The US Midwest aluminium premium fell in the week ended Tuesday March 3 to its lowest since February 2018, but other global premiums remained well supported by the contango in nearby spreads on the London Metal Exchange.Canadian rail situation resolvedEyes on April-May spreads in RotterdamMJP second-quarter negotiations begin.US Midwest premium at 2-year lowIn the United States, the Midwest alumin...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 3.Click on...Read More
Germanium demand has surged thanks to its use in infrared thermometers for fever screening which have been installed at airports, railway stations, long-distance bus stations and ferry terminals across China as part of measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Infrared optics, including heat detectors, account for about 30% of total demand for germanium, according to data...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 3 that are worth another look.Chinese steel company Hebei Jingye Group will complete the acquisition of British Steel on Monday March 9, the UK steel trade union Community said on March 3.Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose at the end of February, having stalled in the previous week.Brazil's iron o...Read More
Interest rate cuts, introduced to stimulate global economies amid the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), have instead compounded market trepidation and are weighing heavily on London Metal Exchange base metals prices, which broadly closed down on Tuesday March 3. The United States Federal Reserve slashed its interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.5% on Tuesday, and while the uns...Read More
China's rebar prices bounced back on Tuesday March 3 in both the domestic and export markets amid optimism for a strengthening of demand in the local market.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,400-3,440 yuan ($488-494) per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,300-3,330 yuan per tonne, up 40 yuan per tonneRebar futures had a bullish start to the day, rising to as high as 3,466 yuan pe...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was little moved during morning trading on Tuesday March 3, with a fresh cancelation of some 17,200 tonnes redundant to price action, while zinc continued its downturn. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently at $5,735 per tonne. Turnover was high in copper over the morning - at just under 7,000 lots - as of 9:15am London time. This m...Read More
Spot-market activity during the first month of Fastmarkets' daily monitoring of cobalt prices has been slow because of the consequences of the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, and followed small gains in prices during trading in January.Price movesMetals prices, for both standard and alloy-grade cobalt, continued to climb, albeit incrementally. Buyers were making frequent inquiries, with the...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico edged down for five grades, while five other grades were stable, amid adjustments applied by some buyers in the week ended Friday February 28.At least one buyer in Mexico was heard applying a 200-pesos ($10.18) price cut late last week, because of a comfortable level of inventories, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel scrap No1 heavy mel...Read More
Grupo Mexico posted record results for the fourth quarter of 2019 and confirmed its place as the lowest cash cost producer in the industry, at $1.07 per lb of copper during 2019. The announcement came as a labor strike at its subsidiary Asarco stretched to its fifth month at five locations in Arizona and Texas, after hourly workers rejected the company's "last, best and final" offer in October las...Read More
Lackluster demand from end consumers has put further pressure on the lead premium in the United States, with the range for the 99.97% ingot premium falling twice in the past four weeks to a nearly seven-and-a-half-year low.Fastmarkets assessed the lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US at $0.085-0.095 per lb on Tuesday March 3, down by 5.3% from the $0.09-0.10-per-lb range maintained...Read More
Novelis Inc has entered a recycling partnership with automotive manufacturer BMW Group in Germany.The recycling system, which has been in place since early 2019, uses automotive scrap from BMW's Dingolfing production plant, the Atlanta-based aluminium rolling and recycling company said on Monday March 2. "Sustainability is...Read More
Interest rate cuts, introduced to stimulate global economies amid the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), have instead compounded market trepidation and are weighing heavily on London Metal Exchange base metals prices, which broadly closed down on Tuesday March 3. The United States Federal Reserve slashed its interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.5% on Tuesday, and while the uns...Read More
Marex Spectron has acquired non-ferrous scrap merchants Tangent Trading, making a foray into physical metal markets for the first time.Marex, which did not disclose the deal's value, is a ring dealer and broker on the London Metal Exchange and holds...Read More
Prices in the CIS export market for rebar and wire rod slipped in the week to Monday March 2 on a lack of trading activity or supportive market factors.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $420-425 per tonne on March 2, narrowing downward by $20 per tonne week on week.Offers of Ukraine-origin rebar were reported within the range of $420-4...Read More
The domestic price for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe was fairly stable day on day on Tuesday March 3, sources told Fastmarkets.But in the south of the region, Italian mills were targeting price increases which were likely to get support from a pickup in demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?484.53 ($537.97) per tonne on Tuesday, down...Read More
The United States division of Russia-based steelmaker NLMK Group have filed a complaint this week with the US Court of International Trade, claiming wrongful denial of exemption for its imports of steel slab from the 25% tariff imposed under Section 232.NLMK USA, which comprises NLMK Indiana and NLMK Pennsylvania, has been requesting since March 2018 that Russia-origin slab be declared exempt from...Read More
Chinese steel company Hebei Jingye Group will complete the acquisition of British Steel on Monday March 9, the UK steel trade union Community said on Tuesday March 3.The deal is expected to be done at ?50 million ($55.51 million), the union said."We look forward to working with Jingye as they bring forward the ?1.2...Read More
The export market for flat steel exporters from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was quiet during the week ended Monday March 2 because of the limited volumes that suppliers could offer for exports.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $465-475 per tonne on Monday, unchanged week on week."MMK [Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works] sa...Read More
Most flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decreased this week, with the market being slow because buyers wanted to see prices reach a bottom before placing any orders, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 3.Stock levels were low in the region, but buyers did not want to place orders when prices were falling.UAEOffer prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) from C...Read More