Domestic prices for steel wire rod in Italy have widened downward over the past seven days amid sluggish buying, a decline in scrap prices and the availability of cheap imports, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday September 15.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered southern Europe, was ?,?800-845 ($945-998) per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward b...Read More
Increasing steel production rates in Japan are making Japanese yards increasingly reluctant to offer cargoes to China, market sources told Fastmarkets this week. Better margins to be found in Japan's domestic marketTaiwan continues to chase containerized cargoesContainer scrap offers to Bangladesh fall amid sluggish demandChinaA slowdown in downstream demand has continued to weight on spot demand...Read More
Steel rebar and billet buyers in Egypt are waiting for prices to fall further before placing orders, sources told Fastmarkets.Global billet and rebar prices have recently been weakening; buyers in Egypt are waiting for prices to flatten before placing orders.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey was $610-620 per tonne on September 16, falling from $620-...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has extended definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel cold-rolled (SSCR) flat products from China and Taiwan.The decision, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Thursday September 16, followed an expiry review lodged by the European steel association Eurofer in May. The extended duties will now remain in place until 30...Read More
There was a divergence in London Metal Exchange prices in the morning of September 16, with lead being the only metal to register gains, while copper, aluminum and nickel all fell - with the latter down by almost $1,000. Lead's three-month price, after a few days of persistent selling, was up by a slight $7 to $2,242 per tonne on Thursday at 9am. On Wednesday, the metal touched $2,213 per tonne, i...Read More
Austria Metall AG (AMAG) has committed to carbon neutrality by 2040 and has called for politicians to create a framework for the stable supply of green energy at competitive prices in good time.The company laid out its strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, which will focus on increased recycling, energy efficiency and the replacement of fossil fuels.Like its peers in the metals and mining...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves in the week to Wednesday September 15.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
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
China's Yunnan province might reconsider its energy consumption curbs, it stated in a notice on Saturday September 11.In a notice that was issued by the Yunnan provincial Development and Reform Commission and seen by Fastmarkets, the province highlighted the operational curbs of a few industries with high energy consumption.The province stepped up restrictions of both ferrous and non-ferrous indus...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
Iran posted a notable fall in steel product output in the first five months of the current Persian year (March 21-August 22, 2021), compared with the same period last year according to the Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA).Local producers made 10.8 million tonnes of semi-finished products over the period, down 12% year on year, ISPA data shows.The decline in production came as steel mills...Read More
Austria Metall AG (AMAG) has committed to carbon neutrality by 2040 and has called for politicians to create a framework for the stable supply of green energy at competitive prices in good time.The company laid out its strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, which will focus on increased recycling, energy efficiency and the replacement of fossil fuels.Like its peers in the metals and mining...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 16 that are worth another look....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
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
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
Global trade flows of cobalt metal have been frozen by logistics disruptions including high freight costs and a shortage of available containers, market participants have told Fastmarkets.Cobalt metal is a highly liquid commodity, with traders moving metals on their books around the globe depending on price differentials between Asia and Europe.But in the past 2-3 months, such trade flows have bee...Read More
Trading activity remained slow in the European hot-rolled coil market on Thursday September 16 because buyers held back from deals while they wait for a clearer price trend, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers are waiting for the new quota period, which will start on October 1. Market sources said that large volumes of steel products are sitting in European Union ports awaiting customs clearance at th...Read More