Steel billet and reinforcing bar prices have increased again in Egypt for the week ended Thursday December 31, but demand remains weak due to the year-end lull in business, market sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants want to see the global direction of prices at the beginning of January before placing orders.Demand for rebar and billet has been slow in the country since the imposition of a...Read More
Flat steel prices in Turkey continued to increase in the week to Thursday December 31, but buying was weak because most buyers were busy with inventory calculations, sources told Fastmarkets.Additionally, hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell during the week in China because of weak trading, which created market concerns of whether global flat steel prices will follow, trading sources said.Fastma...Read More
Steel coated coil prices were unchanged in Turkey's local market over the week due to low demand during the last week of the year, sources told Fastmarkets on December 31.Most companies are busy with their 2020-end inventory calculations in the last week of the year, which is keeping participants away from the market, sources said.Additionally, many of Turkey's traditional export markets have been...Read More
China's rebar prices picked up on Thursday December 31 despite thin trading, with the government's call for output cuts in the new year lifting market sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,450-4,470 yuan ($682-685) per tonne, up by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 3,950-4,000 yuan per tonne, down by 100-120 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said sellers ther...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices stabilized on Thursday December 31, benefitting from improved market sentiment after the government pledged to cut steel output in the coming year.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,530-4,570 yuan ($694-700) per tonne, up 20-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 4,430-4,480 yuan per tonne, down 190-340 yuan per tonneAlthough HRC prices in S...Read More
A liquidity crunch in India halted gains in the price of shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan in the week to Thursday December 31, market sources told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $458.02 per tonne on Thursday, down by $3.61 per tonne week on week from $461.63 per tonne a week earlier.Offers were at $47...Read More
The premium for direct-reduced (DR) iron ore pellet for the fourth quarter of 2020 was unchanged at $24 per tonne, but it will double in the first quarter of 2021 with a possible downward correction in the second quarter of 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' iron ore DR-grade pellet premium to 65% Fe fines index, Middle East reference was $24 per tonne on Thursday December 31, u...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea ferrous scrap market continued to be quiet due to year-end holidays, sources said on Thursday December 31.The country's steel mills have been silent in the deep-sea markets since December 24, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo containing 30,000 tonnes of shredded scrap at $480 per...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly iron ore implied pellet premium over 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines index, which was published incorrectly on Thursday December 31 due to a calculation error.Fastmarkets' weekly index for iron ore implied pellet premium over 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, $/tonne (MB-IRO-0150) should have been $39.93 per tonne, instead of $40.13 per tonne as it was previo...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its daily iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines index, which was published incorrectly on Thursday December 31 due to a calculation error.Fastmarkets' daily index for 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao (MB-IRO-0009) should have been $173.70 per tonne, instead of $172.90 per tonne as it was previously published.Fastmarkets' pricing database, MInD, has been updated to re...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices made a slight increase on Thursday December 31 despite a quiet trading day, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $160.47 per tonne, up $0.62 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $161.42 per tonne, up $0.17 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $149.63 per tonne, up $1.05 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qi...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices across the board were relatively flat on Thursday December 31 due to a lack of trading during the day while market participants said that Chinese authorities' policy on Australian coal remained a key factor influencing the 2021 spot market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $104.36 per tonne, down $0.03 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More
China's domestic stainless steel prices ticked up slightly in the week ended on Wednesday December 30 amid pre-holiday demand and stable nickel prices. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official session on Wednesday at $16,838 per tonne, up by $91 per tonne from $16,747 per tonne a week earlier. DomesticStainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic (W...Read More
The rapid and significant falls in manganese ore prices in 2019 and 2020 have created 'frozen stocks', which are believed to have acted as a buffer for the ore market while also demonstrating some different characteristics over both years, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin ended 2019 at $3.92 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu), a decline of $2.19 per dmtu...Read More
Bangladeshi steelmakers are likely to re-enter the market soon for purchases of deep-sea scrap cargoes due to low inventory levels, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 31."Bangladeshi mills are getting more urgent to buy compared with a few weeks back. Feedstock will run low but so far, they have been resistant to book fresh bulk cargoes. It is now a game of chicken to see who will blink...Read More
An increase in the number of physical scrap cargoes offered in key import market Vietnam in the the week to Thursday December 31 has dampened sentiment, market sources told Fastmarkets."Many Japanese sellers were offering lower so that they can clear out all their physical cargoes and close their trading books for the end of the year," a Vietnamese buyer source told Fastmarkets on Wednesday Decemb...Read More
The price increases for imported containerized ferrous scrap into Taiwan eased in the week to Thursday December 31 amid a year-end holiday lull.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $440-443 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged day on day but widening upward by $3 per tonne from $440 per tonne a week...Read More
Lower demand for Japanese H2 and H1:H2 heavy scrap from key foreign markets led to slightly lower prices for these grades in the past week, while prices for high-grade material have remained firm."I don't think overseas customers can follow last week's Japan scrap prices now - most Taiwanese buyers skipped purchasing Japanese scrap since there were more cargoes available from the United States," a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday December 30 that are worth another look.Corween Investments, the holding company for Liberty House, was given a lease for the insolvent Polish steel plate producer Huta Czestochowa earlier this week, sources told Fastmarkets on December 30.Shipments of...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed at the close on Wednesday December 30 amid low volumes and quiet market conditions.The LME three-month aluminium price rebounded slightly but remained marginally below the $2,000-per-tonne support level. It edged up by $8.50 to $1,999.50 per tonne, with just 6,697 lots of aluminium trading by 5pm London time, compared to over 20,0...Read More