China's domestic rebar prices continued to slide on Friday April 9 after representatives from the Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development visited five cities to speak with officials in charge of housing development.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,990-5,030 yuan ($761-767) per tonne, down by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,140-5,180 yuan per tonne, up by 160...Read More
Competitively priced imports from Asia could limit further prices increases for stainless steel flat products produced in Europe, despite ongoing tightness in the domestic market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 9. Fastmarkets' assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was ?,?2,800-2,850 ($3,329-3,389) per tonne on Friday,...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More
Brazil's domestic steel rebar price rose again in April following an average 15% increase announced by mills, market participants said.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, monthly, delivered Brazil at 5,630-5,700 Reais ($1,006-1,019) per tonne on Friday April 9, up by 17.53% from 4,740-4,900 Reais per tonne a month earlier.New offers were mostly reported withi...Read More
Automotive manufacturer Volvo Group and Swedish steelmaker SSAB have signed a collaboration agreement for the research, development, serial production and commercialization of the world's first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel, the companies said on Thursday April 8. Volvo plans to start the production of concept vehicles and components produced from steel made by SSAB using hydrogen this...Read More
Automotive manufacturer Volvo Group and Swedish steelmaker SSAB have signed a collaboration agreement for the research, development, serial production and commercialization of the world's first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel, the companies said on Thursday April 8. Volvo plans to start the production of concept vehicles and components produced from steel made by SSAB using hydrogen this...Read More
Brazilian iron ore pellet producer Samarco, a 50:50 joint venture between Vale and BHP, on Friday April 9 filed a petition for bankruptcy protection under a Brazilian court as a "last resort" to restructure its liabilities, both parent companies said.Samarco filed the petition in a commercial court in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state. If the petition is accepted by the presiding judge, act...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums across the globe were at multi-year or all-time highs on Friday April 9 due to supply tightness, logistics issues and firm demand.EuropeBillet premiums in Europe continue to rise, with sellers increasing their offers and supply exceptionally tight. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $750-800 per tonne on Fr...Read More
The South American flat-rolled steel import market strengthened during the week ended Friday April 9, with clients accepting what little material was available from China and other origins at higher prices."Customers on the South American Pacific coast seem to be increasingly anxious that they may not be able to receive firm offers for June shipment from Chinese mills [and] already started to acce...Read More
Brazil's domestic steel rebar price rose again in April following an average 15% increase announced by mills, market participants said.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, monthly, delivered Brazil at 5,630-5,700 Reais ($1,006-1,019) per tonne on Friday April 9, up by 17.53% from 4,740-4,900 Reais per tonne a month earlier.New offers were mostly reported withi...Read More
India is stepping back from importing ferrous scrap and aiming to become a more self-sufficient steelmaker. But what issues led to this change of tactics and how will it affect global scrap trade flows? Fastmarkets investigates. The global scrap market is currently under pressure from a variety of challenging conditions, from a Covid-19-related shortage of shipping containers, to port delays and r...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange edged lower during morning trading on Friday April 9 in low-volume trading conditions. The three-month copper price dropped back below $9,000 per tonne this morning, down by $60.50 per tonne to $8,947.50 per tonne.The red metal hit a two-week high of $9,104 on Monday but there have been steady deliveries of copper into LME warehouses over the past fe...Read More
Base metal stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses continued to diverge in the week to Friday April 9, with lead inventories rising the most with a 14% increase, while the rest were little changed, according to the exchange's latest stocks report.Lead stocks totaled 52,752 tonnes on Friday, an increase of 6,491 tonnes from 46,261 tonnes a week earlier.Zhejiang Tianchuan warehouse...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin slab have increased amid high offers to the United States, where demand for the semi-finished steel is strong and flat steel prices are near record highs.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $850-870 per tonne on Friday April 9, up by 8.18% from $780-810 per tonne the previous week. Early in the week, compan...Read More
Major global steel scrap markets have started to level off in recent days following sharp increases in the preceding few weeks.High supply hits Turkish import market again US export prices rise in sales to Turkey Vietnamese import prices keep rising despite calmer steel markets Chinese buyers re-enter market for bulk cargoes at higher prices Taiwan import prices stabilize following recent rises In...Read More
Aluminium primary foundry alloy (PFA) premiums in Europe surpassed their all-time highs on Friday April 9, while the US premium soared to its highest level in nearly 21 months.EuropePremiums for aluminium primary foundry alloy hit their highest levels since Fastmarkets started tracking the market in 2015, bolstered by rising P1020 premiums and logistical complications that have forced growing numb...Read More
Base metal futures prices roundly dropped day on day on Friday trading in London but ended largely higher than the week while markets continue to digest mixed news out of China and the United States.At $2,264 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price was down by 0.94% against Thursday's 5pm close but was up 1% against Tuesday's market open of $2,240 per tonne.The three-month copper price closed a...Read More
KAZ Minerals will be taken private after acquirer Nova Resources received enough shareholder votes to accept its $5.6 billion offer for the company.As of 1pm on April 9, Nova Resources - a vehicle backed by KAZ Minerals chief executive officer Oleg Novachuk and Kazakhstan's richest man, Vladimir Kim -owned or had had offer acceptances for shares representing 89.17% of the company at 850 pence ($11...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
Copper smelters were still looking for May and June shipments this week, while traders were also actively acquiring copper concentrate in the tightly supplied market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 9.Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment charge/ refining charge(TC/RC) index, cif Asia Pacific, dropped to low $20s/2 cents this week for the first time.Smelters in China have been b...Read More