The European steel hot-rolled coil market was quiet and lacking in direction on Friday September 3, with buyers and mills split on the future trend of prices, Fastmarkets heard.Producers in Northern Europe and Italy said they were sold out until the end of 2021, with some even booked for the first quarter of 2022, so are in no rush to reduce prices. In addition, if the European Union and the Unit...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China's domestic market rose on Friday September 3 after supply concerns emerged following a series of mill announcements of maintenance plans for September, the traditional high season, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,760-5,800 yuan ($892-898) per tonne, up by 90-110 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,720-5...Read More
The United States' steel import licenses dropped month on month but soared year on year in August, according to government figures.The US was licensed to import 2.30 million tonnes of steel in August, according to data from the US International Trade Administration's steel import monitoring system collected through Wednesday September 1. That was down by 17.86% from the preliminary US Census impor...Read More
Turkish prices for exports of reinforcing bar have continued to fall over the past week amid sluggish demand, and a continuing softening of import scrap costs, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2.Rebar offers varied mainly within the range of $670-675 per tonne fob, stable week on week but with a few offers heard above and below this level.Buying activity remained silent,...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Poland were broadly stable during the week to Friday September 3, with most producers sold out for September rolling due to good end-sector demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw was at 4,000-4,100 zloty ($1,051-1,077) per tonne on Friday, widening downward by 50 zloty from 4,050-4,100 zloty per...Read More
Prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States' pig iron export market fell during the week to Thursday September 2 on bearish buyers in all outlets.Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $490-505 per tonne on Thursday, down from $510-520 per tonne the previous week."Activity has appeared in China, that will stimulate sales in all othe...Read More
The market for pig iron imports in the United States went down during the week to Friday September 3 on active bookings at lower prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $530-535 per tonne on Friday, down from $545-550 per tonne cfr a week before.Russia-origin pig iron was booked at $530-535...Read More
Domestic prices for alloy steel scrap in the UK increased in the week to Friday September 3 due to good demand combined with tight supply, sources have told Fastmarkets.UK sellers of alloy scrap have been benefiting from both good domestic demand and strong demand and higher prices in India and the EU. As a result, UK buyers...Read More
Billet prices in Turkey decreased in the week to Friday September 3 amid weak market fundamentals including limited demand, falling import scrap costs and lower finished long steel prices both domestically and in export markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was $441.74 per tonne on Tuesday,...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained the upward trend on Friday September 3, with demand picking up ahead of the weekend.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,270-5,300 yuan ($816-820) per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,140-5,170 yuan per tonne, up by 120-130 yuan per tonneBuyers raised procurement rates for consumption in the coming weekend, pushi...Read More
The domestic price of flat-rolled stainless steel in Northern Europe increased further in the week ended Friday September 3, supported by continued supply tightness, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?4,000-4,200 ($4,742-4,979) per tonne on September 3, up by ?...Read More
The anticipated agreement between the European Union and the United States on Section 232 tariffs would boost flat-steel export sales to the US and, consequently, reduce domestic EU availability, triggering a price rise in Europe, European buyers told Fastmarkets.The US and EU will reach an agreement on the exemption from Section 232 of European imports of steel and aluminium by November 1. The US...Read More
Turkish prices for flat steel products kept decreasing during August because of the holiday season and a global downtrend in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 2.Iron ore prices in particular decreased significantly in August, leading to price falls for steel end products. Fastmarkets' daily calculation of the index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao was $142.02 per tonne o...Read More
The supervisory board of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe has extended Bernhard Osburg's contract as chairman for another five years to June 30, 2027, the company said earlier this week.Osburg has been chairman of the executive board since March 2020, succeeding Premal Desai. He has been a member of the executive board since June 2019 with a focus on sales and innovation.In a meeting on August 31,...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate processing charges continued to rise in the week to Friday September 3.Copper smelters were buying a few spot parcels of concentrates, Fastmarkets heard, with transactions for October cargoes heard at $60s per tonne for standard clean concentrates.Miners have put more tonnages onto the spot market for sale. Some Escondida and Toromocho parcels were...Read More
The market for pig iron imports in the United States went down during the week to Friday September 3 on active bookings at lower prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $530-535 per tonne on Friday, down from $545-550 per tonne cfr a week before.Russia-origin pig iron was booked at $530-535...Read More
Chilean copper production in July was close to stability when compared with the corresponding month of 2020, amid increased output from Codelco and a drop reported by Escondida and Collahuasi, the country's copper commission, Cochilco, said on Thursday September 2.Chile produced 465,000 tonnes of copper in July, a slight decrease of 0.02% from 465,100 tonnes a year before but down by 2.58% from 47...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 3.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday September 3.China The Chinese ferro-silicon market turned bullish following the news that Inner Mongolia may conduct a round of production cuts due to its electricity limits, with many producers holding offers firm. Ningxia's production cuts, intended to meet the energy consumption dual control targets, al...Read More
Three-month aluminium futures on the London Metal Exchange closed at their highest level for a decade on Friday September 3, with the base-metals complex broadly making gains despite jobs data from the United States coming in dramatically lower than expected.The LME aluminium contract closed at $2,727 per tonne on Friday, up by 1.1% from Thursday's close and its highest since May 3, 2011. This cam...Read More