An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
Metals and battery materials company Umicore has signed long-term lithium supply agreements with China's Ganfeng Lithium and Germany's Vulcan Energy Resources, the Belgian company announced on Friday October 15.Ganfeng Lithium, based in Jiangxi, southeast China, will provide Australian-origin lithium from 2022 for "a significant part of Umicore's future lithium requirements in Asia," a press relea...Read More
Most prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down during the week ended Friday October 15, with Brazilian mills lowering their offers, Russian sellers pressuring the market downward and Chinese material still scarce in the region.While some offers from China emerged at higher levels, following a week-long holiday in the Asian country, reduced export availability to S...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) edged down this week, with few inquiries for spot tonnages, sources said on Friday October 15.TCs for smelters remain in the low-to-mid $60s, a level still well below the Chinese pricing floor of $70 per tonne/7 cents per lb.As for trader purchases, a tender for Escondida concentrate...Read More
Coated steel coil prices increased sharply in Turkey during the week ended Friday October 15 and some producers stopped accepting new orders, sources told Fastmarkets.Producers stopped accepting orders because prices for hot-rolled coil, the base material for coated coils, continued to increase and producers wanted to reflect cost increases in their end-product prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price ass...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 15.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Higher demand in key consumer markets led to a jump in steel scrap prices across all major markets in the week to Friday October 15, sources have told Fastmarkets.?EUR?Turkey import prices spike amid limited supply, firm demand?EUR?Further price increases expected in US export market?EUR?High prices dissuade Vietnam buyers from more deals?EUR?China scrap demand recovers amid less stringent power r...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 15.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Turkish steel mills booked at another five cargoes on Friday to bring the total for the week to 10, market participants told Fastmarkets on October 15.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 21,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $487 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of shredded at $507 per tonne cfr. The cargo was scheduled to be shipped on December 15.A steel mill in the...Read More
Less stringent restrictions on power supply in some areas of China have led to a boost in steel production levels and ferrous scrap demand at some mills in recent days, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 15.?EUR?Less strict power rationing helps support China scrap prices?EUR?Import prices in China inch up amid higher bids from buyers?EUR?South Korea buys high-grade Japanese scrap.ChinaThe...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the south of Brazil went up during the week to Friday October 15 because of new sales, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $500 per tonne on Friday, up from $480-485 per tonne a week earlier.Two sales were heard at...Read More
LME base metals prices were little changed early on Friday October 15, but the strong gains seen during this LME Week support our long-held view that we are in a supercycle, with other factors, such as power cuts in China, high energy costs and logistics issues, also having an impact.LME metals up by an average of 6.6% this week, with zinc up by 14%Brent crude oil approaching $85 per barrelEU pass...Read More
Slab export prices from Brazil declined in the week to Friday October 15, with offers and bids consolidating at lower levels, but market participants expected prices to have reached a bottom with no further room to drop.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was at $740-760 per tonne on Friday, down by $20 from $760-780 per tonne on October 8.Demand remain...Read More
The entirety of copper's London Metal Exchange forward curve ended the day in a backwardated state on October 15, with fears of supply tightness taking over metals across the board. Zinc reached its highest prices in over a decade while tin climbed to new all-time highs. Copper's benchmark cash/three-month spread on LMESelect - the Exchange's electronic platform - touched a $350-per-tonne b...Read More
The entirety of copper's London Metal Exchange forward curve ended the day in a backwardated state on October 15, with fears of supply tightness taking over metals across the board. Zinc reached its highest prices in over a decade while tin climbed to new all-time highs. Copper's benchmark cash/three-month spread on LMESelect - the Exchange's electronic platform - touched a $350-per-tonne b...Read More
A lack of trading across Europe kept domestic prices for hot-rolled coil fairly stable on Friday October 15, sources told Fastmarkets.Bearish sentiment is prevailing in the market, supported by poor demand from the automotive sector and good domestic supplies. Buyers and sellers have mainly been holding back from making deals, with only limited volumes traded in Europe during the week, sources sai...Read More
Record-high coking coal prices have been pressuring steelmakers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), mainly in Ukraine, because of a dependence on imports, sources told Fastmarkets.Global coking coal prices have been trending upward since October 2020, when the Chinese government imposed a ban on Australian materials.Fastmarkets' index for premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang -...Read More
Prices in the United States' pig iron import market went up during the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved global market mood, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $545-550 per tonne on Friday, up from $540 per tonne a week earlier.Offers of Russia-origin...Read More
Most prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down during the week ended Friday October 15, with Brazilian mills lowering their offers, Russian sellers pressuring the market downward and Chinese material still scarce in the region.While some offers from China emerged at higher levels, following a week-long holiday in the Asian country, reduced export availability to S...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices stayed largely stable in the cfr China market but decreased in the fob market on Friday October 15, amid weak offers and bids.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) increased in both the cfr China and fob Australia market in the week to October 15 due to supply tightness in both markets, market sources said on Friday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking c...Read More