The rising cost of coking coal has led to a sharp drop in demand for iron ore lump, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday August 23.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $136.71 per tonne, down $3.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $137.22 per tonne, down $3.93 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $106.64 per tonne, down $2.16 per tonne65% Fe Brazil...Read More
China's domestic coking coal market rose sharply in the week to August 23 due to the supply shortage from Mongolia, which also weighed on market sentiment in seaborne coking coal prices in the cfr China market. The fob Australia market inched up amid steady buying interest for October-laycan cargoes, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $381.73 per to...Read More
China imported 88,218 tonnes of ferrous scrap in July, a 16% increase from June, according to the latest Chinese customs data.Of the total, 66,096 tonnes - or 74.92% - originated in Japan.South Korea remained China's second-largest scrap supplier in July, accounting for 14,464 tonnes (16.4%) of imports.Taiwan (3,590 tonnes; 4.07%) and Hong Kong (1,214 tonnes; 1.38%) were other significant sources...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore pellets and concentrate plunged further in the week ended Friday August 20 amid weak demand and a downtrend in the futures market.Fastmarkets iron ore indicesIron ore pellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $34.50 per tonne, down $6.70 per tonne. 65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $207.74 per tonne, down $20.62 per tonne.66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $16...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session on Monday August 23.Key drivers The spot cobalt international metal price for both alloy and standard grades widened downward on lower offers from sellers in a quiet market, with limited buyers seeking spot units and...Read More
Tianyuan Manganese Industry Group (TMI), said to be the world's largest producer of manganese flake, has not halted production, it told Fastmarkets, dispelling a recent rumor that has helped to drive manganese prices to new heights worldwide.Distorted reports of an explosion some time in the week ended Friday August 13 near TMI's operations in Zhongwei, in China's Ningxia province, were heard amid...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade 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 assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More
Spot prices for steel rebar imports into Singapore dipped in the week to Monday August 23 amid pressure on traders to offload cargoes after iron ore prices collapsed last week.Traders were offering Indian rebar at $735-740 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis, down by $5 per tonne from the previous week."The Hong Kong import market has also been receiving offers at these levels,"...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States stood firmly above $96.50 per hundredweight ($1,930 per short ton) for a third consecutive business day, while sources remained split as to whether hot band prices are beginning to plateau.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $96.57 per cwt ($1,931.40 per ton) on Monday August 23, falling by 0.27% from $96.83 per...Read More
Nickel ore prices in China rose to new highs in the week to Friday August 20 amid increasing freight rates while the country's nickel pig iron (NPI) market held steady.Fastmarkets' latest assessment for laterite ore with 1.5% Ni content, cif China was $85-88 per tonne last Friday, up by $1-3 per tonne (2.4%) from $84-85 per tonne a week earlier.Fastmarkets' assessment for laterite ore with 1.8% Ni...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
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
While nickel briquette started to become a viable alternative as a precursor of nickel sulfate for Chinese battery raw materials producers in early 2021, their enthusiasm for the product appears to have waned in recent weeks, resulting in a less active spot market.Previously, a sharp decrease in nickel briquette inventory levels at London Metal Exchange warehouses had Chinese market participants w...Read More
Cancellation of 44,000 tonnes of copper in London Metal Exchange warehouses kept the metal's nearby price spreads in backwardation on Monday August 23, while sentiment for LME prices turned positive after a week of selling.Some 44,475 tonnes of copper were booked for removal from the Busan, Singapore and Kaohsiung warehouses on Monday, reducing the amount of metal on-warrant to 197,750 tonnes, the...Read More
The rising cost of coking coal has led to a sharp drop in demand for iron ore lump, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday August 23.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $136.71 per tonne, down $3.73 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $137.22 per tonne, down $3.93 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $106.64 per tonne, down $2.16 per tonne65% Fe Brazil...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for July 2021, according to the latest Chinese customs data released on Friday August 20.In brief Imports of cobalt rose month on month despite unappealing import profits in June and July. A trader source told Fastmarkets that some cobalt arriving in a Chinese bonded warehouse in July was immediately exported again, meaning the actual amount circu...Read More
Turkish steelmakers skipped the first working day of the week with no deep-sea scrap trades, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday August 23.The most recent deep-sea trade was recorded at the end of the last week, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a United States cargo comprised of 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $450 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus and 7,000 tonnes of shredde...Read More
If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Monday August 23 on strengthening demand in many parts of the country, though heavy rain continued to keep demand in a few provinces subdued. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,130-5,170 yuan ($788-794) per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonneConstruction activity has increased in large parts of China, such as the eastern and northern region, on clear weathe...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in China extended their gains on Monday August 23, buoyed by constrained production but subdued by rising inventories and persistent concerns over demand.DomesticSteel hot-rolled coil domestic, ex-whs Eastern China (Shanghai) was 5,660-5,700 yuan ($870-876) per tonne, up by 30-40 yuan per tonne from Friday August 20.The most-traded HRC contract on the Sha...Read More