Lithium prices in China continued to rise in the week to Thursday August 26, spurring gains across the globe despite limited spot activity overall.Prices for both battery-grade and technical-grade lithium carbonate continue upswing, with the gap between the two narrowing.Seaborne lithium prices in Asia tick up amid tight availability; Chinese suppliers making aggressive offers.Battery-grade lithiu...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the pricing frequency for its spodumene assessment to fortnightly.The assessment for spodumene 6% Li2O min, cif China is currently published on the last Wednesday of each month.Following an initial consultation with the market, and a review of typical data sets that are collected over the course of the month, Fastmarkets now proposes to assess and publish the...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday August 27.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday August 27 while market participants wait to hear what United States Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has to say about the US monetary policy timeline when he speaks later today. Asian-Pacific equity indices were mixed this morningBase metalsLME three-month zinc ($2,981 per tonne) an...Read More
The price of alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market increased in the week to Friday August 27 because of higher nickel costs and an ongoing tightness of supply, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?1,300-1,400 ($1,785-1,922] per tonne on Friday, up by ?50-100 per tonne week on week.The price...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap into Pakistan and India have decreased in the week to Friday August 27, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand in India remained muted due to the monsoon season, and trading activity in Pakistan continues to remain high.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $525.57 per tonne on Friday, down by $13.4...Read More
The domestic steel rebar price in Poland was flat in the week to Friday August 27 due to a seasonal slowdown, though expectations for September are rather bright amid solid construction demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was unchanged at 4,050-4,100 zloty ($1,041-1,054) per tonne on Friday.Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet tumbled by 1,900 rupees ($26) per tonne in the week ended Friday August 27 with the price of the key raw material, direct-reduced iron (DRI), dropping by 1,200 rupees per tonne.The slide in billet prices through the week was driven by sluggish demand and fewer inquiries from buyers.The price of steel billet, domestic, exw India, assessed by Fastmar...Read More
Turkish mills were largely inactive in the import scrap market over the week ended Friday August 27, while prices in key Asian markets were affected by the low levels of interest among mills for imported cargoes.Turkey books just one deep sea cargo during weekUS prepares for fall in domestic pricesVietnamese import prices constrained by rise in Covid-19 casesChinese scrap buyers hold back from imp...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Dalila Ouerghi and...Read More
Treatment charges for lead concentrate rose in August on a strongly negative import arbitrage and a steep backwardation on the London Metal Exchange, market participants told Fastmarkets.In addition, more mined material has become available to the Chinese market, which has been tightly supplied for the past three months.Fastmarkets' lead spot concentrate TC, low silver, cif China and the lead spot...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday August 27.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/ refining charge (TC/RC) index continued to rise in the week to August 27. Fastmarket's calculation of the copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific is now at its highest level since mid-April 2020, with smelters bidding for clean tonnage at mid-to-high $60s. Blended cargos from Asia were offered in the mid-$60s...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday August 27.China Ferro-silicon prices in China have been strong with general sentiment quite bullish following news that Ningxia has started a stricter round of production and power cuts, intended to meet the energy consumption dual control targets, and which made spot availability even tighter. In addition...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday August 27.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Steel beam prices rose in the United States' domestic and import markets on Thursday August 26 following a second round of monthly mill price increases. Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel beams 8- x 8-in, fob mill US rose to $65.50 per hundredweight ($1,310 per short ton) on August 26, up by 3.97% from $63 per cwt on July 29 and by 9.17% from $60 per per cwt in May and June.Fastma...Read More
At $3 below $2,700 per tonne, aluminium reached its highest three-month price on the London Metal Exchange since May 2011 on Friday August 27, and most prices on the complex were also up following long-awaited statements from the US Federal Reserve Chair. The new year-to-date peak for aluminium was $2,697 per tonne on Friday; the metal was up by 1.1% at 5pm to $2,649.50 per tonne from Thursday's $...Read More
Premiums in Europe and the United States continue to push higher, with market participants starting to negotiate contracts for 2022 supply.EuropeFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,220-1,270 per tonne on Friday August 27, up from $1,200-1,250 per tonne a week earlier and from $1,190-1,240 at the beginning of the month.Fastmarkets'...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States' pig iron export market was weak during the week to Thursday August 26 due to a lack of demand.Fastmarkets assessed the price for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS at $510-520 per tonne on Thursday, down by $15-20 from $525-540 per tonne the previous week."That was another muted week in the market," one trader said. "[The] gen...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet tumbled by 1,900 rupees ($26) per tonne in the week ended Friday August 27 with the price of the key raw material, direct-reduced iron (DRI), dropping by 1,200 rupees per tonne.The slide in billet prices through the week was driven by sluggish demand and fewer inquiries from buyers.The price of steel billet, domestic, exw India, assessed by Fastmar...Read More