London Metal Exchange tin's three-month price rose to its highest since August 2011 during trading and was up by 5% at Wednesday's close on April 28 following news from one of the market's main suppliers while nickel made substantial gains on its fourth consecutive day on the rise. LME tin's price reached $28,595 per tonne on Wednesday on news that the world's third largest tin producer, Malaysian...Read More
A summary of miner-producer China Molybdenum Co's financial results for the first quarter of 2021, as released on Tuesday April 27.In brief Revenue for the company's mining and processing business totaled 39.92 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2021, up by 78% year on year, while net profit was 1.01 billion yuan,...Read More
With the exception of the June nickel contract, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker this morning, Wednesday April 28. This after strong gains in recent weeks and likely reflects some caution ahead of the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and US President Joe Biden's address to Congress. US 10-year treasury yields climb......US Dollar Index's fal...Read More
Shanghai copper premiums dropped further in the week to Tuesday April 27 to their lowest since September 2020, while premiums widened upward in both Southeast Asia and the United States. Chinese smelters are starting to export copper cathodes because the LME price is outperforming that of the SHFE. Copper price rally sees best grade scrap "sold above its intrinsic value" to China, while spot...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for June shipments on Wednesday April 28, with prices edging ever higher, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea at $432 per tonne cfr.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a second Baltic sea cargo of 17,000 tonne of HMS 1&2 (80:20)...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday April 28.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market is stabilizing after losses in the week prior amid renewed consumer demand while a steelmaker in Asia looks to settle a tender for several hundred tonnes of alloy, trade sources said. A persistent acute shortage of titanium scrap turnings underpins both scrap and...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday April 28.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market is stabilizing after losses in the week prior amid renewed consumer demand while a steelmaker in Asia looks to settle a tender for several hundred tonnes of alloy, trade sources said. A persistent acute shortage of titanium scrap turnings underpins both scrap and...Read More
One of China's major tungsten product producers, Jiangxi Tungsten Group, has suspended operations at its only ferro-tungsten plant ahead of the Labor Day holiday on May 1-5, a source at the company told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 28.The facility produces around 3,000-3,500 tonnes of ferro-tungsten per year and accounts for about 80% of China's ferro-tungsten produced from tungsten concentrate....Read More
Strong interest in imports of steel billet among Chinese customers supported a further uptick in the CIS export billet price in the week to Wednesday April 28.A cargo of around 40,000 tonnes of Ukraine-origin billet was reported sold to China at $655-660 per tonne cfr early this week, Fastmarkets heard. Market participants said that the price would be equivalent to $605 per tonne fob Black Sea.Bul...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 28 that are worth another look.Latin American steelmaker Ternium plans to focus mainly on supplying its own slab needs in Mexico and selling any excess to the domestic market via its slab mill in Brazil, chief executive officer M??ximo Vedoya said on...Read More
There may be significant swings in the prices and trade flows in the steelmaking raw materials market if the Covid-19 situation in India continues to worsen, sources told Fastmarkets.India has had a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks - breaching the 300,000 mark several times over the week to April 27 - while vaccinations fail to stem the tide of infections.Higher pellet pric...Read More
China is planning sweeping changes to its tax regimes for ferrous raw materials from May 1, its Ministry of Finance said on April 27.The changes are designed to guarantee the supply of steel making raw materials and continue to drive the steel industry toward high-quality growth, the ministry said.There will be no import tariffs for pig iron, crude steel, recycled steel raw materials, ferro-c...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for June shipments on Wednesday April 28, with prices edging ever higher, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea at $432 per tonne cfr.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a second Baltic sea cargo of 17,000 tonne of HMS 1&2 (80:20)...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe narrowed upward on Wednesday April 28 with production costs continuing to soar, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,070-1,120 ($1,292-1,353) per tonne on April 28, narrowing upward from ?,?1,050-1,120 per tonne on April 21."There is no sense in anything. The...Read More
The market for steel wire rod in the north of Europe was largely unchanged over the past week on the disparity between producers' offers and bids from buyers, while market sources expected price increases to be achieved in May because of the limited availability of material, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday April 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, de...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in the north of Europe were broadly stable in the week to Wednesday April 28, supported by strong end-user demand, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?650-670 ($785-809) per tonne on April 28, unchanged week on week.The assessment reflected deals, offers and achievable pric...Read More
Steel billet producers in Iran achieved higher prices in deals with traders in the week to Wednesday April 28, supported by rising prices in Asia.Two cargoes of 30,000 tonnes each were reported sold by two mills at $599 per tonne fob Southern ports of Iran.This price was up by $8 per tonne from $591 per tonne achieved by Iranian sellers a week earlier.One of the county's major billet exporters had...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe increased again on Wednesday April 28, due to the continuing shortage of materials and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?987.50 ($1,192.64) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?14.17 per tonne from ?,?973.33 per tonne on Tuesday.The index was also up by...Read More
Domestic prices for European heavy steel plate increased further in the week to Wednesday April 28, supported by stronger demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?875-900 ($1,057-1,087) per tonne on April 28, up by ?,?35-50 per tonne from ?,?840-850 per tonne a week earlier.The assessment was based on transa...Read More
Domestic prices for flat-rolled steel in the United States are expected to remain high throughout the second quarter, but decrease slightly in the third and fourth quarters, although not significantly, Ternium chief executive officer M??ximo Vedoya said on Wednesday April 28.The executive said demand in the US was strong, and he doesn't expect any material improvement on the supply side this year....Read More