Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been stable day on day but were expected to decrease due to poor demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 3.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was unchanged at ?,?470.00 ($512.11) per tonne on Friday.Friday's index was calculated based on offers and "achievable" prices heard at ?,?460-47...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United States continued to trend flat to soft this past week as the novel coronavirus prompted industrial slowdowns through capacity reduction at smelters and manufacturing plants across the country.Prices for smelter-grade scrap mostly moved lower week on week due to sustained pressure resulting from automotive plant closures and reduced flow...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium price briefly breached the $1,500 per tonne mark, with an intraday high of $1,505 per tonne, but closed at $1,481.50 per tonne on Friday April 3. A little more than 9,100 aluminium lots were traded on Friday, and the underlying price remained under pressure despite an outflow of 2,550 tonnes across LME-registered warehouses. Overall aluminium invento...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment charges and refining charge (TC/RC) index moved up to $65.70 per tonne and 6.57 cents per lb this week, underpinned by a handful of deals reported in the high $60s per tonne. Traders are cautious about offering tonnages to the spot market in anticipation of supply uncertainties from South America. Notably, the counterparty spread between TC purchase level...Read More
Independent shareholders of UC Rusal are to vote on a proposed $16.3-billion deal for the supply of up to almost 7 million tonnes of primary aluminium to Glencore over the next several years.The contract, which was approved at Rusal's board meeting on December 13 of last year, is for 2020-2024 and can be extended to 2025. It would mark the return of Rusal to a long-term sales contact with Gle...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Fastmarkets published its alumina index, fob Australia later than scheduled on Friday April 3 due to data coming in toward the end of Friday's pricing discovery process.Fastmarkets' price book and database have both since been updated.The following price was published in Fastmarkets' price book later than scheduled: Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonneFor more information or to provide feedb...Read More
China's largest copper smelters will gather online next week to agree the second-quarter pricing floor for the processing charges of copper concentrates following significant changes to market conditions from the first three months of the year.The video conference meeting of China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT), which accounts for more than half the world's copper smelting capacity, will be held ne...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States have come down sharply, to a more-than-four-month low, while suppliers have been fighting each other for any orders on the market amid anticipated deteriorated demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $25.92 per hundredweight ($518.40 per short ton) on Friday April 3, down by 2.7% from $26.65 per...Read More
Carmaker Ford has extended the restart of its European operations into May, while Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler has chosen to bring in short-time working while European nations try to control the Covid-19 pandemic.The automotive manufacturers in Europe and the UK extended their initial production suspensions following the introduction or extension of national lockdown measures.The shutdowns were ann...Read More
Flat steel import prices continued to slide in South America on lower offers, mainly from China, and while customer interest disappeared from the market due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "Anyone who was in the market is now away from it," a Brazil-based trader said. "Some importers are actually temporarily halting activities." May-shipment volumes are already down by at least 50% from expected fi...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices widened during the week ended Friday April 3, with buyers opportunistic after prices decreased sharply in the previous two weeks.Buyers in North America and Asia were showing interest in Brazilian slab, with prices considered a bargain after several weeks of price decreases.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil widened on Fri...Read More
Indian mills cut the export price of hot-rolled coil by $10 per tonne in the week ended Friday April 3, amid the complete lockdown of the domestic market while the country tries to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.The price for steel HRC, export, fob main port India, was assessed by Fastmarkets at $380-385 per tonne on Friday, a fall of $10 per tonne compared with...Read More
Polish coal miner Jastrzebska Sp??lka Weglowa (JSW), the largest coking coal producer in Europe, declared force majeure to its clients on Thursday April 2 due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its operations, in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.The company had already implemented shortened working hours from March 23 to combat the spread of the virus.On Wednesday this week, the company sai...Read More
The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the UK has stabilized over the past week after falling by more than 37% between March 13 and March 27, as the market pauses ahead of monthly delivery settlements to consumers for April.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was unchanged at ?45-55 ($56-68) per tonne on...Read More
The pig iron market in the United States weakened further in the week to Friday April 3, pressured lower by a depressed scrap market and weak demand among mills that have cut steel output.Fastmarkets' price assessment of pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $290-300 per tonne on Friday, down from $320-325 per tonne a week earlier."Steel producers in the US cut production a lot because...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India continued to dip this week following a substantial drop last week when the country implemented a 21-day nationwide lockdown, bringing trade to a halt, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 3.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $243.49 per tonne on Friday, down from $247.00 per tonne one week p...Read More
The price of austenitic stainless steel scrap in the UK domestic market narrowed downward this week, reflecting very low demand from mills for April, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 3. With the automotive and white goods sectors heavily suppressed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for stainless steel is sharply down and stainless mills require correspondingly lower amounts of feeds...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import trade remained quiet at the end of the week, but prices are poised to increase amid tightening supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 3.The most recent deep-sea transactions were heard at the beginning of the week and put the HMS 1&2 (80:20) price at $206-207 per tonne cfr.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 9,000 tonnes of...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States went down again in the week to Thursday April 2 on a weak global scrap market and higher competition in the Chinese market - the only outlet where demand exists.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $277-282 per tonne on April 2, down from...Read More