Base metals prices were pausing and precious metals were mainly on a back footing this morning, Friday January 8, with sentiment generally bullish on the prospects for greater fiscal spending out of the United States when Joe Biden becomes the president in a few weeks' time. Asian-Pacific equities generally upbeat, along with pre-market western equity index futures US 10-year treasury yields conti...Read More
An overview of the new energy raw materials markets and their latest price moves in the past week.Read More
China's domestic battery-grade lithium carbonate market hit a 14-month high in the first trading week of the year after the price rose by 8% week on week on Thursday January 7 on soaring offer prices and heightened buying appetite.China's battery-grade lithium carbonate price hit a 14-month high due to continued tight supply and producers hiking up prices further. Chinese industrial-grade lithium...Read More
Freight Investor Services (FIS) completed the first brokered trade of the CME Group's cash-settled cobalt futures contract on Thursday January 7, the company told Fastmarkets. Five lots were traded for each month of the February-April 2021 period at $16.75 per lb, according to the United Kingdom-headquartered brokerage.The CME Group's cash-settled cobalt futures contract, which is tied to Fastmark...Read More
Most flat-rolled steel import prices declined in South America during the week ended Friday January 8, reversing a two-month uptrend after remaining unchanged during the year-end holidays.Slower domestic demand in China resulted in some lower offers from mills and some short selling from traders, according to market participants. Additionally, there were reports of many Chinese steelmakers refrain...Read More
ArcelorMittal has increased its official spot offer prices for coil products across Europe by ?,?30-50 ($37-61) per tonne effective immediately, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8.New offers for hot-rolled coil have increased to ?,?730 per tonne ex-works, up by ?,?30 per tonne. New offers for hot-dipped galvanized coil moved up by ?,?50 per tonne to ?,?850 per tonne ex-works. Official of...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have gone up after the new year holidays with further sharp rises expected to follow next week, prompted by shortages and increases in raw materials costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8.Buying activity in Poland's rebar market was recovering slowly after the year-end break and was expected to fully resume next week, sources said.Some producers were ba...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up on Friday January 8 due to supply concerns arising from longer transportation time caused by a cold wave and a growing outbreak of Covid-19 in Hebei province. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,490-4,520 yuan ($694-699) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,080-4,120 yuan per tonne, up by 120-130 yuan per tonneVessel...Read More
The uptrend in the pig iron export sector in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued in the week to Friday January 8, despite a seasonally slow market, sources have told Fastmarkets.The weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $550-555 per tonne on January 8, up by $20-25 per tonne week on week from $530 per tonne on December 31....Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to refresh their scrap stocks in the week to Friday January 8, with fresh deep-sea cargoes booked at higher prices, while concerns increased over tight supply in Asia, with China entering the market.Turkish mills book more cargoes for February-March at escalating pricesUS East Coast exporters enjoy demand from Turkish producers; West Coast lacks fresh dealsVietnamese...Read More
Monthly European alloy steel surcharges have increased substantially for January on the back of further gains in the nickel market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8. Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe was calculated for January at ?,?1,578-1,604 ($1,939-1,971), up by ?,?71-88 per tonne from the December level of ?,?1,507-1...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices soared in the week ended Friday January 8, with buyers showing increased interest in securing orders, and sellers trying to achieve new price levels.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, rose to $750-780 per tonne fob on Friday, compared with $670-685 per tonne fob a week earlier.Brazilian slab producers have been full...Read More
Monthly European alloy steel surcharges have increased substantially for January on the back of further gains in the nickel market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 8. Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe was calculated for January at ?,?1,578-1,604 ($1,939-1,971), up by ?,?71-88 per tonne from the December level of ?,?1,507-1...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford and...Read More
Brazilian automotive production rose by 22.8% year-on-year in December 2020, amid stronger export figures, national carmakers' association Anfavea said on Friday January 8.Vehicle output totaled 209,296 units in the last month of 2020, up from 170,504 units a year before. Volumes, however, were 12.1% lower than 238,200 units in November.Full-year production in 2020 was 2.01 million units, a 31.6%...Read More
The merger of carmaking groups Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Peugeot SA (Groupe PSA), to create a new entity called Stellantis, has been approved by shareholders, the companies said on Monday January 4.The merger was expected to be completed on January 16 this year and will make Stellantis' the world's fourth-largest automotive manufacturer by volume.Groupe PSA's brands include Citroen, Peug...Read More
Most flat-rolled steel import prices declined in South America during the week ended Friday January 8, reversing a two-month uptrend after remaining unchanged during the year-end holidays.Slower domestic demand in China resulted in some lower offers from mills and some short selling from traders, according to market participants. Additionally, there were reports of many Chinese steelmakers refrain...Read More
Brazilian steel slab export prices soared in the week ended Friday January 8, with buyers showing increased interest in securing orders, and sellers trying to achieve new price levels.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, rose to $750-780 per tonne fob on Friday, compared with $670-685 per tonne fob a week earlier.Brazilian slab producers have been full...Read More
Aluminium primary foundry alloy (PFA) premiums in the United States and Germany climbed on Friday January 8 as demand outpaced limited supply in those countries. United StatesFastmarkets assessed the aluminium primary foundry alloy silicon 7 ingot/T-bar premium, dlvd dup over P1020A Midwest US at 8.5-10 cents per lb on Friday, up by 19.4% from 7-8.5 cents per lb last month.The premium is at its hi...Read More
The uptrend in the pig iron export sector in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued in the week to Friday January 8, despite a seasonally slow market, sources have told Fastmarkets.The weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $550-555 per tonne on January 8, up by $20-25 per tonne week on week from $530 per tonne on December 31....Read More