Deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses all declined in the week to Friday April 23, due to consumers trucking their cargoes out before the Labour Day holiday in China, sources said.SHFE nickel stocks totaled 8,560 tonnes this week, down by 994 tonnes or 10.4% from 9,554 tonnes last Friday, data shows.The largest outflow of nickel this week left Zhongch...Read More
The London Metal Exchange is suspending the trading of all prompt dates from December 2021 onwards on its cash-settled alumina futures contract with immediate effect, it said on Friday April 23. The LME alumina contract was launched on March 11, 2019 and settled against Fastmarkets MB's benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index in a basket alongside CRU's alumina index. Equal weighting was...Read More
Nickel's three-month price showed the biggest rise among base metals on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Friday April 23, with most prices finishing the week on a positive note due to a low US Dollar Index and fund buying acitivty in the complex.The price of nickel was up by 2% to $16,395 per tonne from Thursday's 5pm price of $16,063 per tonne, after trading sideways for most...Read More
China's exports of major steel products rose significantly in March on a year-on-year basis due to the attractive prices for Chinese materials in January and February, when most March shipments were booked.For instance, exports of hot-rolled coil totaled 1.78 million tonnes last month, an increase of 92% year on year, according to Chinese customs data. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-r...Read More
Pig iron export prices from Brazil increased further during the week to Friday April 23 with demand both in the United States and in the local market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $540-545 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $540 per tonne the previous week.Read More
Global steel scrap markets began to revive with growing downstream demand for finished steel in the week to Friday April 23. But regional prices diverged over the period, with Turkish buyers securing scrap at lower levels while Asian importers had to contend with price increases.Mills in Turkey secured cheaper European scrap to feed increased rebar exportsUnited States sales were on hold, with exp...Read More
The domestic steel rebar market in Poland was broadly stable over the week to Friday April 23, despite local steelmakers' attempts to increase prices, Fastmarkets heard.All local rebar producers were reported to have sold out of their April-rolling rebar, market participants told Fastmarkets. Celsa Huta Ostrowiec was said to have almost finished May-rolling bookings and tested the market with fres...Read More
A Polish subsidiary of US steelmaker Commercial Metals Company (CMC) is likely to commission a new wire rod mill in the second quarter 2021, several sources told Fastmarkets on April 23.Sources that spoke to Fastmarkets expect CMC's long products facility in Zawiercie, Poland to commission a new 200,000-tonne-per-year capacity wire rod facility during the second quarter of 2021."CMC Zawierice will...Read More
Brazilian export prices for steel slab went up for the third consecutive week on Friday April 23 when local mills raised their offers, mainly to the United States, and were aiming for higher prices in other regions, including the domestic market.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, at $880-900 per tonne on Friday, up by $10 per tonne from $870-890 per tonne...Read More
European ferro-titanium producers are increasingly looking for feedstock alternatives, such as vacuum scrap, to tackle weaker alloy bid prices from consumers in the steel sector. Some producers have been switching more of their intake of smelting feed to make alloy, using higher quality vacuum scrap, after turnings prices jumped by almost 65% since the start of the year. Turnings scrap has been in...Read More
Chinese buyers resumed imports of steel billet over the past week, underpinned by strong long steel demand in the domestic market, sources said on Friday April 23.Chinese exporters raised their long steel offers over the past fortnight amid worries that the country's export rebate of 13% on such materials will be removed, with prices jumping to hit the highest levels since October 2008.The strong...Read More
No deals were heard to have taken place in the Turkish scrap import market on Friday April 23, with activity quiet because of the Children's Day public holiday in Turkey.A third booking from Wednesday came to light on Friday, however, which resulted in Fastmarkets' indices edging down slightly.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (8...Read More
No deals were heard to have taken place in the Turkish scrap import market on Friday April 23, with activity quiet because of the Children's Day public holiday in Turkey.A third booking from Wednesday came to light on Friday, however, which resulted in Fastmarkets' indices edging down slightly.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (8...Read More
Global steel scrap markets began to revive with growing downstream demand for finished steel in the week to Friday April 23. But regional prices diverged over the period, with Turkish buyers securing scrap at lower levels while Asian importers had to contend with price increases.Mills in Turkey secured cheaper European scrap to feed increased rebar exportsUnited States sales were on hold, with exp...Read More
The base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed this morning, Friday April 23, as were the wider markets while US President Joe Biden prepares to announce his plans on tax.Markets awaiting direction from purchasing managers' index (PMI) dataBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were mixed, but on average were up by 0.4% this morning, with le...Read More
The range for British domestic prices for grade-5C steel scrap widened in the week ended Friday April 23 on firm demand both at home and in export outlet regions, sources have told Fastmarkets.The demand for light iron scrap came from major scrap processors in the country, a steady rate of exports to key destinations such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent, and short sea sales into Europe, they...Read More
Import prices for steel hot-rolled coil in the key Vietnamese market increased greatly in the week to Friday April 23 amid strong demand from buyers and continual rises in offers from Indian steel mills, market participants have told Fastmarkets.Indian steel mills raised their offers at least once during the week, to $960-980 per tonne cfr Vietnam from an initial $950-955 per tonne cfr Vietnam. Th...Read More
Indian secondary billet prices fell by 1,600 rupees ($21) per tonne during the week to Friday April 23 on subdued demand from finished product makers, market sources said."There is a shortage of industrial oxygen all over the country because oxygen is being prioritized for medical use [for treatment of Covid-19]," an official from an integrated billet mill told Fastmarkets. Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe continued to rise on Friday April 23, due to a persistent shortage of locally produced material, limited and costly overseas alternatives and strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?971.25 ($1,168.26) per tonne on April 23, up by ?,?6.25 per tonne fr...Read More
European buyers of steel coil are encountering difficulties obtaining credit insurance and opening credit lines for purchases because of the rapid price rises and extended lead times in recent months, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Market participants said the situation was limiting the ability of buyers to acquire required volumes, despite strong demand from both distributors and end consumer...Read More