Lithium prices were steady around the world in the week ended Thursday June 10, with both Asian, European and United States markets underpinned by tight availability.Battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices in Asia were steady in active markets with consumers focused on securing materials. The battery-grade lithium carbonate price range in China stayed intact with some cheap technical-grade units di...Read More
Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, along with key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia. Read More
The European Commission plans to start an anti-dumping investigation into hot-dipped galvanizing coil from Turkey and Russia, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 11. Multiple market participants said that European steel association Eurofer has lodged a complaint and that the executive arm of the European Union is likely to announce the start of the case soon. Eurofer declined to comment...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were fairly stable in Europe on Friday June 11 despite slower demand and a weakening of import prices, sources told Fastmarkets.The domestic prices were supported by good order books at EU mills. Producers in Northern Europe were heard selling fourth-quarter-rolling material, although Italian mills were still able to offer volumes for shipment at the end of the...Read More
The domestic price of steel rebar remained stable in Brazil in June, but market participants were uncertain about the price outlook for the finished steel product, questioning the stability of the global price uptrend and noting lower scrap costs in the country.There were reports of one mill announcing a price increase for the month and others debating whether such rise was feasible, but the major...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were fairly stable in Europe on Friday June 11 despite slower demand and a weakening of import prices, sources told Fastmarkets.The domestic prices were supported by good order books at EU mills. Producers in Northern Europe were heard selling fourth-quarter-rolling material, although Italian mills were still able to offer volumes for shipment at the end of the...Read More
Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, along with key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia. Read More
Brazilian slab export prices were stable this week, with most buyers taking a step back and waiting for more definition in the market.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil unchanged at $980-1,000 per tonne on Friday June 11.Offers to the United States were sustained at $1,000 per tonne fob, but no deal was reported.Despite the hesitancy, the market in the...Read More
Most base metals stocks continued their declines in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses in the week to Friday June 11, with zinc leading in percentage terms at a 21.5% drop. Zinc inventories were at 56,582 tonnes on Friday, down by 15,521 tonnes from 72,103 tonnes a week prior. The largest outflows were recorded at R&S Logistics in Shanghai, where stocks fell by 5,400 tonnes (43.6%) to...Read More
Zijin Mining will set up a new copper concentrate blending facility through a joint venture (JV) with state-owned conglomerate Minmetals, Fastmarkets learned.The blending facility will be in Lianyungang port of Jiangsu province and has already received preliminary approval from China's customs, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.Pending approval from local customs, which market sources...Read More
China's nickel pig iron (NPI) price narrowed upward in the week to Friday June 11, driven by strong demand from Chinese stainless steel mills, while nickel ore prices also rose, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China was 1,165-1,180 yuan ($182.30-184.70) per nickel unit on June 11, narrowing upward by 15 yua...Read More
China-based steel traders have regained their appetite for steel billet imports following increases in their domestic steel markets over the last few days, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 11.The most traded rebar and hot-rolled coil futures contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up by 3.74% and 3.13% respectively on Friday afternoon.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel billet...Read More
Metal held outside London Metal Exchange warehouses decreased for the second month in a row, by a slight 6% in April to 1.17 million tonnes, after falling 40% in March. The LME's latest off-warrant stock report showed a decrease of 74,358 tonnes over the fourth month of the year, following a decrease of 841,034 tonnes in March. The volume per metal dropped for five of the six main metal contingent...Read More
Spot copper-concentrate processing charges remained stable in the week to June 11 amid sluggish market conditions, Fastmarkets heard.Major Chinese smelters were carrying out maintenance so spot buying interest was low, which kept Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index, cif Asia Pacific largely unchanged. A few spot parcels of...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
Zinc showed the biggest increase, at 1.6%, at the close on Friday June 11, while all other prices on the London Metal Exchange ended a week of consolidation on firmer footing.Zinc's three-month price rose to $3,044.50 per tonne, rising from a $2,995 per tonne on Thursday, and up by 1.5% since the start of the week. Similarly, lead's price was up 1.4% on Friday to $2,205.50 per tonne, giving i...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices increased substantially in the month to Friday June 11, with mills facing extreme shortages of the steelmaking raw material, sources told Fastmarkets.The southern European country's steelmakers were unable to source the necessary volumes of scrap due to shortages across Europe, particularly for new scrap grades, market sources said.Supplies of new scrap, includi...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Recent weeks have largely been a repetition of the weeks leading up to our previous tracker in mid-April. A flurry of price increases have been announced, and largely obtained, by leading steelmakers in both Europe and the United States while buyers struggle to secure spot tonnages.Although steel output is rising in both reg...Read More