Sentiment was mixed in the European hot-rolled coil market on Wednesday August 25, with activity starting to recover slowly after holidays, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers who have returned to the market after the traditional holiday period in August were taking their time before making deals, believing that prices would decline. Mills, in the meantime, felt no pressure to make deals at discounts...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 25 that are worth another look.The global markets for containerized freight have entered even deeper water in recent weeks, with closures at the key port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China leading to worsening cargo delays, port congestion and a further...Read More
Shanghai-listed Hainan Mining says it will invest no more than 1.065 billion yuan ($164 million) for the construction of a 20,000-tonnes-per-year battery-grade lithium hydroxide plant in Dongfang Lingang Industrial Park in China's Hainan province.The construction of the plant is expected to take 18 months and the battery-grade lithium hydroxide it produces will supply downstream battery companies,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 25 that are worth another look.The global markets for containerized freight have entered even deeper water in recent weeks, with closures at the key port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China leading to worsening cargo delays, port congestion and a further...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 25 that are worth another look.The global markets for containerized freight have entered even deeper water in recent weeks, with closures at the key port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in China leading to worsening cargo delays, port congestion and a further...Read More
The provincial government of Liaoning in northeastern China has approved a merger between Anshan Iron & Steel (Angang) and Benxi Iron & Steel (Bengang), according to a notice released by the latter's listed arm, Bengang Plate, on Thursday August 19.The owner of Bengang - Liaoning's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission - will transfer a 51% controlling stake in the steelmaker...Read More
Russian steelmaker Metalloinvest and another, unnamed, non-European steel company, are in discussions about acquiring Hungarian flat steel producer Dunaferr, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The Hungarian steelmaker's owners have been in negotiations with both parties and a decision is imminent, sources said, because Dunaferr is about to go through the liquidation process. Metalloinv...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 23 that are worth another look.Increasing costs for long-term storage at the Chinese port of Tiajnin have added to the financial burdens facing alloy smelters and trading houses this year.Tianyuan Manganese Industry Group (TMI), said to be the world's largest producer of manganese flake, has not halted production, it told Fas...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained flat on Wednesday August 25 due to the quiet summer market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,400-1,430 ($1,644-1,679) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.Trading remains low during the summer holidays - participants have not yet returne...Read More
Trading activity in the Commonwealth of Independent States' export long steel market remained sluggish in the week to Wednesday August 25 amid slow demand from Europe due to holidays in the region as well as continuing competition with Turkish suppliers.Turkish steel producers decreased their export offers for rebar to $680-695 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis last week, against $695-705 pe...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday August 25.Please click...Read More
There were small rises on the London Metal Exchange for most futures contracts at the close on August 25, with lead rising the most by 1%, despite low volumes traded in some metals. Lead's three-month price closed above $2,300 per tonne at 5pm for the first time since August 16. It was at $2,318 per tonne at the close, up from Tuesday's close of $2,993.50 per tonne. Its volumes were broadly simila...Read More
Chilean copper producer Codelco has initiated construction work on Rajo Inca, a $1.38-billion addition to its Salvador mine, which should begin operations in 2022, the state-owned company said on Tuesday August 24.Rajo Inca increases the mine life at Salvador by 47 years, to 2070, with copper capacity to reach 90,000 tonnes per year, from 60,000 tpy currently. Mineral exploration will move from an...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States declined slightly while consumer demand weakened due to maintenance outages and some production difficulties.One stainless steel melting facility has a one-week maintenance outage scheduled for September, and another stainless mill has been experiencing some production problems, according to some scrap dealer sources. As a result, those mills have...Read More
The spot special high-grade (SHG) zinc premium in the United States moved higher week on week after multiple market participants reported hearing of deals and offers for material at double-digit premiums.Fastmarkets' zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US rose to 8.75-10.00 cents per lb on Tuesday August 24, up by 10.29% from 8-9 cents per lb the week before and up by 13.64% from...Read More
Spot refined zinc ingot premiums have firmed to multi-year highs in the United States and Europe, with smelter hitches and increasingly expensive transportation stretching supply chains further during the summer season in the northern hemisphere.US spot zinc premium rises to a more than four-year high Rotterdam, Antwerp zinc premiums at highest since early 2018China market eyes narrowing negative...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves in the week to Wednesday August 25.Fola Malomo, Cristina Belda and...Read More
The export market for flat-rolled steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States went down over the week to Wednesday August 25 on weak iron ore pricing and soft demand.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $890-895 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $915-925 per tonne a week earlier.A sale of Ukraine-origin HRC was made t...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR? Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More
The export market for flat-rolled steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States went down over the week to Wednesday August 25 on weak iron ore pricing and soft demand.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $890-895 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $915-925 per tonne a week earlier.A sale of Ukraine-origin HRC was made t...Read More