The European Commission's anti-dumping investigation into Chinese graphite electrodes sales into Europe has sparked a rush for material with market participants making plans in case duties are imposed, according to graphite electrode consultants GES.Since the EC declared on February 17 it was investigating whether Chinese graphite electrodes producers had broken anti-dumping rules, steel mills hav...Read More
Domestic long steel producers in Poland were eyeing price increases on high rolling costs, while buyers were resisting hikes, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 12.RebarFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was 2,900-2,950 zloty ($757-770) per tonne on Friday, narrowing from 2,870-2,950 zloty per tonne seven days earlier.Trading activity...Read More
The pig iron export market from Brazil was stable during the week to Friday March 12, with no new deals heard because suppliers were fully booked, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $520 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.The latest sale from the south of Brazil to the United States was...Read More
Increasing scrap flows and bearish appetites led to softer prices in the majority of international steel scrap markets in the week to Friday March 12.While the markets in the United States, China and India appeared to be static over the period, a flurry of buying activity in Vietnam was intended to capitalize on lower Japanese scrap prices, while Taiwanese traders made hasty sales in a bid to avoi...Read More
Trading activity in the pig iron import market in the United States slowed down during the week to Friday March 12 because buyers have restocked, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $570 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.The latest deal in the US for low-phosphorus pig...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices increased in the week to Friday March 12 with demand still high in most buying markets for the semi-finished material.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was $780-800 per tonne fob on March 12, up by $20-40 from $740-780 per tonne fob previously.Producers increased their offer prices because they saw increased bids f...Read More
The export price for steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS) softened at the end of the week to Friday March 12, following a downturn in the scrap sector.Scrap prices in Turkey dropped sharply because of oversupply as well as low demand for rebar in the country's domestic and export markets.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, c...Read More
Exporters of steel billet raised their offers at the end of a week in which prices for the semi-finished material had been consistently under pressure, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 12.Chinese buyers were very active during the previous two weeks, booking a raft of billet cargoes from India, Indonesia and Vietnam. But trading activity was muted over most of the past seven days, with sal...Read More
Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) plans to triple its annual output of stainless steel products by 2025, according to its general manager Gao Jianbing.The mill - China's second-largest stainless steel producer - plans to raise its annual crude steel output to 25 million tonnes by that year. Of these,...Read More
Falsified steel production records are undermining China's crackdown on industrial pollution, especially in key steelmaking city Tangshan, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday March 11.Unannounced checks by ministry officials on four steel mills in the city had found that the mills had "doctored and deleted production records" and "tipped each other off" about the spot checks....Read More
Falsified steel production records are undermining China's crackdown on industrial pollution, especially in key steelmaking city Tangshan, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday March 11.Unannounced checks by ministry officials on four steel mills in the city had found that the mills had "doctored and deleted production records" and "tipped each other off" about the spot checks....Read More
Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Tisco) plans to triple its annual output of stainless steel products by 2025, according to its general manager Gao Jianbing.The mill - China's second-largest stainless steel producer - plans to raise its annual crude steel output to 25 million tonnes by that year. Of these,...Read More
Falsified steel production records are undermining China's crackdown on industrial pollution, especially in key steelmaking city Tangshan, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday March 11.Unannounced checks by ministry officials on four steel mills in the city had found that the mills had "doctored and deleted production records" and "tipped each other off" about the spot checks....Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 11 that are worth another look.Europe's proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has been approved by a firm majority in the European Parliament and is expected to help to preserve the region's steel supply chain, industry...Read More
Vedanta Zinc International's Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa could post a production loss of up to 40,000 tonnes in 2021, a source with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Fastmarkets.Mining activity temporarily halted at the Gamsberg mine after a pit collapse in November 2020, but restarted in January. The mine has a capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year of zinc in concentrate....Read More
Aluminium billet premiums in Europe reached all-time highs on Friday March 12, with the US billet premium now barely below a record high, and supply squeezed across the globe.EuropeBillet premiums in Europe continued to soar on Friday due to continued supply tightness and logistics issues.The premium has overtaken the multi-year highs reached when US sanctions imposed on producer Rusal caused pani...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices increased in the week to Friday March 12 with demand still high in most buying markets for the semi-finished material.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was $780-800 per tonne fob on March 12, up by $20-40 from $740-780 per tonne fob previously.Producers increased their offer prices because they saw increased bids f...Read More
The South American import market for flat-rolled steel remained on an upward trend in the week to Friday March 12 with more expensive offers from China and Japan, but acceptance of these became less common with ship availability still low and freight rates remaining high, holding prices back.Two main factors were putting pressure on the market: the bulk freight situation and a potential cut in the...Read More
A key topic reverberating around the Asian steel market over the past month has been the possibility of China reducing steel export rebates to 9% from the current 13%, or possibly axing them altogether.Market chatter on this topic has grown increasingly louder, with industry sources in China hearing more and more details about these plans from late January onward."This is likely in line with China...Read More
A shortage of containers to ship commodities around the world and the consequent soaring in associated freight rates have led to a revival of interest in breakbulk cargoes. Producers and physical traders of metals, agricultural, chemical and timber products have been starting to book shipments in breakbulk vessels, which cost far less and doesn't require vast amounts of equipment in port. On the m...Read More