A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian steel and iron-ore producer Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) in the fourth-quarter and full-year 2019, as reported on Wednesday March 4.In brief CSN's slab output was significantly lower throughout 2019 while its blast furnace (BF) No3 was idled for revamp work over more than three months until late October. Steel sales volumes were down in...Read More
Demand for flat steel products in Turkey improved in February because end-user stock levels were low, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 4.Sources added that local producers have now filled their order books until late April.Local demand was moderate in Turkey in February because buyers placed orders only to replenish their stocks. The market was now uncertain about the direct...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 5 that are worth another look.Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest will increase its hot-rolled coil output once it finishes testing a new rolling line at its Ilyich Iron & Steel Works at Mariupol, chief executive officer Yuriy Ryzhenkov told Fastmarkets this week.China Zhongwang holdings - the largest aluminium extrusion company...Read More
Challenges to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium derivatives are proliferating at the Court of International Trade (CIT) since Chief Judge Timothy Stanceu granted temporary preliminary injunctions in two separate cases last month. By Tuesday March 3, nine complaints had been filed with the court against the new 232 tariffs on derivative products announced January 24.The chall...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday March 5, breaching nearby resistance at the $2,000 per tonne level, while tin recorded its first close above $17,000 per tonne since January 24.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,011 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, while just over 9,000 lots were traded over the day. This was a mod...Read More
Turkish rebar prices have decreased slightly over the past week, while demand for material was slow due to uncertainty about the stability of the market, sources said on Thursday March 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,150-3,180 Turkish lira ($516-521) per tonne on Thursday, down from 3,180-3,230 lira per tonne last week.The domes...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday March 5 that are worth another look.Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest will increase its hot-rolled coil output once it finishes testing a new rolling line at its Ilyich Iron & Steel Works at Mariupol, chief executive officer Yuriy Ryzhenkov told Fastmarkets this week.China Zhongwang holdings - the largest aluminium extrusion company...Read More
Leo Prichard has joined warehouse and logistics firm Istim Metals in a global operations role.He will report to Istim Metals president Chris Wibbelman and will provide support to the operations team.The move reunites Prichard with Michael Whelan, chief executive officer of Istim Metals, along with other current Istim Metals executives and former...Read More
Market participants expect to see a decline in the monthly tender price offered by major Chinese stainless mills for March delivery of domestic high-carbon ferro-chrome when the tenders are officially announced in the coming days. Fastmarkets examines the reasons behind this expectation and discusses how smelters might respond to the lower tenders.It is important to note that the tender prices ann...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday March 5, breaching nearby resistance at the $2,000 per tonne level, while tin recorded its first close above $17,000 per tonne since January 24.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,011 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, while just over 9,000 lots were traded over the day. This was a mod...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices dropped on Thursday March 5, with a premium mid-volatility cargo fetching a price lower than some market participants' expectations because of concerns about the weather in Queensland, Australia.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.64, down $3.11 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $174.23, down $1.63 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DB...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rose on Thursday March 5 amid fresh concerns about Brazilian shipment volumes in the current quarter, with the traded price for the benchmark Brazilian low-alumina brand moving up during the day.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.57 per...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been stable, supported by a lack of competitive import offers and good order books at domestic steelmakers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 5.Market sources believed that prices would remain stable at least during the coming week, although there were risks in the market related to effects of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV cor...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained out of deep-sea markets on Thursday March 5, with no new bookings following a standoff between mills and suppliers, sources told Fastmarkets. Turkish steel mills continued to hold off on booking cargoes and sources told Fastmarkets they did not expect to hear any new deals this week. The current stalemate was because US suppliers were unwilling to drop their export pri...Read More
Leo Prichard has joined warehouse and logistics firm Istim Metals in a global operations role.He will report to Istim Metals president Chris Wibbelman and will provide support to the operations team.The move reunites Prichard with Michael Whelan, chief executive officer of Istim Metals, along with other current Istim Metals executives and former...Read More
Soci?(C)t?(C) le Nickel will halt operations at its Thio nickel mine in New Caledonia to protect the site and its employees while fresh industrial action continues to jeopardise already-embattled operations, the company said on Thursday March 5."Following a series of blockades over the past month and a half, I can confirm that all activities at Thio mine will be suspended to protect both our emplo...Read More
China Zhongwang holdings - the largest aluminium extrusion company in Asia - has announced it sold 100% equity interests of its direct wholly-owned subsidy Zhongwang Aluminum Material to Yidian Luoyang, according to a document found by Fastmarkets in Hong Kong Exchanges' website earlier in the week starting March 2.Yidian Luoyang procured the aluminium business at a consideration of 4.6 billion yu...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday March 5, recovering losses made earlier in the week against high turnover, while nickel futures breached resistance at $12,800 per tonne. Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $2,023 per tonne, up by some 1.8% against Wednesday's closing price of $1,982 per tonne. Turnover in zinc...Read More
Broad-based government action to lower interest rates and make money available to the markets have helped underpin the financial system and confidence, and that has led to some risk-on in some sectors this morning, Thursday March 5. Following on from the United States Federal Reserve's emergency 50-basis-point rate cut on Tuesday, Wednesday saw the US House of Representatives approve an emergency...Read More
China's domestic and export prices for stainless steel dropped over the past week due to a delayed resumption of downstream industries.Some stainless steel mills have resorted to cutting production due to the weak demand after an extended Chinese New Year break as a result of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China, but market inventory levels continued to rise gradually. This weighs o...Read More