Futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Exchange were downon Monday March 9, with physical seaborne market trading muted while buyers take a wait-and-see approach. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.96 per tonne, down $2.23 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.27 per tonne, down $2.01 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More
Fastmarkets published its Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export billet index later than scheduled on Monday March 9 due to a technical error but it is now appearing as normal.Fastmarkets calculated the steel billet index export, fob Black Sea, CIS at $392 per tonne on Monday March 9. The index was published in Fastmarkets' pricing database, MInD, later than scheduled, however, due to a t...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday March 9 due to selling pressure and early losses in the futures market, though sentiment remained positive with more construction projects restarting work after an extended break after the Chinese New Year.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($486-490) per tonne, down 40 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,260-3,300 yuan per tonne, down...Read More
Market sources have been puzzled by the gradual upward trend in China's steel prices after the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) broke out in a big way after the Lunar New Year holiday. Spot prices gained further momentum in the first few days of March, even though the number of infections in China has continued rising, and steel inventories have surged.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stee...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday March 6. China The UG2 chrome ore price hit its lowest level since April 2016 in its third consecutive week of decline. Spot Chinese ferro-chrome prices steady due to the market awaiting March tender prices from...Read More
Car production in Brazil is at risk of suffering stoppages by April, if supply constraints affecting Chinese auto parts providers do not improve amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), according to Brazilian national car association Anfavea.The association highlighted that car manufacturers currently have enough parts to maintain output during March."A [sig...Read More
Chinese steel company Hebei Jingye Group has completed its acquisition of British Steel, the company said on Monday March 9, but the deal does not include the French operations at Hayange.The deal, which is believed to have cost ?50 million ($55.51 million), brings to an end a nine-month search for a new owner of the UK's second-largest steelmaker.Assets included in the deal include British Steel...Read More
Market sources have been puzzled by the gradual upward trend in China's steel prices after the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) broke out in a big way after the Lunar New Year holiday. Spot prices gained further momentum in the first few days of March, even though the number of infections in China has continued rising, and steel inventories have surged.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stee...Read More
Northern China's steel hub of Tangshan will cut 1.6 million tonnes of hot metal production at 20 steel mills in March to improve air quality, market sources in the country told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.This round of production cuts will affect around 56 blast furnaces in the city, according to Fastmarkets' estimation, which will ease the pressure of high inventories at steel mills and in the...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 9 that are worth another look.Market sources have been puzzled by the gradual upward trend in China's steel prices after the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) broke out in a big way after the Lunar New Year holiday.Soci?(C)t?(C) le Nickel (SLN) resumed operations and ore shipments at its Thio mine in New Caledonia on March 9, a sp...Read More
Europe's high-carbon ferro-chrome market fell in the week ended Friday March 6 after concern over the economic outlook hit buying appetite. Fastmarkets' ferro-chrome high carbon 6-8.5% C, basis 60-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe price narrowed downward by 3-5 cents per lb or 4.3% to $0.82-0.95 per lb on Friday March 6. "We have seen a drop in sentiment," a producer, who reported concern...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have gone unchanged day on day while buyers remained watchful of the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?484.62 ($547.13) per tonne on Monday, down by ?,?0.02 per tonne from ?,?484.64 per tonne on March 6.The index was calculated based on...Read More
Chinese steel company Hebei Jingye Group has completed its acquisition of British Steel, the company said on Monday March 9, but the deal does not include the French operations at Hayange.The deal, which is believed to have cost ?50 million ($55.51 million), brings to an end a nine-month search for a new owner of the UK's second-largest steelmaker.Assets included in the deal include British Steel...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 9 that are worth another look.Market sources have been puzzled by the gradual upward trend in China's steel prices after the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) broke out in a big way after the Lunar New Year holiday.Soci?(C)t?(C) le Nickel (SLN) resumed operations and ore shipments at its Thio mine in New Caledonia on March 9, a sp...Read More
If global financial markets had been operating under a pervading sense of uncertainty due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), they now appear to be veering on panic.Oil prices have suffered their biggest one-day collapse since the 1991 Gulf War following Saudi Arabia's declaration of a price war on Russia through a shock move to hike oil production. S&P Dow Jones Indices was forced...Read More
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is set to accelerate what the trade wars started: the diversification of global supply chains. Both events have demonstrated just how interconnected the global economy is and have provided a wake-up call to businesses worldwide that it might be time to reduce their reliance on China as the workshop of the world. Of course, that's easier said than done. China is th...Read More
Market sources have been puzzled by the gradual upward trend in China's steel prices after the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) broke out in a big way after the Lunar New Year holiday. Spot prices gained further momentum in the first few days of March, even though the number of infections in China has continued rising, and steel inventories have surged.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stee...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange, with the exception of aluminium, closed down in the afternoon session on Monday March 9 while problems arising from the 2019-CoV coronavirus continued to weigh on global economies and demand for commodities."There was no shortage of negative developments over the weekend while recently-affected economies took drastic measures to limit th...Read More
If global financial markets had been operating under a pervading sense of uncertainty due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), they now appear to be veering on panic.Oil prices have suffered their biggest one-day collapse since the 1991 Gulf War following Saudi Arabia's declaration of a price war on Russia through a shock move to hike oil production. S&P Dow Jones Indices was forced...Read More
Futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Exchange were downon Monday March 9, with physical seaborne market trading muted while buyers take a wait-and-see approach. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.96 per tonne, down $2.23 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.27 per tonne, down $2.01 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More