Import prices for flat steel products in South America have all declined this week, on reduced buying appetite in the markets, Metal Bulletin has heard."There is low buying interest, with clients adopting a wait-and-see approach," a South America-focused steel trader said. "The market seemed to be weak in China [this week], with mills holding [back] their offers."Offer prices for China-origin hot-...Read More
Coated coil prices were stable in Turkey this week although demand was still soft in the local and export markets, Metal Bulletin was told on Friday April 20.Domestic pricesOne Northern Turkish producer was offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $790-800 per tonne ex-works this week.A second producer in the same region was still offering similar product at $825 per tonne ex-works.Sout...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Iron ore prices and trading activity both faltered on Friday April 20, after the value of Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index surged by more than $2.50 per tonne a day earlier.The stoppage of Anglo American's Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil will have an effect, albeit a small one, on worldwide...Read More
The light iron scrap market in the UK was unchanged for a second week in a row in the seven days to Friday April 20, with steady domestic demand counteracting a drop in export prices to key destinations such as the Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.The market has been stable for two weeks after price losses on the European export market in late March and early April.Metal Bulletin's weekly price...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in Poland have moved down slightly, while distributors are cautious on making new deals, sources told Metal Bulletin."Demand from the construction industry is getting stronger but as the outlook for the European rebar market is unclear, distributors are buying smaller volumes and do not want to build high stocks," a Polish trader said.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessm...Read More
The light iron scrap market in the UK was unchanged for a second week in a row in the seven days to Friday April 20, with steady domestic demand counteracting a drop in export prices to key destinations such as the Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.The market has been stable for two weeks after price losses on the European export market in late March and early April.Metal Bulletin's weekly price...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the bulk sector dipped during the working week ended Friday April 20 due to downward pressure from Turkish import prices, which fell midweek in several trades for material from the United States and the Baltic Sea.But this downward trend was not seen in the containerized scrap import market. Taiwanese scrap import prices remained flat on sparse trading this week, while the...Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India edged up this week, with the market seeking a correction following a series of recent falls, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday April 20.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $385.44 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on April 20, up by $4.17 per tonne week-on-week, compared with $381.27...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up further on Friday April 20, but the increases have led buyers to cut their procurement rates.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,790-3,830 yuan ($604-610) per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,740 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonne Sellers encouraged by the trading activity in the past couple of days, raised th...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade. First quarter earnings continue to pour in. Companies that reported since the close yesterday included General Electric, Honeywell, Rogers Communications, Schlumberger, Stanley Black & Decker, State Street, SunTrust and Waste Management.The Canadian Dollar dropped US 0.37 to 78.76 cents...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – The nonferrous metals saw bleak performance today expect for SHFE tin. Nickel led a loss of 3%, aluminium dropped over 2%, copper slid close to 1%, with lead and zinc dipping.The ferrous complex fell across the board with coking coal leading a loss of over 2%. Coke lost 1.7%, rebar dropped over 1%, iron ore edged down close to 1%, with hot-rolled coil down slightly.C...Read More
The base price assessments for both flat and long stainless steel products in Europe have remained unchanged over the past week amid low market activity and volatility in the nickel price, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday April 20.Metal Bulletin's weekly base price assessment for 2mm, grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet was stable week-on-week at ?,?1,050-1,100 ($1,298-1,360) per...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – The nonferrous metals saw bleak performance today expect for SHFE tin. Nickel led a loss of 3%, aluminium dropped over 2%, copper slid close to 1%, with lead and zinc dipping.The ferrous complex fell across the board with coking coal leading a loss of over 2%. Coke lost 1.7%, rebar dropped over 1%, iron ore edged down close to 1%, with hot-rolled coil down slightly.C...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – The nonferrous metals saw bleak performance today expect for SHFE tin. Nickel led a loss of 3%, aluminium dropped over 2%, copper slid close to 1%, with lead and zinc dipping.The ferrous complex fell across the board with coking coal leading a loss of over 2%. Coke lost 1.7%, rebar dropped over 1%, iron ore edged down close to 1%, with hot-rolled coil down slightly.C...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – Yangshan copper premiums have continued to climb since the start of 2018, staying at levels higher than the benchmark of $75/mt for the most part.Offers with warehouse warrants were heard offered above $90/mt, SMM learned.This is because a tighter copper scrap supply has boosted consumption of imported copper cathode, as the import arbitrage window was open for a lon...Read More
High manganese ore prices and price dislocation between ore and alloy will cause further alloy market uncertainty, benefitting integrated producers, mining group OM Holdings (OMH) said in its annual report. Manganese ore markets soared in late 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, prompting a backlash among manganese alloy smelters in China when prices breached $8.00 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu)...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – Norilsk nickel in the Shanghai market traded at a premium of 300 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1805 contract on Friday April 20, while Jinchuan traded at a premium of 500 yuan/mt, SMM learned.Jinchuan offered nickel plate at 105,800 yuan/mt.Traders were relatively keen to make offers. As nickel futures prices declined overnight, downstream consume...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – The arbitrage window for imported zinc has yet to open up despite some imported materials circulating in the market this week, SMM believed.Small amounts of zinc imports were heard to be in the Shanghai spot market this week, including materials from Australia, South Korea, Brazil, Spain and India. Offers of these materials were 10-30 yuan/mt lower than the domestic...Read More
China's ferrous futures trended downward during morning trading on Friday April 20 after a couple of days of strong gains. Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange October rebar: 3,475 yuan ($553.50) per tonne, down 15 yuan per tonne October hot-rolled coil: 3,606 yuan per tonne, down 1 yuan per tonne Dalian Commodity Exchange September iron ore: 468.50 yuan per tonne, do...Read More
SHANGHAI, Apr 20 (SMM) – Indonesia's nickel ore exports are likely to increase from 5 million mt in 2017 to 10 million mt in 2018 as miners are keen to raise production, according to data by Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.As most Indonesian smelters expand, more miners have applied for the nickel export licences, said the ministry's director g...Read More