Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 1 that are worth another look.Chinese nickel sulfate prices have made steady gains since the start of 2021, rising again last week to set the highest level since Fastmarkets began tracking the market in July 2018.More than 67,000 lots of the Singapore Exchange's 65% Fe iron ore swaps...Read More
Chinese nickel sulfate prices have made steady gains since the start of 2021, rising again last week to set the highest level since Fastmarkets began tracking the market in July 2018.Fastmarkets assessed the price of nickel sulfate min 21%, max 22.5%, cobalt 10ppm max, exw China at 33,000-33,500 yuan ($5,133-5,211) per tonne on Friday January 29, up by 1,000 yuan per tonne (3.1%) from 32,000-32,50...Read More
The price of tin on the London Metal Exchange closed above $23,000 per tonne on Monday February 1, while aluminium's forward price was under the most pressure from the rising US Dollar Index, dropping by more than 1% from last week's closing prices.Tin's three-month price rose by 1.4% to $23,103 per tonne from Friday's 5pm closing price of $22,779 per tonne, ending the day above the $23,000 per to...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Monday February 1, sources told Fastmarkets, due to weak demand and limited trading liquidity, despite the potential impact of severe weather on supplies from Australia. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $157.07 per tonne, down $1.47 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $157.77 per tonne, down $1.28 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade...Read More
Seaborne coking coal fob prices across the board rose on Monday February 1, sources said, adding that bids and offers for premium hard coking coal were higher than before while the cfr market remained quiet.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $156.54 per tonne, up $1.62 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.73 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The conequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on energy demand affected oil and gas prices through much of 2020 and weighed on drilling rates and demand for oil-country tubular goods (OCTG) in most regions.These effects were most likely to continue well into 2021 and perhaps longer, according to Fastmarkets OCTG Intelligence Serv...Read More
Some European steel producers pushed their official hot-rolled coil offer prices upward in the week ended Friday January 29, with buyers likely to accept some transaction price increases in the short term.On January 28, ArcelorMittal increased its official offers for HRC to ?,?750 ($910) per tonne ex-works across the EU, up by ?,?20 per tonne from previous offers. And Swedish steelmaker SSAB has b...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of its copper cathode premium cif Rotterdam. Rotterdam continues to be a major location for copper cathode imports into Europe, but premiums for that business rarely change between a typical range, historically between $35 per tonne and $55 per tonne over London Metal Exchange prices. As such, Fastmarkets is proposing to amend the freq...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue pricing physical copper cathode premiums on a seaborne basis to South Korea. South Korea is a major producer of grade A registered refined copper cathodes and in recent years has imported very little of this material. South Korean copper cathode imports tend to be equivalent grade or non-registered material, which Fastmarkets is looking into pricing instead as i...Read More
Prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on Monday February 1 morning, with nickel the only metal to make a substantial gain of nearly 1%, given the weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data released on Sunday. Nickel's three-month price was up 0.95% at 9am on Monday to $17,860 per tonne, from Friday's closing price of $17,691 per tonne.The metal fell 3% over the last week of January,...Read More
Metals analyst Vivienne Lloyd has joined Trafigura where she will focus on the zinc and lead markets, Fastmarkets understands.Lloyd joins after several years at Australian bank Macquarie in London where she covered base and...Read More
Onahama copper smelter in Japan is operating at half of its capacity after an oxygen plant outage in mid-January, Fastmarkets has learned. Jointly owned by Mitsubishi Materials and Dowa, Onahama smelter has an annual production capacity of 300,000 tonnes of copper. The smelter in Fukushima has been producing around 15% of Japan's copper output since its recovery from extensive damage caused by the...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board this morning, Monday February 1, this despite weaker-than-expected manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) data out of China over the weekend.But perhaps most noteworthy has been the 8% rally in spot silver that has surpassed $29 per oz to challenge last August's high. March tin lower on Shanghai Futures Exchange despi...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States climbed after domestic mills announced another round of price increases in finally offering material for March shipment.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US climbed to $51 per hundredweight ($1,020 per short ton) on Friday January 29, up from $49 per cwt ($980 per ton) on January 22. The asse...Read More
Prices for domestic merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel in the United States rose for the third month in a row in January, while import prices remained unchanged after climbing in late December 2020.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US was at $44.30 per hundredweight ($886 per short ton) on Friday January 29, up by 4.7% from $42.3...Read More
The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was slow in the seven days to Monday February 1, with hot-rolled coil prices decreasing sharply because of weak demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $695-725 per tonne on Monday, down from $745-760 per tonne a week earlier.The main reason for...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export wire rod price recovered somewhat in the week to Monday February 1 on demand in European markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers of Ukraine-origin material were heard within the range of $700-730 per tonne fob Black Sea, depending on destination, while Russia-origin material was available within the range of $690-702 per tonne fob Black Sea, sou...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were fairly stable day on day on Monday February 1, but buyers were likely to accept price rises imposed by producers - at least in the short term, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?713.33 ($865.65) per tonne on Monday February 1, up by ?,?0.83 per tonne...Read More
Brazilian exports of iron ore increased by 8.7% in January 2021, compared with the corresponding month of 2020, despite there being two fewer workdays in 2021, the country's ministry of economy said on Monday February 1.The country exported 28.99 million tonnes of iron ore in January, up from 26.67 million tonnes a year before. Daily average shipments totaled 1.45 million tonnes, 19.6% higher than...Read More
India will remove its import duties on steel and stainless steel scrap imports with effect from February 2, the Material Recycling Association of India said on Monday February 1.India currently imposes customs duties of 2.5% on steel scrap imports. The new trade policy will remain in place until...Read More