The persistent shortage of hot-rolled coil in Europe continues to drive prices upward, with steelmaker ArcelorMittal increasing its offer prices for the third time so far in April, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 22.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?965.00 ($1,160.35) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?8.75 per tonne from ?,?956.25...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices increased over the past week in line with improving demand for billet and rebar in the export market, sources said on Thursday April 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, domestic, exw Turkey was $590-600 per tonne on Thursday, up from last week's $580-585 per tonne.A steel mill in northern Turkey was heard selling a significant volume of billet to t...Read More
The price of high-grade 65% Fe iron ore fines looks set to break through the $230-per-tonne-cfr-Qingdao price ceiling amid tight supply of seaborne cargoes and hefty mill margins, industry sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao stood at $221.90 per tonne on Wednesday April 21, up 12.6% from $197.10 per tonne on April 1. The price spre...Read More
LME aluminium's three-month price surpassed its 2018 high in intraday trading on Thursday April 22, with lead's price up by 1.3%, while nickel and copper retreated from their Wednesday prices at the close. Aluminium's price reached $2,375 per tonne on Thursday, taking out the May 2018 high of $2,374.50 per tonne to stand at a level last seen in October 2010. But the light metal closed at $2,3...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Thursday April 22 after fresh tensions between Australia and China emerged and further emissions restrictions were introduced in the Chinese steel hub of Handan city, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $183.62 per tonne, down $4.61 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $185.38 per tonne, down $3.29 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange set fresh multi-year highs on Wednesday April 21, while copper and tin shied away from previous highs, and the rest remain rangebound this morning.India reported 315,000 new Covid-19 infections on WednesdayHaven assets on the riseBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were down across the board by an average of 0.4% this morning, but volume has...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap for June shipment, supported by strong export demand for rebar, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 22.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Venezuelan cargo, consisting of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), at $424.50 per tonne cfr.This compared with the most recent Baltic Sea cargo, which was booked at $427 per tonne...Read More
Turkish domestic rebar and wire rod prices have increased over the past week amid rising imported scrap costs and strong export demand. But the overall demand in the local market was still sluggish, sources said on Thursday April 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 5,950-6,100 lira ($728-747) per tonne on Thursday, up from last week'...Read More
Antofagasta Minerals has reduced the number of workers at its mining operations and offices, and has postponed maintenance at one of Chile's largest copper mines, Los Pelambres, due to the appearance of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in the country, the company said on Thursday April 22.In March, Chile recorded the start of a second wave of Covid-19 infections with a sharp increase in case numb...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Morenci operations in Arizona, the United States, have been awarded the Copper Mark, an assurance framework demonstrating responsible production practices and contribution to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.This brings the number of the company's sites that have achieved the Copper Mark to six. In addition to Morenci, they are the Miami smelter and mine, and th...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan has not yet reached a mutually acceptable agreement to develop a new copper smelter in Indonesia with a third-party, but commercial discussions have been taking place, the company said.In its first-quarter 2021 earnings on April 22, the US copper producer said that the smelter would be at an alternate location to other options on the table for the project.The company did not name...Read More
US copper producer Freeport-McMoRan said it expects production at its Indonesia unit to rise significantly in 2021 from year-ago levels, reaching around 1.3 billion pounds of copper, or 589,670 tonnes.In 2020, the company's Indonesia unit produced 809 million lbs, or 366,956 tonnes. The increase comes as the company transitions from open pit to underground mining at the giant Grasberg mine in Indo...Read More
A lack of automotive demand in the UK - and across the rest of the world - has driven secondary aluminium prices in the country to a two-month low, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 22.The global shortage of semiconductor chips, which has led to a temporary halt in automotive production across the UK and Europe, has weakened demand for secondary aluminium, putting downward pressure on ingot pric...Read More
US copper producer Freeport-McMoRan said its Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru is expected to be back at pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels in 2022.This will see the mine, in which Freeport owns a 53.56% stake, return to around 400,000 tonnes of ore per day. During the first quarter of 2021, Cerro Verde's concentrator facilities exceeded planned milling rates and averaged 390,100 tonnes of ore per day. It...Read More
Fastmarkets wishes to inform customers that it will change the way it publishes its downloadable weekly base metal premiums table PDF effective June 1 as part of the transition to the Dashboard, its dynamic, real-time data and news delivery platform.We will continue to publish our global base metal wraps on a weekly basis, providing the informative context and market detail that customers are accu...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States stayed above $70 per hundredweight for a second day in a row, with market participants warning that the price will continue to climb to new highs.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $70.28 per cwt ($1,405.60 per short ton) on Thursday April 22, down 0.35% from $70.53 per cwt on Wednesday April 21 but up 2.26% fro...Read More
Less than a month after the start of the April-June 2021 safeguard quota period for imports of steel materials into Europe, the quotas for a number of products have been either completely exhausted or almost filled.And in February this year, the European Commission started an investigation into the possible extension beyond June 30 this year of existing safeguard measures affecting 26 steel produc...Read More
Prices for steel reinforcing bar in the United States have remained stable, with market participants sharing mixed sentiments about the possibility of a looming upswing.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was steady at $41.75 per hundredweight ($835 per short ton) on Wednesday April 21, unchanged since March 10.US marketSome sources continued to hear marke...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will restart operations at its Arauc??ria unit, in the country's southern Paran?? state, after 6.5 years of downtime, the company said on Thursday April 22.Production will resume at a gradual pace, depending on domestic market developments, Gerdau said. Total crude steel capacity at the site is 420,000 tonnes per year, it added in a filing to Brazil's securities and exc...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), or color coated coil, were more or less stable in the week to Thursday April 22, while demand remained strong, sources told Fastmarkets.Most coated coil producers were fully booked until August, with some accepting orders for September production.Demand was strong in both the local and export markets because of...Read More