The seaborne iron ore market moved up on Monday April 13, with a persistent tightness in the supply of low-alumina and high-grade products from Brazil bolstering prices. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.60 per tonne, up $0.83 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.26 per tonne, up $1.06 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $74.62 per to...Read More
The seaborne iron ore pellet market dropped slightly last week, with European and Indian-origin materials being offered into China in what a seller source described as "sort of a price war."Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe blast furnace pellet, cfr Qingdao stood at $114.62 per tonne last Thursday April 9, down by $0.21 per tonne from a week earlier. Demand for pellets was heard to be weak in...Read More
China's ferrous scrap market plummeted over the past three weeks due to destocking pressure on sellers coupled with low procurement rates among mills, which sent prices to their lowest in close to two years.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China was 2,200-2,360 yuan ($313-335) per tonne including value-added tax last Friday April 10, down by 210-23...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices kept moving upward on Monday April 13 on strengthening demand from the construction sector. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,460-3,490 yuan ($491-496) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,400-3,430 yuan per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonne from 3,370-3,400 yuan per tonne last FridayDemand in both key spot markets was strong during the day, with gains being...Read More
Deliverable base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were down across the board in the week to Friday April 10, with that for copper dropping the most in percentage terms.SHFE copper stocks declined by 4.4% or 14,507 tonnes week on week to total 317,928 tonnes on April 10.The outflow mainly came from the warehouses of Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai and Zhongchu Wuxi in Jia...Read More
Chinese minor metal, ore and alloy markets had mixed reactions to news of an extended South African lockdown.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday April 9 extended the national lockdown by a further two weeks from the initial 21-day lockdown announced on March 26 to stem the spread of Covid-19, which has caused multiple mines and smelters across the country to shut dow...Read More
China's export price for grade-553 silicon fell to a five-and-a-half-month low on Friday April 10 following the emergence of lower offers from traders amid persistently weak foreign demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for silicon export 98.5% Si min, fob China was $1,380-1,440 per tonne on April 10, down by $60-90 per tonne or 5.1% from $1,470-1,500 per tonne a week earlier. The latest ass...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 42 points in pre-opening trade.JP Morgan gained $1.69 to $99.88 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter Net Interest Income.Johnson & Johnson advanced $4.89 to $144.66 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings. The company also raise its dividend.Wells Fargo advanced $0.47 to $31.90 a...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 12 points in pre-opening trade;Crude oil gained $0.31 to $23.07 after OPEC and its allies agreed to reduce their oil production quotas by 9.7 million barrels from May 1st to June 30th.Starbucks slipped $0.54 to $73.34 after Wedbush lowered its target price from $84 to $71.Carnival dropped $0.35 to $12.07 after Wedbush...Read More
South American flat steel import prices were mostly stable week on week as market liquidity dipped in the continent amid lockdowns and weakened demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Market participants were generally in the dark regarding feasible prices, as buyer interest had vanished. As with May-shipment volumes, sources said imports for June shipments could also be at least half the usual orders...Read More
The aerospace industry has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with companies in the sector forced to take drastic measures to adapt to the new market environment.Airbus, Europe's largest airline manufacturer, has announced that will cut production of its core three aircraft models by 30%.Boeing has also suspended operations indefinitely at its United States operations in t...Read More
Aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe and the United States fell due to a lack of demand, with most automakers suspending car production in both regions.In Europe, Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 ingot premium, ddp Germany at $280-290 per tonne on Thursday April 9, down from $300-320 per tonne the month before.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 i...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price held above the $5,000 psychological mark on Thursday April 9, closing at $5,002.50 per tonne in a day with a turnover of just above 11,600 lots.The copper price reached an intraday high of $5,070 per tonne following a fresh cancellation of 300 tonnes, despite the low material turnover ahead of the long Easter weekend (Friday April 10-Monday April...Read More
Chinese traders are ramping up bids for physical copper in a bid to secure units before an expected cut to valued-added tax (VAT) in April. The Shanghai copper market is betting on China's current 13% VAT being reduced as part of a raft of economic policy measures set to be considered when China's National People's Congress, the state legislature, returns later this month. This would echo a simila...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment charge and refining charge (TC/RC) index dropped below the annual benchmark level in a week characterized by force majeures and mines being put on care and maintenance. The index, which tracks spot market activity for Asia Pacific, stood at $60.10 per tonne/ 6.01 cents per lb on Friday April 9, down by 8.5% from $65.70 per tonne/ 6.57 cents per lb a week...Read More
Brazilian export slab prices widened downward on Thursday April 9 as buyers continue to bet on future price cuts.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil widened to $310-355 per tonne on Thursday April 9, from $320-355 per tonne previously.Since early in the week, some bids for Brazilian slab were heard at $310 per tonne fob, and...Read More
Brazilian domestic steel prices, including coil and rebar, remained unchanged in April as companies withdrew from price increases because of the Covid-19 crisis.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, monthly, exw Brazil, remained at 2,636-2,655 Reais ($516-519) per tonne on Thursday April 9, unchanged from the previous month.The corresponding assessment on the same date...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices bounced modestly upward on hopes of a V-shaped manufacturing recovery, but such optimism was tempered by concerns about the potentially long-lasting impacts of the economic downturn resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $24.57 per hundredweight ($491.40 per short ton) on Thursday April 9, up by...Read More
While the Covid-19 pandemic has hit domestic steel demand, it has not prevented foreign products from entering the United States, according to an advance indicator of offshore arrivals.The United States was licensed to import 2.11 million tonnes of steel products in March, up by 54.1% from 1.37 million tonnes in February and up by 2.4% from 2.06 million tonnes in March 2019, according to license d...Read More