Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Wednesday October 27, following a further drop in coal prices and widespread selling."Today's news that [China's] National Development & Reform Commission has set the price of thermal and coking coal at levels [that will reduce] key input prices for energy-intensive metals - pertinent to alumi...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in the United States were mostly at a standstill, with the London Metal Exchange's nickel cash average for October broadly sideways from September, even though the daily official price continues to hover above $9 per lb."LME nickel has recovered nicely, but it seems to have leveled off for now, which has prevented prices from moving significantly higher," one dealer sa...Read More
Active buying interest, limited offers from mills and export sales activity - because of the imminent expiry of a temporary export duty - pushed flat steel prices in the Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow up again in the week to Monday October 25, sources have told Fastmarkets.But the upward price trend may not be sustainable because of the usual low season during winter, some market...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
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb at 27.10-27.65 on...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 27 that are worth another look.Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the...Read More
Steel scrap buyers in South Korea have continued to chase bulk bookings from Japan in recent days at increasingly high prices, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 27.?EUR?South Korea books more scrap?EUR?Tokyo Steel Utsunomiya raises buy price again?EUR?China prices continue downtrend amid bearish sentiment in finished steel markets?EUR?Taiwan prices retreat on weakening sentiment...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
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board at the 5pm close of trading on Wednesday October 27, following a further drop in coal prices and widespread selling."Today's news that [China's] National Development & Reform Commission has set the price of thermal and coking coal at levels [that will reduce] key input prices for energy-intensive metals - pertinent to alumi...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
Iranian exporters of billet and slab were quiet in the week ended Wednesday October 27 amid asoftening of the Asian long and flat steel markets, particularly in China, which has been one of the main export outlets for their material this year.A sharp drop in futures and physical prices for rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China resulted in a reduction of demand for imported semi-finished steel p...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rebounded for a second consecutive day after hitting their lowest price since early August on Monday October 25, but participants were still divided on the market direction.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $95.87 per hundredweight ($1,917.40 per ton) on Wednesday October 27, up by 0.46% from $95.43 per cwt on...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
A summary of the financial results for Turkey's largest steelmaking group, Erdemir, for January-September 2021.In brief?EUR? Erdemir Group produced 6.815 million tonnes of crude steel over the first nine months of 2021, equivalent to 23% of the national total.?EUR? The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased year-on-year by 291.98% in January-Septe...Read More
A weakening import billet market in Asia, particularly China - which has been one of the main destinations for CIS-origin material this year - has forced CIS mills to seek support in nearer markets.Interest in import billet dropped sharply in China over the past ten days following a crash in rebar futures prices due to lower demand for long steel products in the country.In such conditions, traders...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
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
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...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
A decision by the European Union on the future of the bloc's scrap metal export trade, which is worth billions of euros per year, could come as early as December this year, the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in Brussels heard on Tuesday October 26.The recycling industry is facing tremendous challenges, panelists said. The EU has proposed restrictions on the export of "waste" ma...Read More