Tin continued its advance to new 2021 highs in morning trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday January 29, while the rest of the complex weakened slightly from Thursday, with nickel and lead's forward prices dropping by 1%.Three-month tin reached a new year-to-date high of $23,140 per tonne during early trading, its highest intraday price since June 10, 2014, when it traded at $23,200 per t...Read More
The arrival of around a quarter of a billion dollars of zinc into London Metal Exchange warehouses this week has dented the metal's price prospects, confirming analysts' view of a well-supplied market. A total of 105,800 tonnes of zinc was delivered onto the LME system on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, all in the United States and Southeast Asian port locations, bringing total inventories on the...Read More
Copper concentrate shipments from major Chilean copper mines including Escondida and Collahuasi have been delayed for two to three weeks due to high waves along the coastline in January, Fastmarkets learned.Multiple clients in Asia confirmed to Fastmarkets they were told of the delay and that concentrate scheduled to be loaded at the beginning of January was only loaded onto vessels in the past th...Read More
Indian mills are expected to raise their domestic hot rolled coil prices in February even though international prices of the commodity are expected to weaken, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 29.An official from an Indian mill said that domestic prices would probably increase by another 1,000-1,500 rupees ($13-20) per tonne because demand for HRC is continuing to outstrip...Read More
Prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States export billet market continued to fall in the week to Friday January 29 on softer raw materials markets and a lack of trading activity, sources said.Fastmarkets' assessment of iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao fell to $158.54 per tonne on Friday, compared with $169.97 per tonne a week earlier amid weak demand and Chinese mills' plans to cut crude s...Read More
More European mills have pushed offers up seeking hot-rolled coil transaction price rises due to limited availability of the material, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 29. Buyers, in the meantime, questioned how sustainable these attempts would be in long-term. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?712.50 ($862.83) per tonn...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States extended record highs, with spot purchases gathering momentum while service centers scour the domestic market in an attempt to procure more feedstock for customers.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US leaped to $67 per hundredweight ($1,340 per short ton) on Thursday January 28 from $64 p...Read More
Hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and color-coated coil prices fell slightly in Turkey's domestic and export markets amid slow demand in the week to Friday January 29, sources told Fastmarkets. Demand retreated because prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil, have been decreasing recently, and buyers wanted to see its effect on coated coil prices. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessmen...Read More
The Indian secondary billet price fell for a third week in a row on negative sentiment after prices of finished products including rebar continued to slide. Fastmarkets assessed the steel billet domestic, exw India price at 34,200-34,400 rupees ($468-471) per tonne on Friday January 29, down by 1,000 rupees (2.8%) from 35,200-35,400 rupees per tonne a week ago. The assessment has fallen by...Read More
Hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil prices continued to decrease during the week to Friday January 29 in Turkey, while buying in the domestic market was weak because of uncertainty on price changes, sources told Fastmarkets.Some market participants believe prices have more room to decrease because of weakening prices globally and so did not want to order flat steel for April production and M...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices have yet to hit the buffers in their downward plunge. Buyers in Asia were holding back from purchases in the week ended Friday January 29, swooping in only for low-priced cargoes, but demand from China could support prices in the near term.Turkey re-enters spot marketBearish sentiment in US on lower transaction pricesTaiwan market in rapid descentCovid-19 in Vietnam dam...Read More
The price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan moved down in the week ended Friday January 29 on fresh trades heard in the market, sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $415.83 per tonne on Friday, down from $430.83 per tonne one week earlier.Deals were heard early in the week for shredded at $4...Read More
Turkish steel producers skipped deep-sea purchases on the last working day of the week, with sentiment still negative due to limited demand for rebar and steel billet, sources said on Friday January 29.The most recent deals were heard late on Wednesday January 27, when two US cargoes were booked, bringing the week's total to three. A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a cargo from the...Read More
The price range for UK-origin light iron has dropped ?5 ($5.65) per tonne in the week ending Friday January 29 after a fall in European deep-sea export markets to traditional buyers in Turkey in the past couple of weeks weighed on British scrap prices, trade sources said. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?130-145...Read More
Prices for import cargoes of steel scrap delivered to South Korea have continued to fall over the past week, but Japanese sellers are starting to resist further drops, sources said on Friday January 29.A South Korean steelmaker purchased 10,000 tonnes of H2 scrap at ?36,480 ($350) per tonne fob Japan on January 26, Fastmarkets heard.But after this deal, key Japanese scrap buyer Tokyo Steel reduce...Read More
A summary of sales figures from Russian steelmaker Evraz in the fourth quarter of 2020, from its trading update report published on Friday January 29.Evraz CIS in brief Crude steel output surged by 5.2% quarter on quarter to 3.04 million tonnes, up from 2.89 million tonnes, while scheduled capital repairs during the third quarter of 2020 were completed. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)-bas...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Friday January 29 amid firmer buying interest, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $158.54 per tonne, up $1.12 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $159.05 per tonne, up $1.05 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $144.95 per tonne, up $1.14 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Q...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in both the fob and cfr markets kept relatively flat on Friday January 29, with no deals heard during the day although sources do not believe the seaborne premium hard coking coal fob price will exceed $160 per tonne in the short term.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.92 per tonne, down $0.18 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $21...Read More
China's hot-rolled exporters raised their offers on Friday January 29 despite a declining domestic market amid to concerns over rebate cut for outbound shipments.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,440-4,460 yuan ($687-690) per tonne, down 60-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 4,350-4,420 yuan per tonne, up 20-40 yuan per tonneSpot prices in eastern China weakened due...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Friday January 29 amid inactivity, with the situation set to be compounded next week when many market participants plan to make an early start to their holiday for the Chinese New Year.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,280-4,310 yuan ($663-667) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,110-4,160 yuan per tonne, up 50 yuan per ton...Read More