Global steel scrap prices continued to fall over the week ended Friday March 19, with market participants battling against the disruptions in the bulk freight sector.Turkey goes quiet despite rise in available cargoesUS sellers expect Turkey to return for scrap soonLack of free vessels hobbles Vietnam import businessBuying slows in China amid weaker appetite for scrapSellers to Taiwan resist furth...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Concerns about a fresh Covid-19 lockdown in the Philippines are limiting the prices that most buyers are willing to pay for imported steel billet, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday March 19.Philippine steel demand was severely affected last year during the country's lockdown periods and sources believe a repeat of this situation could come soon after daily Covid-19 cases soared to an...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday March 19. Key drivers:Prices for ferro-molybdenum and molybdic oxide continued to decline amid ample availability and slow consumer demand for the former; and trader selling for the latter, following...Read More
The European charge and high-carbon ferro-chrome benchmark for the second quarter of 2021 has leapt up to $1.56 per lb Cr, a jump of 38.5 cents (32.77%) from the first quarter. The settlement is announced every quarter by Merafe Resources, which operates a chrome joint venture with trader-miner Glencore in South Africa. The benchmark is a forward-looking price for the coming quarter. It is settled...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese seamless linepipe prices have jumped by $120 per tonne over the past month because of rising costs. With iron ore prices remaining elevated, scrap costs on the rise, and activity at steel mills curbed by environmental measures, steel billet has become difficult to source, bolstering the prices for seamless linep...Read More
Volkswagen has decided to temporarily suspend production in all its Brazilian plants because of the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the company announced on Friday March 19The stoppage will last for 12 days and will start on March 24. Only essential activities will be allowed in the factories."The measure aims to preserve the health of the company's employees and their...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Volkswagen has decided to temporarily suspend production in all its Brazilian plants because of the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the company announced on Friday March 19The stoppage will last for 12 days and will start on March 24. Only essential activities will be allowed in the factories."The measure aims to preserve the health of the company's employees and their...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) - a supplier of copper concentrate with high gold content to East Asia and Southeast Asia - will suspend production for 14 days from Friday March 19 to contain the spread of Covid-19. "In light of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases at the mine site and in Papua New Guinea, OTML will temporarily suspend operations for 14 days as of Friday March...Read More
Trading activity in the United States' pig iron import market remained muted but firm during the week to Friday March 19, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $570 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Several sources put offers for material originating from the Commonwealth of independent States at $560 per tonne cfr and...Read More
Volkswagen has decided to temporarily suspend production in all its Brazilian plants because of the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the company announced on Friday March 19The stoppage will last for 12 days and will start on March 24. Only essential activities will be allowed in the factories."The measure aims to preserve the health of the company's employees and their...Read More
No new deals were reported in the pig iron export market from Brazil during the week to Friday March 19, with the market remaining firm.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $520 per tonne on Friday, unchanged since March 5.Offers of pig iron for May-June shipment were reported...Read More
Import activity in the South American flat-rolled steel market was nearly at a halt in the week ended on Friday March 19 due to growing uncertainty about the existing Chinese steel export tax rebate.Many importers have temporarily stopped trading China-origin material due to information that has circulated about possible reductions on China's export tax rebate for steel products, either...Read More
The never-before-seen measures meted out by China's Tangshan provincial government could cut hundreds of thousands of tonnes per day in steel output and hit raw material demand in 2021, market sources told Fastmarkets. Tangshan's environmental protection office said on Friday March 19 that it is looking to tighten its grip on air pollution in the city, especially after it found that not all s...Read More
Aluminium's price on the London Metal Exchange was up 2.2% at the close to $2,265 per tonne on March 19, with the rest of the base metals complex also benefiting from a short-covering bounce on Friday.The light metal came to $2,275 per tonne on Friday at around 4:30pm, its highest level since June 14 2018, when it reached $2,280 per tonne at a time of deep trade tensions between the United States...Read More
The beneficiaries of the London Metal Exchange's proposal to close the ring, incentivize electronic trade and change its margin methodology are likely to be algorithmic traders and banks, a floor trader at the exchange said.Daniel Messinger, deputy head of trading at LME ring dealer Sucden Financial, said that these market participants already have a significant influence on LME trading."It's virt...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese seamless linepipe prices have jumped by $120 per tonne over the past month because of rising costs. With iron ore prices remaining elevated, scrap costs on the rise, and activity at steel mills curbed by environmental measures, steel billet has become difficult to source, bolstering the prices for seamless linep...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More