Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 18 that are worth another look.Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet has sent a letter to the European Commission highlighting distortion in the European Union carbon and stainless flat steel market caused by anti-dumping and safeguard measures.Low-carbon aluminium will be part...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price rose to a seven-year high during trading on Thursday February 18, with positive macroeconomic sentiment and the return of Asian trading acting as catalysts for base metals prices. Nickel's three-month price reached $19,205 per tonne during Thursday, the first time it had touched above $19,000 per tonne since September 2014. It closed slightly low...Read More
Mitsui Bussan Commodities (MBC) has launched a new regulated subsidiary in Paris, France, to ensure continuity of service for clients after Brexit, it said on Thursday February 18. The subsidiary is called Mitsui Bussan Commodities (France) SA (MBCF) and will aim to expand the company's pan-European capability now that the United Kingdom has left the European Union. The energy team are already pro...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 18 that are worth another look.Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet has sent a letter to the European Commission highlighting distortion in the European Union carbon and stainless flat steel market caused by anti-dumping and safeguard measures.Low-carbon aluminium will be part...Read More
Manganese ore miners and traders have been surprised by an accelerating rise in freight rates that is eroding their margins, amid increased demand for vessels and competition for freight space from other commodities.Freight rates have been rising steadily since December but have risen by at least 20% in the past week, according to the latest freight quotes heard by Fastmarkets.In the week to Febru...Read More
The ferro-chrome market in Europe continued to strengthen over the week to Tuesday February 16 due to tight global supply, resulting in consumers looking for material and needing to accept higher offer prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, high carbon, 6-8.5% C, basis 65-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe rose by $0.02-0.06 per lb (3.4%) to $1.12-1.28 per lb Cr on Tuesday, from...Read More
With negotiations for the annual zinc concentrate treatment charge (TC) under way for 2021, miners and smelters are debating how much to lower the TC after a year of tightening supply.Fastmarkets understands that initial miner offers were close to spot levels of $100 per tonne, while smelters staked their first bids near last year's settlement price of $299.75 per tonne.The 2020 annual benchmark z...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 18 that are worth another look.Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet has sent a letter to the European Commission highlighting distortion in the European Union carbon and stainless flat steel market caused by anti-dumping and safeguard measures.Low-carbon aluminium will be part...Read More
The price of alloy-grade cobalt metal remained steady day-on-day on Thursday February 18, while the price of standard-grade cobalt moved higher, drawing the two price assessments back into parity, amid thin trading and with Chinese buyers still absent from the market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $22.95-23.75 per lb on February 18, up from $22.90-23...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices dropped in the month to Wednesday February 17, following the negative price trend that settled in the global market in the first half of the month, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Italy, was ?,?310-325 ($374-392) per tonne on February 17, down by ?,?15-35 per tonne...Read More
Turkish steel producers resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases, accepting higher prices due to support from growing steel demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 18.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $418 per tonne cfr late on Wednesday February 17.The previous US cargo sold at $410 per tonne cfr for the same ma...Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported to Bangladesh accelerated over the last seven days despite a hesitancy from buyers to pay higher rates, market participants told Fastmarkets on February 18.Bangladeshi steel scrap prices have swelled in the last week in line with other major import markets such as Turkey and India, although few sales were heard at the new levels.Shredded scrap in containers was hear...Read More
China's metals industry returned from holiday to find metal prices were higher and it would appear have chased prices higher, with all the base metals on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange showing gains this morning, Thursday February 18. While the metals were higher, Asian equities were for the most part under pressure this morning US 10-year treasury yields remains firm, as...Read More
The price of alloy-grade cobalt metal remained steady day-on-day on Thursday February 18, while the price of standard-grade cobalt moved higher, drawing the two price assessments back into parity, amid thin trading and with Chinese buyers still absent from the market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, was $22.95-23.75 per lb on February 18, up from $22.90-23...Read More
A summary of United States-based lithium producer Albemarle's results for the fourth quarter of 2020, as stated in a quarterly report published on Wednesday February 17.In briefNet sales of lithium declined by 12.8% year-on-year over the October-December quarter, due to lower contract and market pricing. But...Read More
Marubeni Corp has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with battery recycler Retriev Technologies Inc in the United States to develop a new circular business for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, the Japanese trader said on Wednesday February 17. Two companies will develop a business model by which valuable metals recovered from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries can be reused. They will...Read More
Domestic prices in Europe for steel cold-rolled coil increased over the week to Wednesday February 17 supported by a material shortage, sources have told Fastmarkets.Producers in the North of the EU have been reported as either offering late-second-quarter-rolling HDG or being sold out for second-quarter production. Some major producers in Germany have been already offering July-August production...Read More
Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet has sent a letter to the European Commission highlighting distortion in the European Union carbon and stainless flat steel market caused by anti-dumping and safeguard measures. The association has specifically asked not to prolong existing safeguard measures into steel imports beyond their expiration on June 30 this year, it said on Wednesday Febr...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
Steel rebar buyers in Egypt expect prices to increase for March production orders because of rising production costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday, February 18.Demand, however, remains weak because of the limited number of permits being granted for new buildings in the country since the easing of the ban on construction, they added.The cost of steelmaking raw materials from the Commonwealt...Read More