The pig iron market in the United States has weakened further due to the general economic slowdown caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Friday March 20.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $330-340 per tonne on Friday, down from $345-350 per tonne a week ago."Scrap prices will go down...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK fell almost 19% over the week, marking an abrupt end to five weeks of stability, as major shredders cut their buying prices on expected weaker demand for steel from UK-based carmakers, sources told Fastmarkets.The move also follows a dramatic fall in European steel scrap export prices into Turkey this week which saw the market move down...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from Brazil softened during the week ended Friday March 20 because of the weakness of the country's Real and lower demand in the domestic market.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $315-320 per tonne on Friday, down from $320-325 per tonne a week before."A weak Real supports pig iron producers, which are focusin...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India has continued to fall after changes in exchange rates made imports unviable, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $291 per tonne on Friday, down from $297.50 per tonne one week earlier.There were no deals heard for shredded material in the week, but offe...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market was quiet on Friday March 20, following a sharp decline in prices that came earlier in the week, sources told Fastmarkets.On Wednesday, a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Canadian cargo comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10), 20,000 tonnes of shredded and 12,000 tonnes of plate and structural (P&S) scrap at an average price of $255 per tonne c...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States softened further during the week ended Thursday March 20 because of buyers' pessimistic mood."Automotive producers [which consume flat steel products made from merchant pig iron in electric-arc furnace based steelmaking] are stopping all over the world due to quarantine measures," one trader said, in reference to the measu...Read More
South Korean steel producers entered the market to book cargoes from Japan and Russia over the past week due to uncompetitive offer prices from the United States West Coast, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20.One steelmaker purchased 90,000 tonnes of Russia-origin A3 heavy scrap at $247 per tonne cfr South Korea on Wednesday, while another producer in the country bought a Japan-origin car...Read More
Lead stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses slumped the most of all the base metals in percentage terms - by 31.9% - to 22,514 tonnes in the week to Friday March 20. The outflow mainly came from the Zhejiang Tianchu warehouse in Shanghai, with a fall of 10,570 tonnes from 33,084 tonnes one week earlier. "Production decrease of secondary lead...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices plunged on Friday March 20 as concerns about the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on downstream businesses outside China emerged.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.98 per tonne, down $3.38 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.15 per tonne, down $3.22 per tone58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $76...Read More
Seaborne coking coking coal prices moved in different directions on Friday March 20, with the fob-Australia index dropping amid demand concerns, while cfr-China prices were pushed higher by a transaction, indicating improved demand for the raw material in the country.Fastmarkets IndicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $160.65 per tonne, down $2.50 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were markedly higher during morning trading on Friday March 20, with most three-month prices gaining more than 3% over the Asian trading hours, while a fresh inflow of some 65,175 tonnes of aluminium doused the light metal's price recovery. Topping gains over the morning, the LME tin price recently traded 4.5% higher at $14,150 per tonne, up from a m...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were largely stable on Friday March 20 on the news of no new local infections of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), but market participants expect export offers to drop soon on fierce global competition.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,440-3,450 yuan ($485-486) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,350 yuan per ton...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves. Read More
Asian Pacific equity indices are firmer this morning, Friday March 20, as are many of the base metals and all of the precious metals, but given the worst no doubt lies ahead in terms of weaker demand for non-household consumables in Europe and the United States, the current upturn may be a countertrend move or a two-thirds-of-the-way-down pause.We say two thirds of the way down because most of the...Read More
Tesla is to temporarily suspend production at its factory in Fremont, in the US state of California, from the end of Monday March 23 in an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This will allow an orderly shutdown, the company said, with basic operations to continue in order to support Tesla's vehicle and energy service operations and charging infrastructure, as directed...Read More
Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Italia - part of Salzgitter Group, located at Costa Volpino in Bergamo, Italy - will be shutting down production on Monday March 23, a source in the company has told Fastmarkets.The producers have decided to shut down the facility to help combat the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, sources said.The company...Read More
Stainless steel scrap prices in Europe and the UK decreased this week because traders expect the coronavirus outbreak to substantially weaken demand in the coming weeks and months, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 20. Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?700-750 ($808-866) per tonne on March 20, down by ?30-40 per tonn...Read More
Chinese non-ferrous scrap processors have halved their operation capacity while demand for copper semi-finished products, auto parts and battery waned following the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak for the first quarter, according to an industry briefing on scrap metal.Chinese aluminium and lead scrap processors were operating at only 40-50% of full capacity as of March 17 amid declining orders an...Read More
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