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
Color-coated steel coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week to Friday August 27 in a slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Uncertainty over the future direction of prices, which have decreased recently for most markets, made buyers refrain from booking material.Most export markets are still in holiday season, sources said.Domestic pricesFastmarkets assessed steel hot-dipped galvanized coil....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
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
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
Major steel production exports out of China in July decreased from June due to the removal of an export rebate on May 1.For instance, the hot-rolled coil export was 817,276 tonnes in July, down by 20% from 1.03 million tonnes in June, according to customs data.Market participants expect exports to keep the month-on-month...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets...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
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
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
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
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
Most base metals registered declines in inventories at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses during the week to Friday August 27, with nickel falling the most in percentage terms at 16.6%.Recording four consecutive weeks of losses, nickel stocks dropped by 16.6% to 4,455 tonnes from 5,344 tonnes last week. The largest outflow was from warehouses operated by Zhongchu Dachang based in Shan...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Dalila Ouerghi and...Read More
The domestic scrap markets in both Japan and South Korea weakened further on Friday August 27, placing further pressure on the seaborne markets, sources told Fastmarkets.South Korea reduces buying interest amid weaker local marketTokyo Steel drops bid prices for most scrap gradesImport interest limited in China despite stronger domestic sentiment.South KoreaA major South Korean steelmaker released...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
Spot prices for imported containerized ferrous scrap in Taiwan remained rangebound in the week to Friday August 27 amid buyers' bearish views.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $440-445 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from a day earlier but widening downward by $5 from $445 per tonne a week earlier....Read More
Strict real estate regulations issued by China's central and local governments have slowed down growth in the country's housing market in the first seven months of 2021.Participants expect these policies to continue to have a strong effect on the market for the remainder the year, which would slow down growth for rebar demand.Three red linesThe People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Housing &...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Dalila Ouerghi and...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves in the week to Friday August 27.Jessica Long, Ruby Liu and Carrie...Read More