The export billet trade from Iran has dried up in recent weeks amid severe production cuts at mills enforced by the shortage of electricity supply in the country, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday July 28.Extreme heat and drought conditions have reduced water levels to the point that generation of sufficient hydro-electric power has become impossible."Mills are allowed to use electricity at nighttime...Read More
Prices in the coking coal market in China held firm on Wednesday July 28 but climbed in the fob Australia market on increased buying interest, market sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $215.55 per tonne, up by $1.25 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $315.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $182.41 per tonne, up by 0.50 per tonneHard co...Read More
An arbitrage between two of the world's main copper contracts has had the market chasing shadows over the week ended Wednesday July 28.On July 26, the Comex active (September) contract traded at more than $300 per tonne above London Metal Exchange price levels for the month to date, in what was a record spread between the two contracts.The massive premium came at the end of a month in which the Ch...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday July 28.Please click...Read More
Prices for steel billets imported to the Philippines have jumped in the week to July 28 after Chinese buying activity inflated offer prices for mills in Southeast Asia, sources told Fastmarkets.Trading activity into the Philippines had been quiet the previous week in the face of huge Chinese demand, with just one deal for Vietnamese induction furnace (IF) billet heard done at $688 per tonne cfr Ma...Read More
German steelmaker Salzgitter has delivered green strip steel to automotive producer Mercedes-Benz, the company recently announced.Salzgitter subsidiary Salzgitter Flachstahl will supply green strip steel products with a 66% reduced CO2 footprint to four German plants of Mercedes-Benz, with three factories already receiving the material, sources told Fastmarkets.The low CO2 steel grades are produce...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade.U.S. equity index futures were quiet prior to release of U.S. economic reports at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for second quarter annualized real GDP is an increase of 8.6% versus a gain of 6.4% in the first quarter. Consensus for June Personal Income is a drop of 0.3% versus a decline of 2.0% in...Read More
The Southern European domestic steel rebar market was quiet with largely stable prices, although a slight uptick in Italian demand pushed prices up, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday July 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?760-815 ($897-962) per tonne on Wednesday, compared with ?,?760-810 per tonne one week previously...Read More
China's domestic and imported ferro-chrome prices were both boosted again in the week ended Tuesday July 27 after major stainless steel mills raised their August tender prices by 2,400 yuan ($369) per tonne from the previous month, to a level not seen in the past 13 years.Due to continuing supply interruptions and strong demand for material, Tsingshan announced its tender price for August-delivery...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained unchanged on Wednesday July 28 while the market heads into a slower seasonal period, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,400-1,430 ($1,653-1,688) per tonne on July 28, unchanged week on week."The holidays are starting in the coming days, many are holding...Read More
An arbitrage between two of the world's main copper contracts has had the market chasing shadows over the week ended Wednesday July 28.On July 26, the Comex active (September) contract traded at more than $300 per tonne above London Metal Exchange price levels for the month to date, in what was a record spread between the two contracts.The massive premium came at the end of a month in which the Ch...Read More
German steelmaker Salzgitter has delivered green strip steel to automotive producer Mercedes-Benz, the company recently announced.Salzgitter subsidiary Salzgitter Flachstahl will supply green strip steel products with a 66% reduced CO2 footprint to four German plants of Mercedes-Benz, with three factories already receiving the material, sources told Fastmarkets.The low CO2 steel grades are produce...Read More
The main workers union at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, has called on its members to reject BHP's last wage offer and vote for industrial action, the union said in a statement on July 28. "After analyzing the conditions of the last offer of Minera Escondida, controlled by Anglo-Australian BHP, it has been found that [the company] seeks to increase working times, decrease breaks, chan...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Fleur...Read More
Steelmakers in India have welcomed a newly approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program for the specialty steel sector to encourage domestic production, new investment and reduce imports. The South Asian country's Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on July approved the PLI program for specialty steel in a push for a self-reliant India, a policy known as "Atmanirbhar...Read More
Domestic prices for heavy steel plate in Italy moved down in the week ended Wednesday July 28 due to lower slab costs and competitive imports, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?950-970 ($1,122-1,145) per tonne on July 28, down by ?,?15-20 per tonne from ?,?970-985 per tonne on July 21.The assessment was based o...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 assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
(Updates prices) July 28 (Reuters) - Copper prices sat near six-week highs onWednesday as investors waited for details from a Federal Reservemeeting that could shift expectations for U.S. monetary policy.Wider markets, meanwhile, calmed after days of turmoilemanating from China, with global stock markets, the dollar andthe yuan steadying. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)was down...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 27 that are worth another look.More than three-quarters of the effort to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 will have to be made by the power sector and through faster adoption of wind...Read More
All base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange fell on Tuesday July 27 at the close of trading, after an exuberant afternoon on Monday, with nickel's price most badly affected and down by 1.8%.Nickel's price fell to $19,357 per tonne at 5pm on Tuesday, after closing at $19,717 per tonne on Monday. This was its highest 5pm price since February, and close to its year-to-date high of $20,110 per...Read More