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
Some flat steel prices in Turkey fell in the week to Friday, September 3, with demand starting to improve on buyer restocking activity, sources told Fastmarkets.But while some market participants said they now expect prices to fall further because of the global price downturn, others said prices were likely to remain stable because of the improvement in demand.Prices in the Commonwealth of Indepen...Read More
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
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Friday September 3 following an uptick in China's steel market, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.71 per tonne, up $2.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $145.30 per tonne, up $2.71 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $114.54 per tonne, up $2.52 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qi...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...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
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
Turkish steel producers returned to the deep-sea scrap market to book several cargoes on the last working day of the week, market participants said on Friday September 3.Market sources reported a deal for a Venezuela-origin cargo, which was booked on September 2 by a Turkish mill in the Iskenderun region, comprising 25,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $444 per tonne for Octobe...Read More
Premium hard coking coal fob prices jumped on the latest trade on Friday September 3, indicating a promising outlook for the fob market. And the low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) price in the cfr market soared due to tight supply from Russia, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $441.97 per tonne, down by $1.05 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Friday September 3 following an uptick in China's steel market, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.71 per tonne, up $2.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $145.30 per tonne, up $2.71 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $114.54 per tonne, up $2.52 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qi...Read More
Poor demand in key import markets in Turkey and Asia continued to pull steel scrap prices downward in the week ended Friday September 3. High freight costs and a lack of container ships also damped spot trading liquidity.Turkish mills book handful of cargoes for requirementsUS sees limited export transactionsChina demand weak amid more production cutsVietnam spot liquidity limited due to holidaysT...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday September 3, but overall the picture is one of consolidation ahead of today's employment report from the United States.China's Caixin services PMI dropped to 46.7 in August, from 54.9 in July, switching from expansion to contractionThe US Dollar Index continues to retreat Base metalsTh...Read More
Spot differentials for low-carbon aluminium value-added products (VAP) in Europe moved higher in August, but most market participants remain focused on 2022 deals.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product (VAP), Europe at $15-25 per tonne Friday September 3, up from $10-20 per tonne on August 6. Spot deals were reported at $20 per tonne for aluminium billet and...Read More