The price of steel billet imports into Egypt fell again this week while local rebar prices remained unchanged, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday April 26.The country's biggest producer, Ezz Steel, is still offering rebar at E ?12,528 ($706) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, while Beshay Steel, also a...Read More
Steel billet prices in Turkey continued to fall over the past week because of poor demand and low scrap prices, sources said on Thursday April 26.Offers from the CIS region fell to $525-535 per tonne cfr, from last week's $530-540 per tonne, although customers in Turkey were bidding $520 per tonne cfr or...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for steel billet, slab and bloom. Latest transaction: billetBilletCIS, export, billet, offered...Read More
Afarak has halted its plans to delist from the Helsinki Stock Exchange, the mining group has announced.Afarak, which owns the Mogale ferro-alloys plant in South Africa and the EWW special alloys plant in Germany, announced in January that it planned to delist from the exchange, retaining only its London Stock Exchange listing. Major shareholders Kermas Ltd and Atkey Ltd have informed...Read More
Global output of direct-reduced iron (DRI) went up by 15.10% year-on-year in March 2018, according to new statistics published by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).DRI output was 6.97 million tonnes in March 2018, compared with 6.05 tonnes in March 2017, Worldsteel said on Wednesday April 25.Production was also up month-on-month, with March 2018 output 880,000 tonnes higher than the...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap for May deliveries on Thursday April 26, with prices remaining largely stable, Metal Bulletin has heard.The mills in the country booked four deep-sea cargoes on Thursday, totaling 130,000 tonnes, according to market sources.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (75:25), 5,000 tonnes of...Read More
Expectations have increased for China's coke prices to bounce up, although some export deals were reported at lower levels in the past week.Metal Bulletin's assessment of export prices for Chinese coke with 65% coke strength after reaction (CSR), 12.5% ash, 30-90mm, was $300-315 per tonne fob China for the week ended Tuesday April 24.This widened from a range of $305-310 per tonne fob in the prece...Read More
Demand for high-quality iron ore pellets is likely to be supported by steel mills' attempts to reduce their emissions levels, according to Humberto Oliveira, Vale's head of technical marketing for the direct-reduction (DR) market."The scenario of improved steel profitability, high coking coal prices and the environmental restrictions imposed during 2017 in China meant that steel mills increased th...Read More
India's largest iron ore miner NMDC lowered its domestic prices last week, in line with the softening overseas prices. The miner fixed its lump ore price at 2,990 rupees ($44.68) per tonne and iron ore fines price at 2,560 rupees per tonne, it said last week. Both prices are down 100 rupees per tonne from the level announced on April 4 when the miner had rolled over its prices set in March. NMDC's...Read More
Physical iron ore prices and premiums remained weak on Thursday April 26 amid China's softening steel and futures markets.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $66.28 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.10 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $55.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.04 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $84.60 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.10 per tonneMetal...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreRio Tinto, tender, 170,000 tonnes of 61% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, sold at $65.37 per tonne cfr China, laycan May 8-17.Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 61% Fe...Read More
Marex Spectron's global head of market analytics, Guy Wolf, has moved to Singapore to enhance the London Metal Exchange broker's analytical offering and to supplement its existing execution expertise in the region, Metal Bulletin understands. Wolf has been with the LME broker since January 2012 and previously performed the role from London. He is the developer...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Thursday April 26*Copper -$118.72 (-751.83 yuan) Aluminium -$487.66 (-3,088.28 yuan) Zinc -$54.49 (-345.08 yuan) Nickel -$800.37 (-5,068.55 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical...Read More
Base metals were broadly lower on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Thursday April 26, with zinc prices continuing to fall after a 20,000-tonne delivery into Antwerp. The metal's three-month price hit a low of $3,083.50 per tonne, drifting closer to the 2018 low of $3,070 per tonne.The inflow is in addition to Wednesday's 30,000-tonne delivery into Antwerp, which was the largest...Read More
Key data from the Wednesday April 25 pricing session in Shanghai.Please click on the above tables to view more in-depth pricing data about these assessments in Metal Bulletin's price book.Key drivers- China's domestic cobalt metal price edged down by 5,000 yuan ($791) per tonne during the mid-week pricing session.- A brief bout of consolidation in international cobalt prices amid their recent rall...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker across the board by an average of 0.6% this morning, Thursday April 26. Aluminium, nickel and zinc led the decline with losses ranged between 0.7% and 1%, while the rest were all down by 0.3%, with the three-month copper price at $6,955 per tonne.This follows a mixed performance on Wednesday when consolidation set in following recent week...Read More
Underlying demand for stainless steel will remain solid in both Europe and the United States in the second quarter of 2018, Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu said.Stainless steel base prices will trend higher in the US, supported by steel import tariffs, the company said on Thursday April 26.Meanwhile, domestic prices in Europe will remain under pressure due to competition and growing volumes...Read More
Losses in job and output terms in metals-consuming sectors in the United States in the fallout from the Section 232 probe threaten to outweigh any benefits to domestic metal-producing industries from the tariffs the US government subsequently introduced.In turn, the prices of metals that are strongly correlated to the performance of metal-consuming sectors - such as AISI 4130, a widely used medium...Read More
China's ferrous futures were largely stable during morning trading on Thursday April 26 following a subdued steel market a day earlier. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3.568 yuan per tonne, up 6 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,677 yuan per tonne, up 9 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange September iron ore: 467 yuan per tonne, up 2 yu...Read More
East Asia's stainless steel market continued to strengthen despite persistently soft regional demand due to nickel prices remaining at high levels.Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,170-2,300 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday April 25, up $20-70 per tonne from a week earlier. Metal Bulletin's assessment of...Read More