Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets rose in the week ended Friday February 26 amid strong demand for steel products in China and stricter measures to cut emissions ahead of the annual meetings of policymakers in Beijing this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $198.94 per tonne, up $6.33 per tonne.65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao: $222.08 per...Read More
Plans to raise export offers for Chinese hot-rolled coil this week have emerged despite a weakening of domestic prices for the flat steel product in China on Monday March 1.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,820-4,840 yuan ($744-747) per tonne, down 60 yuan per tonneSeveral Shanghai-based traders said sellers in the city's spot market made price cuts on seeing the futures market weaken.The move e...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices softened on Monday March 1, though market participants expect end-user demand to pick up on positive data from the country's construction sector.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,610-4,650 yuan ($712-718) per tonne, widened downward by 10 yuan per tonneThe sub-index for new orders in the construction industry, which feeds into China's construction purchasing manager...Read More
The London Metal Exchange lead price was up 1.5% and most other base metals prices were in positive territory following month-end profit-taking on Friday, while tin's price tumbled by 5% on the morning of Monday March 1. Lead's three-month price was up at $2,083.50 per tonne on Monday at 9am, following a 4.9% slump on Friday at 5pm to $2,052.50 per tonne. The price had reached $2,185 per tonne on...Read More
Recent sharp gains in the London Metal Exchange copper price has substantially raised import costs for Chinese participants, highlighting the country's lack of pricing power, an industry body warned.China's position as the world's top copper importer has left it vulnerable to rising procurement costs amid the metal's recent price rally, an official at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Associati...Read More
Several minor metals prices found substantial support in the week ended Friday February 26 from higher offers from China and limited stocks in Rotterdam. "Suppliers in China seem to be trying their luck at putting every price up," a European trader said. "There are not that many fundamental reasons for it, but I think they have taken note of general optimism in the commodity space and talks of a s...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade,...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Friday February 26. Key drivers: Falling supplies in China aggravated by a shortage of raw material have pushed antimony prices to their highest levels since 2013. Stocks in Rotterdam are at critical levels and consumers in need of material for prompt release have been forced to accept higher prices. ...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday February 26.Key drivers Higher offers from sellers who said they had limited spot material on hand, while buyers were actively making inquiries. Deals were concluded at both the low and high end of the assessed range, but some participants...Read More
Key data from Friday February 26 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Pick-up in spot trading activity following the Lunar New Year holiday (February 11-17); large-volume deals were concluded at the high end of the assessed range, while some deals for smaller volumes of around...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday February 26.Key drivers China's silicon export price, underpinned by domestic market strength, rose last week with deals concluded within the new range. Offers above the assessed range continue to emerge in the market. Domestic prices for silicon grade...Read More
Mining and metals producer Assmang has ended its force majeure on its medium-carbon ferro-manganese production in South Africa, a source told Fastmarkets on Monday March 1. Assmang produces refined ferro-manganese at its Cato Ridge Alloys plant in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal and halted production at the start of January. The company also produces high-carbon ferro-manganese, but producti...Read More
As competition in the global steel markets remains fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in February 2021.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing cases this year,...Read More
Prices for rebar imports into Singapore continued on an upward trend in the week to Monday March 1 on bullish sentiment caused by rebounding scrap prices and higher offers from key suppliers, sources told Fastmarkets.Major steel mills in China and Turkey increased offers to $675-685 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis, on the fast rebound of ferrous scrap prices around the world....Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Thursday February 25.Key drivers: Chinese domestic vanadium alloy producers raised their offer prices significantly last week in response to a bullish overseas market and higher vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) prices.Major V2O5 producers raised their monthly sales price to 107,000 yuan ($16,555) per tonne on a bank acceptance basis, or 105,500 yuan...Read More
Tight supply of tungsten concentrate and tungsten scrap has pushed intermediate prices to nearly two-year highs in February amid a pick-up in end-user demand, market sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets assessed the tungsten APT, 88.5% WO3 min, cif Rotterdam and Baltimore price at $260-265 per metric tonne unit (mtu) on Friday February 26, up 4% from $250-255 per mtu one week earl...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Tuesday March 2, while on the Shanghai Futures Exchange they were mainly weaker.Manufacturing, as indicated by recent purchasing managers index data, has provided mixed signals – growth is slowing in China, but still recovering well in Europe and the United StatesBase metalsLME three-month base metals prices were mixed t...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were slightly lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US78.92 cents following release of Canada's GDP in December. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.8% in November. Actual was an increase of 0.1%Zoon (ZM) advanced $32.34 to $442.00 after reporting higher than consensu...Read More
Several trading houses in Japan have received offers for aluminium in the second quarter of 2021 to main Japanese ports (MJPs) from two producers at premiums of $149 and $165 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange cash price, market sources said on Friday February 26. The latest offer at $165 per tonne is 27% higher than the cif MJP premium for the first quarter of 2021, which settled at $130 pe...Read More