The prices for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates fell over the past week and demand continues to be weak, market sources said on Tuesday March 3. Local UAE rebar producers announced new monthly domestic prices on February 25. Emirates Steel is offering rebar at 1,897 dirhams ($516) per tonne ex-works, down from the previous 1,951 dirhams per tonne ex-works. Suppliers have red...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on Tuesday March 3, amid firm offer prices (especially from the United States), sources told Fastmarkets.After buying at least 25 cargoes of about 750,000 tonnes in February, the mills halted purchasing activity at the beginning of last week.The most recent deep-sea transactions had put the price of Baltic Sea- and...Read More
Brazil's iron ore exports plunged year on year in February, while heavy rains in the southeastern region adversely affected production and transportation, higher average prices also partly offset the drop, the country's ministry of economy said on Monday March 2.Iron ore shipments from Brazil totaled 22.1 million tonnes over February, falling by 23.6% in comparison with 28.93 million tonnes in Feb...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices surged on Wednesday March 3, with a premium low-vol cargo fetching a price of over $175 per tonne cfr China. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $162.39 per tonne, unchanged Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $173.42 per tonne, up by $4.88 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $145.01 per tonne, up $0.51 per tonne Hard coking coal...Read More
Expectations for the second-quarter direct-reduced (DR) iron pellet premium remain unclear, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 3, mainly due to uncertainty in the iron ore market caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Fastmarkets' assessment of the iron ore DR-grade pellet premium, Middle East reference, was $31 per tonne on Friday February 28, unchanged from January 31."Ther...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped on Tuesday March 3, with participants attributing the dip to a re-calibration of the bullish sentiment following the surge the day before.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.55 per tonne, down $0.38 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.71 per tonne, down $0.51 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $77.38 per tonne,...Read More
Shindachi - a Japanese grade of busheling - is one of the cleanest and highest-yield materials in the scrap sector, but a sharp drop in prices over the last year has made the product increasingly attractive to overseas buyers.A combination of weaker demand among Japanese mills and slower buying from South Korea have left scrap market participants with the expectation that more Shindachi cargoes wo...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
China's hot-rolled coil prices rose further on Tuesday March 3 after mills raised their offers, but fewer buyers placed orders in response.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,520-3,540 yuan ($503-506) per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,280-3,300 yuan per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneTraders in both eastern China and northern China reported that trading activity had thinne...Read More
After strong rallies in US equities at the start of the week that saw the Down Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) close up by 5.09%, markets are getting some comfort this morning from the prospect of easier monetary policy, which is helping them keep the negative impacts from the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the background.Most Asian equity markets are stronger this morning, but have not been as...Read More
Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange enjoyed more broad-based price gains during the morning trading session on Tuesday March 3, with risk sentiment buoyed by expectations of further stimulus measures to offset the negative economic impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) outbreak.The continued positivity in global markets comes ahead of scheduled talks between Group of Seven (G...Read More
A buildup of manganese ore at Chinese ports is set to escalate in the coming weeks when a jump in fresh imports adds to a spillover of material into minor ports, manganese market sources predict. Manganese ore stocks in main Chinese ports stand at 4.64-4.85 million tonnes according to Fastmarkets' latest assessment on Monday March 2, compared with 4.52-4.64 million tonnes at the end of 2019....Read More
Broader markets are mixed this morning, Wednesday March 4, with markets in Asia generally weaker, while the London Metal Exchange base metals and western equities are recovering after having taken fright from the United States Federal Reserve’s rate cut on Tuesday. The US central bank’s emergency 50-basis-point rate cut led the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) to close down by 2.94% o...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 61 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar is up 0.18 to U.S.74.88 cents prior to an announcement at 10:00 AM EST by the Bank of Canada on interest rate policy. Consensus is that the Bank of Canada will reduce its overnight lending rate to major Canadian Banks by at least 0.25% to 1.50%.Hewlett Packard Enterpri...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday March 2 that are worth another look.The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has issued 1,615 force majeure certificates to businesses in China affected by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) outbreak.The price of European aluminium ingot 226 continued to climb on Friday February 28 due to strong domesti...Read More
Publication of Fastmarkets' assessment of blister copper refining charges (RCs) for February was delayed by a reporter error.The copper blister 98-99% RC, spot, cif China, is normally published on the last trading day of the month.The price should therefore have been published on Friday February 28. It was instead published on Monday March 2. The price was $135-145 per tonne in the latest assessme...Read More
Spot trading interest in copper intermediate products has surged among Chinese smelters who are eager to make up for copper output lost during the coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-led logistics lockdown in February. Logistics operations are resuming across Chinese provinces and copper production has picked up, leading to several thousand tonnes of blister copper reported as being sold into the country. Fas...Read More
Spot trading interest in copper intermediate products has surged among Chinese smelters who are eager to make up for copper output lost during the coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-led logistics lockdown in February. Logistics operations are resuming across Chinese provinces and copper production has picked up, leading to several thousand tonnes of blister copper reported as being sold into the country. Fas...Read More
Cesco Santiago, one of the biggest annual events for the copper industry, has been canceled, organisers confirmed to Fastmarkets. "Both the World Copper Conference organized by CRU and Cesco Dinner will not take place this year," the organization said in a press release dated Monday March 2 after confirming by phone. The organization had been under pressure to at least delay the event because many...Read More