Slab export prices from Brazil were stable in the week ended Friday September 17 amid slow negotiations and diverging trends in raw materials costs.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was unchanged at $870-880 per tonne on Friday.The flat steel market in the United States, which is the main buyer of Brazilian slab, continued to be strong. Hot-rolled...Read More
The premium hard coking coal fob price rose on Friday September 17 due to tight supply in the Australian spot market, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.77 per tonne, up $5.01 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $491.97 per tonne, up $5.04 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $379.34 per tonne, up $20.01 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $3...Read More
Brazilian aluminium smelter Albras expects to double its output of primary foundry alloy (PFA) in 2021 over the volume in 2020, and to reach 10,000 tonnes by the end of the year, the company said on Wednesday September 15.Albras launched PFA products in 2019, and has invested in technology and workforce skill qualification to increase output in each year since then.One of the newest examples, it s...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves in the week to Friday September 17.Jessica Long, Ruby Liu and Carrie Shi in Shanghai, Fola Malomo,...Read More
South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) has agreed to buy a 4.8% stake in China's Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co for 35 billion Won ($29.72 million), the Chinese battery materials producer said on Friday September 17. In addition, two parties have signed a supply contract for six years, which entails Greatpower supplying a total of 20,000 tonnes of nickel sulfate to th...Read More
China is putting more cities in the northern region under its air pollution controls to reduce emissions during the upcoming winter.Cities in northern Hebei, northern Shanxi, eastern and southern Shandong and southern Henan will join the fight against smog, bringing the total number of cities affected to approximately 64, according to a draft policy plan released by the Ministry of Ecology and Env...Read More
The price range for light iron scrap in the UK widened upward during the week to Friday September 17, with major processors seeking to attract enough feedstock into their yards to keep their scrap-processing machines working cost-effectively, trade sources have said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?170-190 ($235...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 17.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Global scrap prices diverged in the week to Friday September 17, with the Asian and US scrap markets reporting gains, while Turkey tried to recover the previous weeks' losses in its most recent purchases.Turkish mills book handful of cargoesRecent cargoes see higher export prices on US marketVietnam prices jump on higher export ordersChinese scrap prices dip on winter pollution controlsTaiwan scra...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose above $98 per hundredweight ($1,960 per short ton) to a new record, with buyers projecting that an upcoming spate of mill shutdowns for maintenance will further tighten steel supplies.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $98.11 per cwt ($1,962.20 per ton) on Friday September 17, up by 0.57% from $97.55 per cw...Read More
China's domestic magnesium prices rose sharply in the week to Friday September 17 in response to notification of restricted operations at companies within the region that have both high energy consumption and high pollution output (Two Highs).The notice was issued by the Yulin Municipal Development and Reform Commission on September 13. The city of Yulin in Shaanxi province is the magnesium produc...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday September 17.Key drivers Silicon export prices have increased sharply, following higher domestic prices, due to limited output from silicon plants in China. The domestic silicon price rose to around 41,000 yuan ($6,358) per tonne in the second half of...Read More
London Metal Exchange base-metals prices were mostly lower at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday September 16, with a rise in the US dollar and the intended release of more metal from China's reserves weighing on the complex.The US Dollar Index reached its highest on Thursday since August 27, with an intraday high of 92.97. The index was well bid, with investors expecting a hawkish view from the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 16 that are worth another look....Read More
Turkish steel mills withdrew from the deep-sea scrap markets after booking several cargoes for October shipment, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 16.Turkish steelmakers have booked at least five deep-sea cargoes so far in the reported week from the United States, Canada and Baltic Sea. Market participants generally agree that most steelmakers in the country have replenished their sto...Read More
Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco has signed a labor agreement to last until 2024 with the No6 Benito Tapia Tapia trade union, which represents workers at its Salvador division, the company said on Wednesday September 15.The new agreement will be valid for 36 months. According to Codelco, 61% of the union's members voted in favor of taking no wage rise but having a settlement bonus of 4,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 16 that are worth another look....Read More
Open Mineral has raised $33 million in a series C investment round that saw Mubadala Investment Co, Statkraft and Lingfeng Capital take stakes in the company.Founded in 2017 by former Glencore asset managers Boris Eykher and Ilya Chernilovskiy, Switzerland-based Open Mineral aims to apply digital tools and transparency to the world of metal concentrates trading.Having started with an online platfo...Read More
The largest steelmakers in Bangladesh were largely out of the market for containers of steel scrap on Thursday September 16 following recent deep-sea cargo bookings, market participants have told Fastmarkets.In deals done last week, two deep-sea cargoes were booked to a mill in Bangladesh from the United States West Coast at $530 per tonne cfr for shredded, while a second mill booked deep-sea mate...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves in the week to Wednesday September 15.Read More