth was more pronounced for long stee...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
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
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
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
Vale's operational license at its On??a Puma nickel mine in northern Brazil has again been suspended by the state court of Par??, the Brazilian mining company said on Monday October 18.A judge revoked a previous legal injunction from October 7 that allowed the company to run On??a Puma, according to Vale, thus reinstating a suspension of its operational license issued on October 1.Par?? state...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
Seaborne coking coal prices increased slightly on Monday October 18. And the number of trucks for transporting Mongolian coal is expected to increase, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $612.56 per tonne, up by $1.46 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, up by $3.39 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $400.30 per tonne, up by $0.6...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
Iron ore prices were mostly down a bit on Monday October 18 with limited liquidity amid weak steel demand, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.32 per tonne,down $0.90 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $125.97 per tonne,down $0.53 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $94.47 per tonne, up $0.18 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines,...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have increased during the week to Monday October 18 in line with rising imported scrap values, market participants said.Turkish steelmakers have been paying higher prices for deep-sea scrap in recent weeks due to limited supply and firm demand.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) United States origin, cfr Turkey was $489.99 per tonne on Mo...Read More
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
Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will resume a quarter of its production capacity that has been restricted since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic after the federal government guaranteed power supply at lower costs, the company and the government said jointly on Wednesday October 13.That will amount to 106,000 tonnes of aluminium and result in 600 new direct and indirect jobs, they said....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
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
The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week to October 18, 2021.Read More
Manganese ore prices at Chinese ports rose markedly in the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved demand outlook and easing production headwinds in some major alloy-producing regions.The price differential between low-grade and high-grade manganese ore grew to 8.50 yuan ($1.32) per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, the widest since Fastmarkets started assessing the markets in January 201...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 applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade,...Read More
Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said onMonday October 18 ."Specifically, the investment is for developing and localizing automotive battery production, including those for battery electric vehicles, and is part of the global total of [approximately] $13.5 billion (1.5 trillion yen) set aside for investm...Read More