The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.Turkish mills restrict deep-sea purchases to put downward pressure on pricesSummer slowdown hits US export marketCovid-19 pandemic shuts down local long steel and scrap mar...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies and...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil have edged down, with most market participants remaining cautious and holding onto their inventory positions.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $975-985 per tonne on Friday July 23, down from $975-995 per tonne the previous week. The latest Brazilian slab deals to the United States have been heard...Read More
Import prices for flat steel in South American markets edged up for most grades due to higher offers from Chinese producers, while some participants reported a slowdown in the market.Offers of hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil rose at least by $20-30 per tonne on lower material availability, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main ports South Americ...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained absent from the market on Friday July 23 having booked no new scrap cargoes this week due to the Eid al-Adha public holidays in the country.Trading is expected to resume on Monday July 26.Due to the lack of fresh trading activity, Fastmarkets' daily...Read More
Domestic and export prices for Chinese stainless steel prices rose sharply over the week ended Wednesday July 21 on tight supply, which led to increased expectations of an export tariff to ease the shortage.DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (Wuxi): 19,000-20,100 ($2,939-3,109) per tonne, up by 1,000-1,300 yuan per tonne from a week earlierPrices have risen to their hi...Read More
The flooding caused by torrential rains that have battered central China's Henan province since last weekend has disrupted logistics and deliveries there although production remains largely unaffected, market sources told Fastmarkets.Henan, one of China's most populous provinces, is a major production hub for base metals including lead, zinc, copper and nickel. Some regions of the province, inclu...Read More
The inter-merchant light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom was steady in the week to Friday July 23, consolidating small gains from the previous week amid strong domestic fundamentals, despite quiet export sales to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered...Read More
China's alumina price has risen after severe floods in Henan province led to the closure of several local refineries, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina metallurgical grade, exw China was 2,425-2,560 yuan ($375-397) per tonne on Thursday July 22, widening upward by 60 yuan per tonne from 2,425-2,500 yuan per tonne one week earlier, after offe...Read More
European steelmakers are returning to the bulk alloys markets for quarterly deliveries to be shipped between October and December due to persistent supply tightness, shipping delays and container shortages and strong steel production and prices, sources told Fastmarkets.It had appeared that steelmakers were satisfied with their current quarterly intake of ferro-alloys and would typically return fo...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close on Friday July 23, with nickel up 2.3%.Nickel traded in a wide range between $18,830 and $19,410 per tonne on Friday. The three-month contract closed at $19,372 per tonne, up from $18,922 per tonne on Thursday. Traded volumes were relatively low however, with just over 6,700 lots traded by the 5pm close."This has been...Read More
Global scrap prices remained broadly stable over the week to Friday July 23; trading remains subdued due to public holidays and a resurgence of Covid-19.Turkish mills remain silent on public holidayUnited States export market apprehensive of downward correctionChinese prices improve on rising demandVietnam market flat on lack of interestTaiwanese scrap prices impacted by Covid-19 related lockdownI...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.Turkish mills restrict deep-sea purchases to put downward pressure on pricesSummer slowdown hits US export marketCovid-19 pandemic shuts down local long steel and scrap mar...Read More
Long steel producer Badische Stahlwerke has denied that there was a stoppage at its rolling mill in southwest Germany, a source at the company told Fastmarkets on Friday July 23.Heavy floods in Germany have interrupted the supply of steel products and raw materials across the country, with some flat steel producers even declaring force majeure to customers.There were market rumors on Friday indica...Read More
Crude steel production in Germany continued to rise in June, recording a fourth consecutive month of recovery, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Thursday July 23.German crude steel production totaled more than 3.42 million tonnes in June 2021, up from 2.47 million tonnes in June 2020, WV Stahl said.The sharp rise is partially explained, however, by a low comparative base - last year's domes...Read More
Spot copper concentrate processing charge rose to its highest level since June last year, with the market firming up levels after a month of volatility.Smelter deals concluded for clean spot concentrates at low-to-mid $50s, including shipment diverted as a result of a smelter outage in Yantai. Major smelters...Read More
Inventories of the base metals diverged in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses this week, with zinc gaining the most at 21.3% while copper stocks fell by 18.2%, according to the stocks report on Friday July 23.Zinc inventories stood at 36,440 tonnes on Friday, an increase of 6,387 tonnes from 30,053 tonnes on July 23.The inflows mainly came into warehouses operated by Quansheng Logisti...Read More
London Metal Exchange tin prices traded at fresh all-time highs of $34,700 per tonne on Friday July 23, with base metals starting the day in an uptrend despite mixed data from Europe's manufacturing industry.The metal had continued to make gains after Thursday's 5pm close of $34,195 per tonne, and experienced small clips of buying beyond algorithmic trades during morning trading before the market...Read More
Norwegian-based aluminium and renewable energy producer Norsk Hydro released a summary of financial and production results for the second quarter of 2021 on Friday July 23.In brief: Norsk Hydro reported a 36% increase in total revenue generated in the second quarter of 2021, compared with the same quarter in 2020. Adjusted earnings before financial items, tax, depreciations, and amortization (EBIT...Read More