Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have reached their highest level in at least 60 years, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $58 per hundredweight ($1,160 per short ton) on Thursday January 14, up by 6.7% from $54.38 per cwt on Wednesday January 13 and an increase of 7.1% from $54.17 per cwt one week earlier on...Read More
Italian re-rollers have been targeting higher prices for heavy steel plate because of rising costs for steel slab feedstock, while German mills have kept their offers largely unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Official offers of heavy plate from Italian producers have been heard at ?,?620-650 ($755-792) per tonne ex-works. But no deals have been concluded in this range beca...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More
Last week's price increases by domestic producers have propelled US rebar prices to their highest point in over nine years.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US at $39.50 per hundredweight ($790 per short ton) on Wednesday January 13, up 4.6% from $37.75 per cwt the week before and increase of 25.4% from $31.50 per cwt one year ago. US marketDomestic reb...Read More
Flat and long steel imports into Brazil increased in December, amid strong price increases in both markets, according to the latest figures from the country's economy ministry.Brazilian total flat steel imports came to 91,522 tonnes in December, up by 54.99% from 59,051 tonnes in the same month in 2019.Imports of hot-rolled coil from Russia reached 4,037 tonnes in December 2020. In comparison, Bra...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More
Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Low scrap inventory, together with continuing difficulties in obtaining containers and ballooning shipping rates, led several steelmakers in the South Asian country to inquire for tonnages in bulk.A Bangladeshi mill booked a 38,000-tonne composite cargo at a...Read More
British steel scrap suppliers have achieved hefty price increases for steel scrap grades delivered monthly to domestic consumers for January amid a surge in demand for exports, industry sources told Fastmarkets this week. The UK steel scrap consumer market has extended monthly prices increases for the third month in a row, citing reduced scrap generation for the past several months that is showing...Read More
Sentiment in the CIS export steel billet market has been negatively affected by recent developments in import scrap prices in Turkey, with buyers being inactive and expecting prices to fall, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Buyers had mostly prepared to adopt a wait-and-see approach, considering the recent reverse of sentiment in the Turkish import scrap market [LINK], and were expe...Read More
Turkish billet prices made a downward correction on Thursday January 14 in line with negative sentiment in the scrap market and limited demand for the material. Market participants said they expected a slight downward correction in scrap prices, which resulted a slight decrease in billet prices in Turkish domestic, export and import markets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel bill...Read More
The long steel market in Egypt was slow during the week ending Thursday January 14 because of soft end-user demand, with prices unchanged, market sources have told Fastmarkets.The main reason for the weak demand was the construction ban in Egypt, they added.Egypt imposed a ban on construction in May 2020, but eased the rules in September.Contractors and real estate developers were allowed to resum...Read More
China's iron ore imports increased by 9.5% in 2020 in comparison with 2019, Chinese customs data shows.The country imported 1.17 billion tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last year, compared with 1.07 billion tonnes in 2019, according to the statistics released on Thursday January 14.This is despite a 4.5% year-on-year drop in imports in December to 96.74...Read More
China's steel imports increased sharply in 2020 but exports declined from 2019 levels, according to Chinese customs data released on Thursday January 14.2020 imports: 20.23 million tonnes, up by 64.4% from 2019. ...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More
Cobalt metal prices have continued to rally so far this week, with the latest round of Chinese buying tightening supply and emboldening sellers to hold out for higher prices. "Metal continues to move upward day by day, and you can't get the same low offers you got the day before," a distributor source told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam moved...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have reached their highest level in at least 60 years, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $58 per hundredweight ($1,160 per short ton) on Thursday January 14, up by 6.7% from $54.38 per cwt on Wednesday January 13 and an increase of 7.1% from $54.17 per cwt one week earlier on...Read More
Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.Low scrap inventory, together with continuing difficulties in obtaining containers and ballooning shipping rates, led several steelmakers in the South Asian country to inquire for tonnages in bulk.A Bangladeshi mill booked a 38,000-tonne composite cargo at a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday January 14 that are worth another look.In 2020, the global pig iron market faced the threat of a demand slump due to the reduction in steel production from all major outlets under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.Rio Tinto is...Read More
In an era of historically low interest rates, investors are desperately looking for value. If current activity is anything to go by, they believe it lies in commodities.That is because prices of key commodities are steadily gaining; copper has hit eight-year highs above $8,000 per tonne, nickel is at six-and-half year highs near $18,000 per tonne, and iron ore prices are at levels last seen in 201...Read More