The entire batch of 50,000 tonnes of reserved aluminium put up for sale by auction from Chinese state reserves was sold within seconds of bidding being opened at 8am local time on Monday July 5, sources have told Fastmarkets.This was only the first batch to be made available for purchase, and comprised only 10% of the amount expected to be sold.Bidding began at a price of 15,952 yuan ($2,465) per...Read More
Turkish steel mills returned to the deep-sea scrap import markets with a flurry of bookings from the Baltic Sea and the United States, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 7.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a cargo from the US, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $498 per tonne cfr.And in the Marmara region, a steel mill also booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&...Read More
All the world's major coking coal importers reduced their purchases in 2020 amid steel production cuts and lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and India imported a total of 217.76 million tonnes of coking coal last year, down by 10.1% from 2019....Read More
Base metals rallied in morning trading on Wednesday July 7 with copper leading the pack higher.At $9,495 per tonne the LME three-month copper contract was up 1.96% from Tuesday's 5pm close."Yesterday, we said the metals were looking more upbeat because copper had broken higher, but given the weakness seen yesterday, the market looks a bit flighty, so we will wait to see if the dip buying pushes co...Read More
China's new trend pf setting out unwritten rules for its commodities industries and communicating them verbally will be a key method to watch out for in the future, market sources told Fastmarkets."Unofficial communications to steel mills are increasingly [coming] via provincial and township authorities [and are], not written out clearly as announcements," an iron ore trader in eastern China told...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 7 that are worth another look.Automotive production in Brazil rose by 69.58% in June over the corresponding month in 2020, on the industry's recovery from stoppages called during the Covid-19 pandemic last year, automakers' association Anfavea said on July 7....Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico increased in the week ended Friday July 2, after being mostly stable in the previous week, amid consumers fighting to secure supply.After a week of stability, most steelmakers in Mexico's northern Monterrey region and central Baj?-o region applied price increases to all grades due to limited material availability.Price movements were reported in a wide range, between...Read More
The Zakat, Tax & Customs Authority in Saudi Arabia has decreed that all imports into the country will be subject to import duty, whether they come from free-trade zones or other member-states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).GCC countries normally have duty-free trade between each other. They are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.The Saudi Arabian decree...Read More
Steel rebar and billet prices in the United Arab Emirates decreased during the week to Tuesday July 6 due to a global slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets.Global demand for long steel is moderate to weak, and prices are no longer increasing in Turkey, a key exporter of rebar.Emirates Steel, the biggest producer in the UAE, decreased its official rebar price by 55 dirhams ($14.97) per tonne to 3,012...Read More
Copper prices fell by 2.1% on the London Metal Exchange during trading on Tuesday July 6, on a strengthening of the US dollar and market caution at the start of the new trading month.The three-month copper price fell by almost $200 per tonne on Tuesday to $9,312 per tonne, despite reaching an intra-day high of $9,632.50 per tonne. This was a 2.1% decrease from Monday's 5pm close of $9,511 per tonn...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued their upward trend on Tuesday July 6 on restocking demand, but end user demand soured, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,950-4,980 yuan ($767-771) per tonne, up by 80 yuan per tonneTrading houses raised their procurement rates on Monday to build up inventories in anticipation of lower production in the second half of 2021.The...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 6 that are worth another look.Indian suppliers exhausted their third-quarter quota for shipments of hot-rolled coil into Europe on the first day of the new three-month period, according to data released by the European...Read More
Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly increased on Tuesday July 6, with a tepid dollar driving the complex up. The United States dollar index was at 92.29 on Tuesday, up 0.8 from an earlier reading on the same day, but lower than its peak of 92.76 during its late-May to early-July rally. The three-month LME lead price led the increase on Tuesday, up 1.2% compared to Monday's c...Read More
Buyers' activity in the steel scrap import market remained low on Tuesday July 6 despite rising contracts for rebar and hot-rolled coil on the Shanghai Futures Exchange."Market chatter on mills cutting production has turned the finished steel markets bullish, so raw materials [markets] followed. This is why rebar and HRC rose higher than iron ore in the futures market today," a Zhejiang-based trad...Read More
The United States' Department of Commerce announced on July 2 that they will sanction China's Wanbao Mining and its entities for supporting Myanmar's military regime.The entities are involved in copper mining and satellite services. They are Wanbao Mining Ltd., its two subsidiaries - Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper, Ltd. and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper, Ltd. - and King Royal Technologies Co., Ltd.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.Read More
The Turkish steel producers continued to hold back from the deep-sea scrap import markets on the second working day of the week due to limited demand for finished long steel products, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 6.The mills in the country booked four deep-sea cargoes last week, three of which were booked by a single steel mill.The most recent deal was concluded at $495 per...Read More
China imported 879,965 tonnes of steel billet in May, up by 77% from 497,588 tonnes in May 2020, according to customs data.Indonesia remained the biggest supplier of billet to China in that month at 260,642 tonnes. Slab import volume of 72,480 tonnes was down by 67% year on year. Vietnam accounted for 57% - 41,510 tonnes - of...Read More
Copper prices fell by 2.1% on the London Metal Exchange during trading on Tuesday July 6, on a strengthening of the US dollar and market caution at the start of the new trading month.The three-month copper price fell by almost $200 per tonne on Tuesday to $9,312 per tonne, despite reaching an intra-day high of $9,632.50 per tonne. This was a 2.1% decrease from Monday's 5pm close of $9,511 per tonn...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued their upward trend on Tuesday July 6 on restocking demand, but end user demand soured, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,950-4,980 yuan ($767-771) per tonne, up by 80 yuan per tonneTrading houses raised their procurement rates on Monday to build up inventories in anticipation of lower production in the second half of 2021.The...Read More