Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 12 that are worth another look.Two more steel producers in Italy have stopped operations following the recent nationwide extension of the country's coronavirus-related quarantine area, and more stoppages were expected, sources told Fastmarkets on March 12.Ball Corporation is to acquire Tubex Industria E Comercio de Embalagen...Read More
The continued spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) worldwide has weighed on China's tungsten market in the week to Wednesday March 11, sources told Fastmarkets. Ammonium paratungstate (APT) exporters experienced a slow market, while unrecovered downstream manufacturing, such as the automobile industry, in China also dragged the domestic tungsten market price down.China APT export price move...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month price for nickel fell by more than 5% on Thursday March 12, a trading day that saw a 16,000-tonne rewarranting, with the price reaching a high of $12,495 per tonne then crashing to a low of $11,735 per tonne, before closing at $11,830 per tonne.Almost 13,700 nickel lots were traded over the day, which was marked by the rare rewarranting of more than 16,000 ton...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has outlined further contingency plans for metal warranting against the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, ensuring that its Special Committee has a broad range of powers to maintain an orderly market.The LME has put precautionary measures in place to contain the spread of the virus at its open outcry trading ring, issuing a split-team policy, the potential to transition t...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Thursday March 12, though concerns about demand and weather-related worries continue to cloud outlook, Fastmarkets heard. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.56 per tonne, up $1.34 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.86 per tonne, down $0.81 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $144.01 per tonne, unchangedHard cok...Read More
The benchmark alumina price remained above $300 per tonne on Thursday March 12 but liquidity on a fob Australia basis remained low. Fastmarkets calculated the daily alumina index, fob Australia at $303.17 per tonne on Thursday, little changed from $304.63 per tonne the previous day. The index has been above $300 per tonne since February 27. Key drivers: Liquidity remains low but partici...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices have gone down in the latest deal for a Baltic Sea cargo, with steel producers still trying to cover their urgent needs with short-sea deals instead, sources said on Thursday March 12.A steel mill in the country was heard booking a Baltic Sea cargo from Poland at the beginning of the week at $273-273.50 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20). The cargo breakdown was...Read More
Strong competition from exporters has propped up brass scrap prices in the United States, despite the Comex copper price falling around $2.50 per lb, Fastmarkets understands.Export competition "is pulling the brass scrap prices up," a copper scrap seller said.A copper trader agreed, adding that "the copper spreads are the same, but brass scrap is going opposite to copper scrap."Indeed, most copper...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has outlined further contingency plans for metal warranting against the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, ensuring that its Special Committee has a broad range of powers to maintain an orderly market.The LME has put precautionary measures in place to contain the spread of the virus at its open outcry trading ring, issuing a split-team policy, the potential to transition t...Read More
Ball Corporation is to acquire Tubex Industria E Comercio de Embalagens, an aluminium aerosol packaging business, along with associated contracts and other related assets, it announced. Tubex has a plant near Sao Paolo, Brazil with eight extruded aluminium aerosol can lines producing personal care packaging for both global and domestic customers. "As the demand for sustainable aluminium packa...Read More
Aurubis' copper refining facility in Belgium has to operate at 50% of its full capacity due to an earlier incident, diverting intermediate-product copper anodes to the spot market, Fastmarkets has learned.Last November, a transport crane collapsed in the electrolysis section of Aurubis' copper tankhouse in Olen, Belgium, which transforms anodes into cathodes of 99.995% copper content. The Ole...Read More
The United Kingdom government revealed plans to invest over ?1 billion ($1.3 billion) on green transport, including ?500 million for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure over the next five years, in its 2020 budget announcement on Wednesday March 11.During the budget presentation, UK chancellor Rishi Sunak committed to make it cheaper to buy low emission vehicles and cutting taxes on cl...Read More
Two more steel producers in Italy have stopped operations following the recent nationwide extension of the country's coronavirus-related quarantine area, and more stoppages were expected, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 12.On March 11, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree tightening the Italian lockdown from the conditions set out in a previous decree on March 9. While...Read More
China has resumed importing steel billet amid an open arbitrage window between international and domestic prices despite high levels of steel inventory within the country, sources told Fastmarkets.An Indonesian steelmaker was heard to have sold 20,000 tonnes of April-shipment 150mm billet produced using a blast furnace at $395 per tonne fob, or about $407-410 per tonne cfr China, based on an estim...Read More
Prices for imported steel billet in Egypt decreased in the week ended Thursday March 12 but demand remained soft, sources have told Fastmarkets.Some Egyptian rebar producers increased their prices on February 26.Egyptian rebar producers were still offering rebar at E ?9,600-10,100 ($610-641) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT,...Read More
Steel billet prices in Turkey have gone down over the past week on falling steel prices and weak demand, sources said on Thursday March 12.The suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have lowered their offers for billet to $400-405 per tonne cfr, from the $405-410 per tonne of last week.But customers in Turkey were only bidding $390 per tonne cfr for CIS billet, according...Read More
Domestic prices for long steel in Turkey have softened over the past week because of falling export values and limited demand, sources said on Thursday March 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,050-3,100 lira ($493-501) per tonne, including 18% VAT, down from the 3,150-3,180 lira per tonne of last week."The demand for d...Read More
Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from Turkey have gone down over the past week in line with sluggish demand, sources said on Thursday March 12.The mills in the country mostly lowered their offers for rebar to $425-430 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, from the $435-445 per tonne of last week, in an attempt to generate custom. But buyers' general price expectation was $420 per tonn...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were stable on Thursday March 12, though concerns about demand and weather-related worries continue to cloud outlook, Fastmarkets heard. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.56 per tonne, up $1.34 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.86 per tonne, down $0.81 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $144.01 per tonne, unchangedHard cok...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices moved up on Thursday March 12, with a bid for Brazilian Blend Fines coming in at $92 per tonne cfr China - lower than the previous traded price, but higher than some market participant estimates on Wednesday.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.75 per tonne, up $0.70 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.46 per tonne, up $1....Read More