A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday July 8.Please click...Read More
Italian re-rollers have raised their offer prices for heavy steel plate this week to reflect higher steel slab costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 8.At the end of last week, Italian re-rollers were offering plate at ?,?405-415 ($457-469) per tonne ex-works, but they have increased their prices to ?,?430-440 per tonne ex-works for August-delivery plate, market sources said.Fastmarkets...Read More
Russian miner and smelter Nornickel has challenged a $2.1 billion bill issued by the country's environmental watchdog on July 6 after a huge oil spill in May.Nornickel faces at least $2.4 billion in costs arising from the spill, with the biggest of these being the $2.1 billion bill that it challenged on Wednesday July 8.The company questioned the imposition of punitive damages, as well as alleging...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium price closed at its highest since March 16 on Wednesday July 8, up 1.8% on the previous day's close at $1,665 per tonne after 20,000 lots changed hands over the course of the trading day. LME aluminium futures were buoyed by a 4,975-tonne outflow of material from LME-approved sheds in Asia and a significant 43,525-tonne fresh cancelation in Port Klan...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will keep its open outcry trading ring in London closed despite the United Kingdom easing its lockdown restrictions, it announced on Wednesday July 8. "Following detailed discussions with our ring-dealing members and User Committee, and having fully assessed the updated UK government guidance that came into effect on 4 July, our position remains not to reopen the ring unt...Read More
Fresh deals for third-quarter aluminium ingot supply to Japan have been concluded at $79 and $80 per tonne cif main Japanese ports (MJP), sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 8. A consumer confirmed buying 500 tonnes per month for the quarter from a producer. Sources also reported hearing a producer deal at $80 per tonne cif MJP for the quarter. Despite being a week into the third quarter of...Read More
A summary of aluminium producer Alcoa's preliminary second-quarter results, to June 30, 2020.In brief Alcoa said it is expecting a net loss attributable to Alcoa Corp of between $190 million and $205 million, as compared to net income attributable to Alcoa Corp of $80 million in the first quarter of 2020.For the second quarter, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortizati...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have moved further upward over the past week across Europe, supported by a lack of competitive import offers and a slow revival of demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 8.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?404.00 ($456.17) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?0.87 per tonne day on day from...Read More
Steel rebar prices were largely steady in Europe in the week to Wednesday July 8 with buying activity reported to be satisfactory in most regions. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?425-435 ($480-492) per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing from ?,?420-435 per tonne delivered last Wednesday. The assessment was based on...Read More
ArcelorMittal Brasil will restart activities of the No2 blast furnace (BF) at its Tubar??o mill, in the Brazilian south-eastern state of Esp?-rito Santo, on July 26, after more than a year of downtime, the company said on Wednesday July 8.Production from the No2 BF is solely export-oriented and the decision to reignite it was taken after a demand recovery in external markets, ArcelorMittal added.T...Read More
The price of hollow steel sections in Northern Europe widened on Wednesday July 8 with mills seeking to fill their order books before the seasonal summer slowdown, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?540-560 ($610-632) per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward from ?,?550-560 per tonne a week earlier.F...Read More
After rising last week, stainless steel scrap prices in the United States have hit a wall even as the nickel cash contract on the London Metal Exchange climbed above $13,230 per tonne ($6 per lb) for the first time since late January.The typical summer slump has started, and steel mill operations have continued at a slow pace while stainless scrap flows remain limited. At the same time, market par...Read More
The US East Coast ferrous scrap export market has gone quiet with no cargoes sold over the past week, although an underlying stability was present while exporters worked to fill vessels to Turkey.While Turkish steelmakers bypassed the East Coast over the past week, mills in that country have continued to purchase scrap. One such cargo booked out of Texas, which Fastmarkets reported on July 2, cont...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market so far this week because of weak demand for finished long steel, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 8.Mills in Turkey booked five deep-sea cargoes late last week, totalling around 140,000 tonnes.However, they went quiet at the beginning of the week after struggling to sell finished long steel products i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Price uptrend stumbles, but expected to resumeAs we expected, Chinese export and domestic steel prices moved upward in June, settling within the 2% range of our forecasts. Rebar prices trended downward in the second half of the month while heavy rains and floods in parts of the country meant that some construction sites had...Read More
Fastmarkets' iron ore index for 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao rose to its highest level in 2020 on Wednesday July 8, with iron ore prices continuing to strengthen amid the recovery in Chinese domestic demand for rebar. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $106.50 per tonne, up $3.49 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $108.28 per tonne, up $2.97 per tonne. 58% Fe fines...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Wednesday July 8, with prices flat. Apart from one transaction for hard coking coal, the market has seen no trading activity so far this week.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $113.36 per tonne, down by $0.50 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $125.22 per tonne, down by $0.04 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $93.83...Read More
South Korean steelmaker Posco has returned to the market for steel scrap from Japan and Korea in the past week after taking a hiatus of around three months, market sources told Fastmarkets.Korea's largest steel producer stopped buying scrap in April amid dismal steel demand, particularly in the higher-grade steel segment. Since then, the steelmaker has also delayed the resumption of production fro...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices surged on Wednesday July 8 amid financial market gains, which revived imports, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,840-3,860 yuan ($547-550) per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said sellers in the city offered HRC at 3,840 yuan per tonne in the morning before raising this amount to 3,860 yuan per tonne in response to act...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices increased further on Wednesday July 8 on restocking demand and rising futures. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,590 yuan ($507-511) per tonne, up by 30 yuan per tonneRising futures encouraged some buyers to start replenishing their stock in the past couple of days, sources said. A trader in eastern China said he sold 30% more rebar on Wednesday than each day...Read More