Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index fell by 0.4% week on week on Friday June 19, with traders continuing to buy tonnages on the spot market. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrate TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific fell to $47.30 per lb / 4.73 cents per lb on Friday from 47.5 per tonne / 4.75...Read More
German diecaster DGH Group has begun insolvency proceedings, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets understands that the insolvency action pertains to three group companies - DGH Heidenau, DGH Hof and DGH ZIT - with appointed insolvency administrator Franz-Ludwig Danko currently considering potential restructuring options.The company, headquartered in Donha, Ger...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The three-month London Metal Exchange aluminium price briefly breached $1,600 per tonne on Friday June 19 before closing at $1,592 per tonne. There were just below 9,400 aluminium lots traded on Friday, and the price touched an intraday high of $1,605 per tonne before losing 0.8% through the day.Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida attributed the rebound in LME aluminium to "improved macro-economic con...Read More
The aluminium market has reported an increase in activity for different types of products in recent weeks in attempts to diversify at a time of oversupply and weak prices. P1020 billet and slabs, mostly cut up into smaller shapes, have emerged as a hot topic for market participants, with producers selling them at a discount to the P1020 ingot premiums. Traders told Fastmarkets they can source P102...Read More
Chinese spot nickel pig iron (NPI) prices fell slightly in the week to Friday June 19, with increased supply in the market outweighing rising raw material costs.Fastmarkets assessed the price of nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China at 980-990 yuan ($138-140) per nickel unit on Friday, down by 5 yuan per nickel unit (0.5%) from 985-995 yuan per nickel unit a week earlier....Read More
Indian steel mills have increased their hot rolled coil export prices by $15 per tonne in the current week on the back of rising domestic demand for the commodity.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil (commodity) export, fob main port India was $435-440 per tonne on Friday from $420-425 per tonne one week earlier."Indian mills currently have their...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil in the United States strengthened for the first time in five weeks, while galvanized prices held steady, after a series of mill price increase announcements and indications that demand from the automotive sector is rebounding.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US climbed to $34.50 per hundredweight ($690 per short ton) on Thursday...Read More
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe have been under pressure from low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?390 ($436.37) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?2.14 per tonne from ?,?392.14 per tonne on Thursday June 18.The index was also down by ?,?6.25 per tonne week on week and...Read More
Export billet prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) declined by the end of the week amid lower bids from the Asian market, which has been the main outlet for CIS material lately, sources told Fastmarkets on June 19.CIS mills kept offers largely unchanged over the week amid reduced availability of July-rolling material after some mills already started August sales, sources said -...Read More
Pig iron production at Tata Steel IJmuiden in the Netherlands was stopped on Friday June 19, while the plant's workers went on a 24-hour strike, sources told Fastmarkets.The iron ore supply to two of IJmuiden's blast furnaces (BF) was completely stopped, sources close to trade unions said.But Tata Steel said that one BF was stopped for a short planned maintenance, while another BF was taken off fl...Read More
Prices in Turkey's domestic market for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were unchanged in the week to Friday June 19, with demand only moderate, sources told Fastmarkets.The export market, meanwhile, remained weak because the prices offered by the Turkish mills were regarded as too high, the sources added.Domestic pricesLocal producers were offering 0.5mm...Read More
Demand for pig iron in China continued during the week to Friday June 19, with new purchases of Commonwealth of Independent States- and Brazil-origin material further supporting global prices.At least one purchase was heard of Russia-origin material at around $345 per tonne cfr. Another two cargoes were heard to be booked from an international trader at $346 per tonne cfr. That was a slight increa...Read More
Pig iron export prices from Brazil went up again during the week to Friday June 19 on full order books and continued demand in China.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $310-320 per tonne on Friday, widening upward by $5 from $310-315 per tonne the week before.Read More
The United States' pig iron price went up again during the week to Friday June 19 despite weak sentiment in the country.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $325-330 per tonne on Friday, up by $5-8 from $320-322 per tonne a week before."Higher pig iron prices do not correlate at all with what...Read More
The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK was unchanged in the week to Friday June 19, consolidating last week's gain of almost 3.5% and reflecting a balance between relatively low levels of scrap arisings and subdued domestic steel demand.There has been enough overseas demand to traditional markets in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent from Europe in June to cement gains in Bri...Read More
Swedish state-owned iron ore producer LKAB reopened one of its plants on Friday June 19 following a temporary closure on Tuesday caused by Covid-19 quarantine measures. About 60 workers at LKAB's Malmberget site in G??llivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, of whom half have been diagnosed as carriers of the virus, stayed at home this week, the company said on Friday. This meant there were not en...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market at the end of the week in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 19.Steelmakers in the country have been quiet most of the week, having booked only two deep-sea cargoes on Monday, with most of the market participants believing that prices have reached a peak.On Monday...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has fined warehouse operator Istim ?30,000 ($37,120) for breaching clauses of its warehouse agreement, the exchange said in a notice to members on Friday June 19. Between September 12 and December 9, 2019, Istim erroneously instructed its London agent to issue primary aluminium warrants containing incorrect brand names and/or shapes on five separate occasions, the LME sa...Read More
Uncertainty in the aluminium market and poor nearby demand have pushed participants on to exchanges, fueling more liquidity on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's aluminium European duty-paid contract (EDP). The duty-paid futures contract, based on the Fastmarkets P1020 duty-paid aluminium premium, had 15,522 lots of open interest as of the end of trading on Thursday June 18, compared with 11,6...Read More