Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell sharply in the week to Monday March 30 amid the lack of demand in almost all markets due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the recent dramatic drop in scrap costs."Buying interest is limited. There are almost no bids," one market source said."There are not many buyers today," another source said. "...Read More
The lockdown in India has caused a variety of logistical issues resulting in imported scrap material becoming stranded at ports and leading to potentially large charges at a time when trading has come to a sudden halt, market sources have told Fastmarkets. On March 24, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the country would begin a 21-day lockdown period effective from midnight until...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices fell sharply for the third time in two weeks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought steel trade to a halt and led to closures or production cuts, sources said on Monday March 30.A steel mill in northern Turkey was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 9,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 14,000 tonnes of shredded and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at an averag...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices continued to fall sharply in major markets during the working week from Monday March 23 to Friday March 27, because of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.Turkish import prices slump furtherBuying prices down at US East Coast docksTaiwan import price at three-year lowIndian market collapses on lockdown order; price drops $44 per tonne.TurkeyPrices in the world's largest scr...Read More
Most of the world's markets for steel billet have been affected by the negative sentiment generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the strong decreases in prices for ferrous scrap. Buyers in China, however, continued to import material.Import prices of ferrous scrap in Turkey continued to fall last week.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, w...Read More
Major Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel is facing the prospect of recording zero profit for the year ending March 2020 for the first time in its history due to global economic tensions and rising raw materials prices, it warned on Friday March 27.This has led the company to plan to shut one blast furnace in its East Japan Works and restructure its remaining operations in Japan, it said.In brief JFE St...Read More
China domestic rebar prices fell on Monday March 30 on pessimism over the recovery of demand in the country after its central bank cut the rate on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points - the largest in nearly five years.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,460 yuan ($483-488) per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,350-3,370 yuan per tonne, down 30 yuan per t...Read More
Ferro-vanadium prices continued to move down last week in Europe and China on weakening consumer demand due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on business operations. Measures imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus outside of China continues to pressure China's export price for ferro-vanadium, which ticked down for the second consecutive week on Thursday March 26. Fastmarkets assessed&...Read More
Swedish steelmaker SSAB plans temporary worker layoffs at its operations in Finland, and consequently a reduction in output, in response to the downturn in the flat steel market resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Monday March 30.SSAB has initiated negotiations with its employees on the proposed layoffs at its Finnish assets, the company said. The decision followed a drastic...Read More
Several Turkish carmakers - Honda, Karsan, MAN, Anadolu Isuzu, Temsa, T? 1/4 rk Trakt??r, Hyndai Assan and Otokar - announced production stoppages this week because of concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Oyak Renault, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz T? 1/4 rk and Ford Otosan all announced production stops earlier this month because of virus concerns.Honda Turke...Read More
European Metal Recycling (EMR) has shut down part of its operations in the UK due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, the company said on its website on Friday March 27.The closures took effect from Friday evening, the company said, but no dateline was given for the move. Many scrap suppliers in the UK are cutting production, with almost all scrap processing shuttered in Scotland and much of it in Eng...Read More
Major Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel is facing the prospect of recording zero profit for the year ending March 2020 for the first time in its history due to global economic tensions and rising raw materials prices, it warned on Friday March 27.This has led the company to plan to shut one blast furnace in its East Japan Works and restructure its remaining operations in Japan, it said.In brief JFE St...Read More
The China Association of Metalscrap Utilization (Camu) is urging the Chinese government to reopen the country to ferrous scrap imports to meet rising demand and reduce steelmaking costs.The association last week made two suggestions aimed at keeping low-grade scrap at bay in the event that the government heeds its call.The first proposal is for China to adopt international standards of classificat...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 30 that are worth another look.Gerdau has halted price increase attempts in Brazil amid market weakness because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by local investment bank Ita?? BBA from Sunday March 29.The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were fairly stable last week due to falls in demand and production cuts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?473.00 ($526.65) per tonne on Friday March 27. This was up by ?,?3 per tonne week on week from ?,?470 per tonne on March 20.The increase did not indic...Read More
Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell sharply in the week to Monday March 30 amid the lack of demand in almost all markets due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the recent dramatic drop in scrap costs."Buying interest is limited. There are almost no bids," one market source said."There are not many buyers today," another source said. "...Read More
European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have been fairly stable over the past week due to slow market activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 30.The sentiment prevailing in the market has been downward, despite that price stability.But Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?473.13 ($526.79) per tonne on Monday, up from Friday's index a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 30 that are worth another look.Gerdau has halted price increase attempts in Brazil amid market weakness because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by local investment bank Ita?? BBA from Sunday March 29.The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has opened up financing opportunities for metals and mining-focused investment firms. It's also created a problem. The one-two punch demand and supply shock that the virus has created is putting the mining sector under extreme pressure. With banks even more reluctant than before to provide capital to the mining sector amid the tumultuous global financial backdrop, corporates...Read More
Metals, mining and alloy producers have been scenario-planning in response to the novel coronavirus. The South African government appears to have just removed all but one option.President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the country's mineral resources industry to shut underground mines and furnaces from Thursday March 26, unless they can be operated remotely. The shutdown will last for three weeks an...Read More