Fastmarkets opened a consultation on October 1, inviting feedback on its IOSCO-audited non-ferrous materials methodologies in line with our annual methodology review process.The consultation, which closed on October 31, sought to ensure that the specifications and methodology for our audited alumina, aluminium, cobalt, copper, lithium and manganese ore prices continue to reflect the physical marke...Read More
Coated steel coil prices decreased in Turkey during the week ended Friday November 5, while some buyers expect further price falls, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers expect more price decreases because of recent price falls for hot-rolled coil and weak demand, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey was $910-930 per tonne on November 5, narro...Read More
Domestic prices of hot-rolled coil in Europe were fairly stable on Friday November 5, reflecting limited market activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Despite the lack of trading, sentiment remains positive in anticipation of restocking by distributors, upward pressure on prices from high energy and transport costs and because of the agreement reached between the United States and the EU on Section 23...Read More
ArcelorMittal will suspend production as its Sestao plant in Spain until early 2022 to carry out upgrade works to double capacity, a company representative told Fastmarkets.With the company moving forward scheduled engineering works by a month due to high electricity costs, steel production at Sestao will stop from the end of November until early next year, the spokesperson said."Production...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) billet export price declined on Friday November 5 amid limited buying interest; most producers continued to hold back from trading.Trading activity remained limited in the Black Sea basin this week amid bearish sentiment.Softening scrap and long steel prices in Turkey, one of the key buyers of CIS billet, has made buyers cautious."The steel market is s...Read More
Some flat steel prices decreased in Turkey during the week ended Friday November 5; buyers were hesitant to book large tonnages because of the uncertainty, sources told Fastmarkets.Falling prices in China are behind the price drop; prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States have also decreased recently.Turkish flat steel producers accepted orders for January production during the week...Read More
Buyers in the Philippines have purchased imports of steel billet at largely flat prices despite the crash in the Chinese market this week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 5.The Chinese ferrous futures markets have continued to nosedive this week, further reducing the prices in the country's domestic steel billet spot market. On Friday, key China market participants told Fastmarkets tha...Read More
The import pig iron market in the United States went up during the week to Friday November 5 amid bullishness from suppliers.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $550-570 per tonne on Friday, up from $545-555 per tonne a week earlier.There was talk in the market that two Russia-origin cargoes were sold to the US at $568-580 per tonne cfr,...Read More
The price of 18/8 (grade-304) stainless steel scrap in the United Kingdom domestic market decreased during the week to Friday November 5 on lower nickel costs, but the losses were capped by tight supply, sources told Fastmarkets.Indeed, in the European market, prices were largely unchanged, despite the lower nickel costs, because material is so tight.Fastmarkets assessed stainless steel scrap 18/8...Read More
The United Kingdom inter-merchant light-iron steel scrap spot price was stable during the week to Friday November 5 on tight availability and steady dockside prices into export markets such as Turkey and the Indian subcontinent.With international scrap markets trading in United States dollars, the sterling/dollar exchange rate has a major effect on the UK's steel exports. Weaker sterling makes UK...Read More
Turkish steel producers ended the week with a total of five deep-sea scrap cargoes, with prices increasing throughout the week, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 5.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 11,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $500 per tonne and 15,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $520 per tonne cfr l...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into Pakistan and India dipped on Friday November 5 after trading slowed for both markets, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan, at $557.89 per tonne on Friday, compared with $563.74 per tonne one week previous.Deals were heard at $552-562 per tonne in the reported...Read More
Prices for steel scrap imported into Bangladesh were boosted this week by a strong domestic market in the South Asian country, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 5.Bangladesh's local shipbreaking scrap prices were heard this week at 53,500-54,700 taka ($613-627) per tonne ex-yard including VAT, which a leading Bangladeshi trader said was an all-time high.It surpassed the previous record h...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped on Friday November 5 amid further steelmaking production cuts in northern China, market sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.14 per tonne, down $6.96 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.08 per tonne, down $7.62 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $65.78 per tonne, down $10.37 per tonne65% Fe Braz...Read More
Seaborne cfr coking coal prices dropped slightly on Friday November 5 with no trading activity, sources said, while ow-volatility PCI prices also declined following the downtrend in thermal coal prices.Fastmarkets daily indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $600.25 per tonne, down $0.63 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $525.23 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices declined on Friday November 5, with market participants expecting the downward trend to continue amid weakening end-user demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,880-4,910 yuan ($762-767) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,780-4,820 yuan per tonne, down by 360-370 yuan per tonneThe third round of land auctions is taking...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China edged lower on Friday November 5, while futures prices set a new nine-month low.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,960-5,000 yuan ($775-781) per tonne, widening downward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 5,030-5,090 yuan per tonne, down by 260-270 yuan per tonne Spot HRC prices in eastern China ended the week down by 340-370...Read More
Most LME base metals prices were trading slightly higher on the morning of Friday November 5, following declines at the close on Thursday, but zinc's three-month price remained under pressure. The galvanizing metal dipped to $3,1248 per tonne on Friday during early trading, its lowest level since October 8. The price recovered to $3,197 per tonne shortly after 9am, but it was still 1.3% lower than...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in China fell on Thursday November 4, but the rate of decline was slower than that a day earlier after the market was supported by tighter supply from steel mills and on the spot market.East China (Shanghai): 4,900-4,930 yuan ($765-770) per tonne, down by 50 yuan per tonneOver the week to Thursday, rebar output totaled 2.88 million tonnes, a decrease of 21,600 tonnes from the...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday November 5, but for the most part they were on a back foot and looking vulnerable. At the same time, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly weaker while they tracked the weakness on the LME on Thursday, and because weaker coal prices in China are less likely to cause metal producers to cut...Read More