India-based Essar Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia's industry minister for the construction of a hot-rolled coil manufacturing unit, the Middle Eastern country's National Development Center (NDC) said on Wednesday October 27.Bandar Bin lbrahim Al-Khorayef, Saudi Arabia's minister for industry and mineral resources, and Rewant Ruia, representing Essar Steel, signed t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were up across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Thursday October 28, continuing to rebound following a recent period of widespread selling."Given the [recent] price action, this Friday's week- and month-end closes should be important to determine whether we see some longer-term length liquidate," Alastair Munro, LME desk analyst at Marex, sai...Read More
European prices for steel hot-rolled coil were broadly stable on Thursday October 28, with buyers and mills continuing to hold back from the market although sentiment was upbeat, sources told Fastmarkets.European producers were busy negotiating long-term contracts for 2022 with end-users and therefore were not providing firm offers to the spot market, sources said.Buyers expected producers to retu...Read More
The low-carbon ferro-chrome market in Europe leapt over the two weeks to Tuesday October 26 to a multi-year high due to extremely tight availability, with some sellers not offering on the spot market and consumers scrambling to find material.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe was $3.43-3.75 per lb Cr on October 26, up by 38-50 cents (13.97%)...Read More
Turkish steel mills were quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets ahead of an upcoming Republic Day holiday on Thursday and Friday, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 27.The most recent cargo was recorded on Tuesday, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a cargo from the United States, consisting of 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) and 10,000 tonnes of shredded at an average price o...Read More
Domestic steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States were sideways on Wednesday October 27, but import tags went up for the first time in nearly two months.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US was $49.25 per hundredweight ($985 per short ton) on October 27, unchanged since August 11 at its highest level since late 2008. This marks the 11th week of that the a...Read More
Consolidating its position in the battery materials supply chain amid fierce competition is the biggest challenge facing Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co, company president Dongqiang Cao told Fastmarkets in an interview.Previously, attracting investment and improving the ability to provide finance had proved to be a bottleneck in the early stages of Greatpower's development, when it expande...Read More
Aluminium producer Rusal's sales dipped by nearly 12% quarter-on-quarter to 915,000 tonnes in July-September 2021, according to its latest statement of operating results."Aluminium sales dynamics can largely be explained by an increase of goods in transit that are recognized as inventory, which was caused - among other factors - by transport capacity restrictions in supply chains globally," the co...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Alex Cook...Read More
The United States' imports of finished steel products increased moderately month on month but ballooned year on year in September, with most tracked commodities showing gains.A total of 2.94 million tonnes of steel imports arrived in September, up by 16.70% from the final tally of 2.52 million tonnes in August and up by 156.45% from 1.15 million tonnes in September 2020, according to prelimin...Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market was slow on Wednesday October 27, but mills are likely to seek price rise due to increasing production costs, sources told Fastmarkets. Buyers and sellers have been holding back from trading until a trend becomes clear, they added. Demand, however, has started to gradually improve due to distributors re-stocking for the first quarter of next...Read More
A flurry of export sales off the East Coast and Florida has put further supply pressure on an already tight US ferrous scrap market.An East Coast sale that was reported on October 22 for an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap priced at $510 per tonne and shredded scrap at $530 per tonne raised eyebrows for its high selling price.It is too early to tell whether this cargo is an outlier tha...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies in London;...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped sharply on Wednesday October 27 due to high supplies and weak demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,230 yuan ($814-819) per tonne, down by 150-170 yuan per tonneThe supply of coal to major power plants has been higher than consumption for 20 days, according to a report by state-owned CCTV...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 27.Please click...Read More
Prices for aluminium P1020A cargoes offered into China have come down from multi-year highs because of a marked decline in demand, an uncertain near-term outlook and the closure of the London-Shanghai arbitrage window, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday October 27.Fastmarkets' latest monthly assessment of the aluminium P1020A premium, cif Shanghai, was $130-140 per tonne on Tuesday, down from a six-ye...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China fell further on Wednesday October 27, with the coal-led broad-based decline in the futures markets resuming following the state planner's latest attempt at cooling coal prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,390-5,480 yuan ($843-857) per tonne, down by 70-110 yuan per tonneSpot prices covered a wide range on Wednesday, as the most-traded HRC contract on...Read More
The low-carbon ferro-chrome market in Europe leapt over the two weeks to Tuesday October 26 to a multi-year high due to extremely tight availability, with some sellers not offering on the spot market and consumers scrambling to find material.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe was $3.43-3.75 per lb Cr on October 26, up by 38-50 cents (13.97%)...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe was unchanged on Wednesday October 27, with the market looking to recoup recent losses, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,230-1,275 ($1,427-1,479) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.Market sources believed that hollow sections prices had reac...Read More