The European market for steel hot-rolled coil remained quiet on Thursday September 30, with buyers continuing to hold back from trading in expectation of more substantial price declines amid slower end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers in Europe have been waiting for the new quota period to begin on October 1before assessing the "real volumes that will enter the market," they said."The...Read More
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investors should be reducing exposure to plug-in hybrid- and fuel cell-weighted automotive supply chains and focusing instead on battery electric vehicles (BEV), according to a report by Jefferies. Ford's recent announcement of record-setting investment in electric vehicles (EVs) gives a clear signal to the market: BEVs are the future, with hybrids a...Read More
Mills in Bangladesh have dipped into the containerized import scrap market for a handful of bookings at largely stable prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 30.Bangladesh books small tonnage in containersChina import market activity thin ahead of holidayPrices in Taiwan weaken after restocking endsBangladeshSteelmakers in Bangladesh booked a handful of deals for containers of heav...Read More
The suspension of activity in the vicinity of the Xingu dam in Vale's Mariana iron ore complex has been partially revoked, allowing the associated railway to resume activities, the Brazilian company said on Thursday September 30.The Regional Labor Superintendence (SRT) had issued an order to partly reverse the suspension of operations to allow the resumption of transportation along the Vit??ria-Mi...Read More
A drop in Comex copper prices has led to a slight lowering of discounts for some copper scrap items, while brass scrap prices fell. Demand for copper scrap was said to be steady, however, with buyers not overly concerned about supply at the moment despite a recent resurgence in export demand - especially from China."There is a lot of scrap available, more than enough to get through what we need to...Read More
* Rare earth mine output quota for 2021 at 168,000 T vs 140,000 T in 2020 * Full-year smelting and separation quota at 162,000 T vs 135,000 T in2020 * Tight heavy rare earth supply to persist while Myanmar border shut-analyst (Adds analyst comment) By Tom Daly Sept 30 (Reuters) - China hiked its annual rare earth output quotas onThursday by 20% year-on-year to their highest levels on record, as it...Read More
Turkish steel mills stepped away from the deep-sea scrap import market after booking a number of cargoes earlier in the week, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 29.Steelmakers booked at least three deep-sea cargoes earlier this week. A steel mill paid $426 per tonne cfr for Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), while another steel mill paid $434 per tonne for the same material from Venezuela...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China gained more upward momentum on Wednesday September 29, with sentiment supported by reduced production as a result of power cuts and a rush to meet energy consumption targets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,730-5,780 yuan ($886-894) per tonne, up by 10-30 yuan per tonneHRC futures were more subdued during the day compared with the first two days of the w...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected the pricing assessment for steel slab, export, fob ports Iran, which was published incorrectly on Wednesday September 29 due to a reporter error.The assessment range for steel slab, export, fob ports Iran was entered incorrectly as $672-782 per tonne, and has been corrected to $672-682 per tonne.Fastmarkets' price database has been updated to reflect the change.For m...Read More
The export billet price from the Commonwealth of Independent States strengthened on Wednesday September 29 with a fresh Black Sea cargo reported sold to China.A 40,000-tonne lot of Ukraine-origin billet was sold to China at $705 per tonne cfr on Wednesday, a source on the seller side told Fastmarkets. Market participants estimate that the price nets back to $600-605 per tonne fob Black Sea, consid...Read More
Base metals prices edged down in morning trading on Wednesday September 29, with weakness in across the complex supported by the rising US Dollar Index, which pushed up to its highest level since November 2020."Copper and most of the other metals [prices fell] on Wednesday, with Asian equities suffering from a global stock sell off," Marex LME desk analyst Anna Stablum said."Wall Street [had its]...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade 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 standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
The stainless steel scrap market in the United States is largely at a standstill for now while the London Metal Exchange cash nickel price continues to lose ground, having retreated to the mid-$8-per-lb range."LME nickel is significantly off its recent highs [of] over $9 per lb, and if demand weren't still strong I think scrap prices would be even lower," one scrap dealer source said, noting...Read More
The Brazilian steel industry intends to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in order to lower the country's carbon footprint, the steelmakers' association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said on Wednesday September 29.The methods to cut emission will include developing a strong local carbon credit market and moving forward with higher scrap and charcoal usage, as well as improving...Read More
Plusmining and Simon Hunt Strategic Services (SHSS) are entering into a collaborative agreement to exchange ideas relating to the metals and mining industry to jointly undertake general and client-specific studies, the consultancy companies said in a joint statement. The new copper-focused advisory service firm, G&H Metals & Mining Consultancy, will combine Plusmining's focus on the mining sector...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves in the week to Wednesday September 29.Janie Davies in London;...Read More
China's power-cut policy has caused disruption in the battery raw materials supply chain and has brought uncertainty to the price of materials like nickel and cobalt, sources told Fastmarkets.The country started introducing power-consumption limits in some provinces in July 2021 due to power shortages following its carbon-reduction policy, and the curbs have been extended into more provinces and h...Read More
The Brazilian steel industry intends to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in order to lower the country's carbon footprint, the steelmakers' association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said on Wednesday September 29.The methods to cut emission will include developing a strong local carbon credit market and moving forward with higher scrap and charcoal usage, as well as improving...Read More
Export slab prices from Iran continued to decrease in the week to Wednesday September 29 amid weakening customer markets.Southeast Asia and China are currently the main destinations for Iran-origin slab.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index export, fob main port China, was $ 910 per tonne on September 29, unchanged day on day but down by $15 per tonne week on week.In such conditions...Read More
Base metals prices were mostly slightly up on the LME but weaker on the SHFE this morning, Thursday September 30, but overall the markets seem to be consolidating while they await big-picture developments.* China’s power rationing weighs on the official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI)* The Thursday economic agenda is busy* US dollar rallying stronglyBase metalsAfter price weakne...Read More