Futures prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed in the morning of Friday April 30, with tin, aluminium and lead all posting gains, while copper fell from the $10,000-per-tonne high achieved on Thursday. Tin's three-month price rose the most on Friday morning, with a 1.3% gain to $28,835 per tonne.It is currently at its highest level since August 2011 and has recently been spurred on by the...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dipped on Friday April 30, just a day before the start of a five-day break to mark Labor Day in the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,180-5,200 yuan ($801-804) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,170-5,200 yuan per tonne, up by 60-70 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said the market was inactive throug...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Friday April 30 in a quiet market ahead of the May 1-5 Labor Day public holiday in China. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $188.85 per tonne, down $2.75 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $190.01 per tonne, down $3.42 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $161.53 per tonne, down $4.31 per tonne 65% Fe Brazil-or...Read More
Prices of most aluminium scrap grades in the United States rose this past week, driven by high buying interest. Bullishness on mill-scrap material, aided by buoyant copper and silicon markets, translated to higher prices, according to sources.Fastmarkets assessed the buying prices for mixed low copper clips, delivered Midwest secondary smelters; mixed high copper clips, delivered Midwest seco...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices climbed in the cfr market amid tight supply and rising offers on Friday April 30, but inched lower in the fob market amid soft buying activity, market sources told Fastmarkets.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) material increased sharply in the cfr market in the week to April 30, due to persistently tight supply and rising prices for metallurgical coke,...Read More
Deliverable stocks of most base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell in the week to Friday April 30, with nickel down by the most in percentage terms.Nickel stocks totaled 7,877 tonnes this week, down by 683 tonnes or 8.0% from 8,560 tonnes a week earlier. The largest outflow was 453 tonnes from the Changzhou Rongda warehouse in Jiangsu,...Read More
While the whole London Metal Exchange base metals complex ended the month on solidly higher prices than at the start of April on a recent bullish streak, a dollar index at its highest in a week pushed down copper and aluminium prices at the close on Friday April 30. The dollar index reached 91.29 on Friday during afternoon trading, its highest since April 23 after bottoming at 90.42 on Thursday, r...Read More
China's spot blister copper refining charges (RCs) rose in April to their highest level since September 2019 amid increased competition from domestic units and surging scrap availability.Fastmarkets' price assessment for copper blister 98-99% ,RC spot, cif China, was $185-200 per tonne on Friday April 30, up from $170-185 per tonne a month ago. Few tonnages were sold and offered in the $180s...Read More
German steelmakers Saarstahl and Dillinger, part of Stahl Holding Saar (SHS), are to work with Paul Wurth, part of the SMS Group, to use their own process gases and significant quantities of hydrogen in the blast furnace process, the companies announced on Thursday April 29.The H2Syngas project will involve an associated pilot plant to develop the technology to use process gases in a blast furnace...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will announce the results of its discussion paper on market structure on or around June 8 and has not yet made any decisions on the whether to reopen the ring, it said. If the exchange decides to reopen the ring, which temporarily closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the earliest possible date would be the end of June, when social distancing criteria are exp...Read More
The publication of Fastmarkets' European aluminium scrap and secondary prices assessments for Friday April 30 have been delayed because of a technical issue. Fastmarkets' pricing database, MInD, will be updated at the earliest possible moment to reflect the below assessments for the following prices: MB-AL-0019 - Aluminium scrap mixed turnings, delivered consumer Europe, ?,?/tonne April 23: ?,?1,1...Read More
The US Midwest aluminium premium jumped to a new all-time high on Friday April 30, with the US market struggling to attract much-needed imports while the freight and duty components of the premium have spiked as well.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 26-27 cents per lb on April 30, up by 8.16% from its previous record high of 24-25 cents per lb and up by&nbs...Read More
Turkish steelmakers speeded up their deep-sea scrap purchases at the end of the week, with Asian demand for steel products increasing sharply since China confirmed the cancellation of its export tax rebate on some steel products, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 30.China will remove the export tax rebate for some steel products from May 1, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday April 28...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Turkey's largest steelmaking group, Erdemir, for January-March 2021.In brief Turkey's biggest steel producer Erdemir Group produced 24% of Turkish crude steel in January-February 2021. The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased by 262.53% in January-March 2021, because of strong demand for steel in Turkey and...Read More
Trade unions at Liberty's Ostrava plant in the Czech Republic were considering further industrial action and even legal proceedings after news emerged that the plant's EU emissions allowances had been sold to another Liberty-owned steel mill in Romania, Fastmarkets heard on Friday April 30.On Friday, the OS KOVO trade union said that a substantial part of the emissions allowances for the Ostrava s...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin slab were up for the fourth consecutive week on Friday April 30, with strong demand and costlier raw materials resulting in higher offers to the United States.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $900-920 per tonne on Friday, a $20-per-tonne increase from $880-900 per tonne a week earlier and a record high since Fastmarkets b...Read More
Domestic and imported steel beam prices in the United States rose on Thursday April 29, in line with recent mill price increase announcements due to rising demand and tightening supply.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel beams 8- x 8-in, fob mill US was $52.50 per hundredweight ($1,050 per short ton) on April 29, up 5% from $50 per cwt on March 25, and up 10.53% from $47.50 per cwt in Februa...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel coil climbed to new records after market participants said there is hardly any spot material and the duration of the shortage likely will persist longer than buyers had feared.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US rose to $82 per hundredweight ($1,640 per short ton) on Thursday April 29 from $80 per cwt on April 22....Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have increased sharply since China decided to remove the export tax rebate on some steel products. But demand among major scrap importers in Asia was still limited because of upcoming holiday periods in the region.Turkish scrap import prices jump $22 per tonne at the end of the weekUS scrap export prices remain fairly stableSlight improvement in Vietnamese scra...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States surged above $75 per hundredweight ($1,500 per short ton) for the first time ever exactly one year after tumbling below $22 per cwt in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic-related demand crash.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $75.43 per cwt ($1,508.60 per ton) on Friday April 30, up by 2.91% from $73.30 per cwt o...Read More