German carmaker BMW has set up a closed-loop material cycle for production tools made of tungsten, it said.Starting in June, BMW will begin collecting secondary tungsten obtained from old drill and milling bits at its plants in Germany and Austria that will be recycled and used to manufacture new industrial machinery.These BMW plants generate almost nine tonnes per year of scrap from carbide tools...Read More
Miners China Moly and IX Metal have joined Glencore and Huayou's Fair Cobalt Alliance (FCA), a body whose aim is to professionalize the artisanal mining sector in the global heartland of cobalt production - the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)."[Because we are] a large industrial miner that maintains strict product control and custody procedures, artisanal and small-scale mining [ASM] sits outsi...Read More
The export market for hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has softened in the week to Tuesday June 22 because suppliers have been cutting offers to attract buyers.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $980-995 per tonne on June 22, down from $995-1,020 per tonne one week previously.HRC offers from Ukraine were r...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose for a third consecutive business day after market participants said tonnage on the spot market may be scarce for at least the duration of the summer. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $84.98 per hundredweight ($1,699.60 per short ton) on Tuesday June 22, an increase of 0.69% from $84.40 per cwt on Monday b...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices continued to rise in the cfr market due to tight supplies, while prices were largely stable in the fob market, with market participants adopting a wait-and-see attitude, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $177.87 per tonne, up $0.59 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $290.19 per t...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have been staying away from deep-sea scrap purchases because of weak rebar sales and a sufficiency of scrap stocks, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.The most recent deals were heard on June 15, when two United States-origin cargoes were sold.A mill in the Marmara region bought those cargoes, which comprised HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $500 and $501 per tonne,...Read More
Join Fastmarkets and the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday June 29 for a webinar about European aluminium premiums ahead of the launch of the LME's new cash-settled futures contract.The LME will launch its new European duty-paid aluminium premium cash-settled contract on July 19, which is settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam.The LME previously la...Read More
China imported 111,432 tonnes of steel scrap in May, surpassing the total of 109,978 tonnes of its imports of the steelmaking raw material in the first four months of 2021, according to the latest Chinese customs data.Last month's imports are also 56% higher than those imported in April.Of the total, 79,327 tonnes - or 71.2% - originated in Japan. South Korea remained China's second-largest scrap...Read More
Consumers have to accept a green premium in order to achieve net-zero emissions targets in the steel sector, Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI) president and chief executive officer Mark Millett said during a keynote address on Monday June 21 at Fastmarkets' 2021 Steel Success Strategies Industry Briefing."Otherwise it won't work," Millett said, adding that "net zero remains aspirational for now," and that...Read More
Mr Xu Kuangdi, the former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at a symposium on Monday June 21 that using scrap in steelmaking would be an "effective and realistic" way for China to achieve carbon neutrality in the steel sector and it should be "strongly encouraged" nationwide, sources said.The symposium was organized by the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) for the national...Read More
The automotive industry is rapidly evolving toward an autonomous and electric future, and steel is well-prepared to grow alongside it, representatives from Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs said during a panel at Fastmarkets' 2021 Steel Success Strategies Industry Briefing.Steel "offers an enormous combination of solutions that are easily implemented into the next version of vehicles," Dan Gordon, senior...Read More
Nickel continued to experience the strongest rebound on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Tuesday June 22, while most metals also trended upward following last week's slumps. Nickel was up by 1.6% at 9am on Tuesday, at $17,730 per tonne. This adds to a 1.7% gain at the end of Monday, when the contract closed at $17,450 per tonne. The stainless steel additive was back to levels seen a wee...Read More
The steel rebar and billet market in the United Arab Emirates was slow because buyers are waiting for new local rebar prices to be announced, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 22.Local rebar producers should announce their new prices soon, sources said.Some market participants expect prices to roll over, while other expect discounts due to weak global prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assess...Read More
Offers of steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States were lowered somewhat over the week ended Monday June 22, with the intention of drawing in customers amid a lack of demand and growing competition with Turkish suppliers.Turkish mills were offering rebar for export at $730 and $760 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis at the end of last week, compared with $750-780 p...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe remained in a wide range on Tuesday June 22, with some buyers ready to accept high prices for material with shorter lead times, sources told Fastmarkets.Northern European steelmakers have been reported to have good order books, and they have been holding back from making official offers. The region's mills were sold out of HRC until fourth-quarter roll...Read More
Brazilian domestic flat steel prices have reached a ceiling this month, with no additional room for price increases, according to Carlos Loureiro, president of national flat steel distributors' association, Inda.The price level reached a maximum after increases of around 10% were applied in early June, and distributors are already having problems passing on the adjustment to their clients.Fastmark...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 22 that are worth another look.Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe remained in a wide range on June 22, with some buyers ready to accept high prices for material with shorter lead times,...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for May 2021.In brief Exports of cobalt tetroxide fell in May amid falling downstream demand for batteries used in consumer electronics outside of China as a result of a lack of semi-conductor chips and a resurgence...Read More
Several idled aluminium smelters are scheduled to resume operations soon following a strong aluminum price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Fastmarkets was told on Tuesday June 22.One long-term idled aluminium smelter in Qinghai province - located in the northwest of China - has been checking its operation lines recently with an aim to restart the plant at the beginning of the third quarter, seve...Read More
A summary of China's base metal imports for May 2021.Copper ore and concentrateMay total: 1.95 million tonnes, up by 1.2% month on month, up by 15.1% year on yearRefined copperMay total: 291,378 tonnes, down by 8.7% month on month, down by 4.7% year on yearCopper scrapMay total: 139,444 tonnes, down by 16.9% month on month, up by 100.8% year on yearBauxiteMay total:...Read More