Domestic and imported steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States were sideways on Wednesday October 20, but sources noted growing uncertainty around what the rest of the quarter may look like.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on October 20, unchanged since August 11 at its highest since late 2008. Notably...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's base metals production results for the third quarter of 2021, as stated in its production report published on Tuesday October 19. Vale's nickel production declined in the third quarter from the prior quarter due to a labor disruption at its Sudbury mine in Canada, which halted operations for 70 days, of which 40 days were in third quarter, with an impact of 11,0...Read More
Taiwan's import prices for containers of steel scrap were expected to continue to rise because of a huge premium for bulk import prices over material arriving in containers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.?EUR?Taiwanese buyers continue to book containerized cargoes?EUR?Chinese market muted by wide bid-offer gaps?EUR?China's ferrous scrap import volumes down by 49% month on...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies in...Read More
Base metals prices were down across the board on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange this morning, Wednesday October 20, with relatively high volume being seen on the LME.After the upward spikes in LME cash prices, ahead of the October prime data, it is perhaps not surprising a reality check is underway......but once again let us see how far the pullback goes.Broader marke...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices decreased on Wednesday October 20 amid weak demand following a sharp decrease in coal futures. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,700-5,740 yuan ($891-897) per tonne, down by 30 yuan per tonneChina's National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) plans to address the issue of high coal prices to ensure sufficient supply of the material ahead of the country's heatin...Read More
Japanese local and export buyers have been locked in a fight for steel scrap in the week to Wednesday October 20, pushing up prices across the board, sources told Fastmarkets.Major electric arc furnace (EAF) mill Tokyo Steel on Wednesday announced it would raise its scrap buy prices by ?500-1,000 ($4.38-8.75) per tonne at some of its works starting Thursday October 21. This marks the second price...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 20 that are worth another look.Workers at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's plant in Ghent, Belgium, might go on strike from Thursday next week in a dispute over salaries, Fastmarkets heard on October 20.Trafigura has been drawing...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to pay higher prices for deep-sea ferrous scrap cargoes scheduled for shipment in December, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 32,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap at $502 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus-grade scrap at $522 per tonne cfr.Pre...Read More
Japanese local and export buyers have been locked in a fight for steel scrap in the week to Wednesday October 20, pushing up prices across the board, sources told Fastmarkets.Major electric arc furnace (EAF) mill Tokyo Steel on Wednesday announced it would raise its scrap buy prices by ?500-1,000 ($4.38-8.75) per tonne at some of its works starting Thursday October 21. This marks the second price...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe moved downward in the week to Wednesday October 20, due to recent imports and falling feedstock costs, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,230-1,275 ($1,432-1,484) per tonne on October 20, down from ?,?1,275-1,330 per tonne on October 13.Domestic hollow se...Read More
Taiwan's import prices for containers of steel scrap were expected to continue to rise because of a huge premium for bulk import prices over material arriving in containers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 20.?EUR?Taiwanese buyers continue to book containerized cargoes?EUR?Chinese market muted by wide bid-offer gaps?EUR?China's ferrous scrap import volumes down by 49% month on...Read More
Fastmarkets sees upside risk to Chinese graphite prices in the fourth quarter of 2021, largely reflecting rising electricity costs and reduced power supply, as well as insufficient inventories and inadequate availability of feedstock for spherical graphite processing.High power costs and limits on energy consumption in China may make it increasingly difficult for graphite producers to stockpile ma...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Alex Cook...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in northern Europe and Italy continued to slide on Wednesday October 20 due to reduced automotive demand and higher availability of material, sources told Fastmarkets.A bearish mood in the market made buyers cautious about making new purchases, sources said, although demand has started to pick up due to distributor restocking for the first quarter of next year....Read More
Russian steel mills increased their prices for November deliveries of hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet in the country's Central District around Moscow on Monday October 18, despite buying interest being cooler with the end of the construction season, Fastmarkets has heard.The good demand and active purchasing by stockists at the end of September, for October deliveries, were now sl...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Alex Cook...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 20 that are worth another look.Workers at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's plant in Ghent, Belgium, might go on strike from Thursday next week in a dispute over salaries, Fastmarkets heard on October 20.Trafigura has been drawing...Read More
Wire rod prices in the United States rose by $40 per short ton ($2.00 per cwt) in October, to hit record highs for domestic and imported low-carbon wire rod, high-carbon wire rod and cold-heading quality wire rod.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel wire rod (low carbon) industrial quality, fob mill US was $59.50-62.50 per hundredweight ($1,190-1.250 per short ton) on Tuesday October 19, up 3...Read More