Domestic and import steel billet prices in Turkey have continued to fall over the past week amid lower scrap costs, sources said on Thursday April 2.Turkish scrap import prices have fallen to their lowest in four years, as of March 30. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was $201.13 per tonne on Monday March 30, down from $241.63 per tonne...Read More
Domestic long steel prices in Turkey have continued to fall because of the coronavirus pandemic over the past week despite a slight recovery later in the week, sources said on Thursday April 2.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey was 2,900-2,960 lira ($435-444) per tonne on Thursday, down from 2,950-3,030 lira per tonne last week.Prices have c...Read More
Iron ore export volumes from Brazil fell by 2.13% year on year in March, with the daily average falling by 15.48% in the same comparison, Fastmarkets understands.The country exported 21.71 million tonnes of iron ore last month, compared with 22.18 million tonnes the year before, according to figures released by the country's Ministry of Economy on Wednesday April 1.A higher number of working days...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market, while suppliers were raising their offer prices because of tightening supplies, sources said on Thursday April 2.The most recent deep-sea deals had put prices at $206-207 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) and mills' expectations since then have been around $200-205 per tonne for similar material.But suppliers w...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market maintained its momentum in March, even with the Covid-19 pandemic causing turmoil for the global economic outlook and leading to steel production cuts and weakening demand outside of China.The monthly average price for 62% Fe iron ore was largely stable at $88.58 per tonne cfr China in March, while that for 65% Fe iron ore was at $103.45 per tonne. The price spread bet...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were stable on Thursday April 2, with futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and Singapore Exchange registering gains, and active physical trading in the Chinese port market.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.72 per tonne, up $1.23 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.63 per tonne, up $0.83 per tone58% Fe fines high-grade pre...Read More
The Italian government has announced it will extend the lockdown in the country to manage the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, keeping already closed steel assets shuttered. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on April 1 that he had signed a new decree extending the lockdown in the country until April 13, discarding the original end date of April 3. "We are not in the condition,...Read More
Steelmakers in Bangladesh continued to book ferrous scrap imports over the week ended Thursday April 2 despite the country's nationwide lockdown, which has forced some mills to reduce output, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Prices fell sharply last week, with some traders expecting that Bangladesh's mills had completed their scrap bookings for the next month, because of high stock levels and...Read More
Trading activity in China's domestic hot-rolled coil market rose on Thursday April 2 amid falling prices, but the export market remained quiet despite lower offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,150-3,190 yuan ($444-450) per tonne, down 50-70 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,160-3,200 yuan per tonne, down 10-40 yuan per tonneSellers in Shanghai started the day with offers of around...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Thursday April 2, amid rising futures and a tumbling billet market. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,390-3,420 yuan ($478-482) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,330-3,370 yuan per tonne, unchanged Rebar prices dropped in the early hours after the billet market tumbled late on Wednesday.But prices recovered in the afternoon on higher sales vo...Read More
Markets seem to be in the calm before the United States employment data storm this morning, Thursday April 2, with metals prices mixed, trading volume low and not much movement on equity indices for a change. Asian-Pacific equity indices were mixed this morning, but pre-market western futures were firmer with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 1.2% as at 7 am London time. Stocks in Asia initia...Read More
Stainless steel prices in China kept dropping over the past week because sellers sought to generate more sales to draw down their inventories amid a bearish outlook caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange edged on but are still around their lowest in the past year-and-a-half, which put additional pressure on stainless steel prices.The three-month nickel contract...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning trading session on Thursday April 2, with the complex pressured by rising risk-off sentiment due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic."Selling returned to commodity markets as investors grappled with the long-term economic implications of the pandemic," Daniel Been, head of foreign exchange strategy at ANZ Bank, said in...Read More
Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse (in-whs) basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for standard-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb. Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for alloy-grade cobalt, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More
Minor metals and ores and alloys producers that rely on shipping routes out of South Africa are warning that practical barriers to producing and transporting material outweigh any technical green light to export, amid conflicting instructions from the country's authorities. A notice from South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) caused widespread confusion on Tuesday by saying mineral export...Read More
The latest selenium transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe reported to Fastmarkets.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb and on an in-warehouse Rotterdam basis. Delivered prices are netted back.To view the latest price assessment for selenium, 99.5% Se min, in-whs Rotterdam, click here.To see all Fastmarkets'...Read More
The European charge and high-carbon ferro-chrome benchmark settlement remains under review for the second quarter of 2020, a leading ferro-chrome producer said. Merafe Resources, which operates the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture in South Africa with trader-miner Glencore provided an update on Thursday April 2 of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its operations. The benchmark is settled every...Read More
Changes in the Asian ferrous scrap trade flows have seen imports in Taiwan and Vietnam shrink in 2019, but both territories raised their intake of Japanese material after exporters in Japan lowered their prices to generate more sales abroad on weakening domestic demand.Vietnam's scrap imports fell 1.1% to 5.58 million tonnes last year, but Japan-origin volumes to the country rose by 41.4% to 2.19...Read More
Markets are mixed and on average weaker this morning, Friday April 3, after the rally on Thursday following a 20% rise in oil prices faded. United States President Donald Trump seemed to distract the market after the dreadful US unemployment claims data on Thursday, by talking of a potential oil deal that would see 10-15 million barrels per day cut, but traders are skeptical after Russia denied th...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved higher following release of the U.S. March Employment Report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for March Non-farm Payrolls was a drop of 123,000 versus a revised gain of 275,000 in February. Actual was a drop of 701,000. Consensus for the March Unemployment Rate was an increas...Read More