Iron ore vessel MV Stellar Banner, grounded near the coast of Brazilian northeastern state of Maranh??o earlier in the week, was carrying 294,871 tonnes of iron ore, a spokesperson for Brazilian mining company Vale told Fastmarkets on Friday February 28. Stellar Banner has capacity for 300,660 tonnes of ore. Operations at the Ponta da Madeira port terminal were still unaffected by the incident and...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
Seaborne coking coal prices were largely stable on Friday February 28, although some market participants in China said that a correction was likely due to rising concerns about the global macroeconomic situation given the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outside China. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $162.05 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr J...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped further on Friday February 28, with concerns about mills' margins emerging among Chinese buyers as global macroeconomic sentiment continued to plummet.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.96 per tonne, down $1.76 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.09 per tonne, down $1.55 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $72....Read More
Zinc recorded the largest percentage increase in stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses in the week ending Friday February 28, with inventories climbing up by 11.8% week on week. Nanchu warehouse in Guangdong province gained the most zinc inventories, with total stock rising by 6,403 tonnes to 66,078 tonnes. "Zinc demand from downstream is still really weak on restricted transport...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall on Friday February 28 amid thin trading, encouraging more overseas buyers to hold out for lower export offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,480-3,500 yuan ($496-499) per tonne, down 30-40 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,240-3,250 yuan per tonne, down 40-50 yuan per tonneTrading activity continued to weaken for a fourth day, which pu...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board again during morning trading on Friday February 28, due to the global coronavirus outbreak continuing to put bearish pressure on the market. "Markets across the world from commodities to equities fell on Friday as investors feared a coronavirus pandemic. The MSCI World Index headed for the worst week since the financial cr...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices tumbled further on Friday February 28 amid losses in the futures market and sustained weakness in demand from the construction sector. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,370-3,400 yuan ($480-485) per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,320-3,360 yuan per tonne, down 50 yuan per tonneThe country's real estate sector is under pressure from a drop in trans...Read More
Growing fears in recent days that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic is becoming a pandemic have given global equity markets a reality check and base metals that had initially reacted more than equities are now down less than equities, so may have some catching up to do.The Dow Jones Industrial Average in pre-market trading on Friday February 28, is indicated at 25,190, which means it is d...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons behind the latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
A summary of stainless steel producer Acerinox's financial results for October-December and the full year of 2019.In briefThe Spain-based company reported lower production as a result of reduced consumption, caused by the uncertainty and geopolitical tensions arising from the UK's departure from the Europan Union as well as increasing protectionism globally.Reduced earnings were linked to a provis...Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market was unchanged in the week ended Friday February 28, but decreases were expected from next week following mills' recent announcement of lower monthly alloy surcharges.The surcharges for grade-304 stainless steels came down substantially this week because of lower nickel prices. The nickel downturn also caused grade-316 surcharges to decre...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday February 28. China Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to weaken sentiment for seaborne ore prices amid sharp falls in portside and alloy prices. Portside prices fell on aggressive bids...Read More
Monthly European alloy steel surcharges for March are down in response to lower nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday February 28. In the case of grade-316 stainless steel, the fall in the surcharge was moderated by higher molybdenum prices. Fastmarkets' calculation of the stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 316, 2mm, alloy surcharge, domestic, Europe, for March was ?,?2,040-2,...Read More
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that originated in China but has since spread to more than 40 countries poses a serious threat to the Chinese nickel market, with demand, and therefore prices, said to be at considerable risk in the short term.While supply of nickel remains largely steady despite reports of some output cuts in China, demand for the metal has been hit by the country's waning stainl...Read More
Exports of stainless steel scrap from the United States more than doubled in December compared with the prior month due to increased shipments to Taiwan and Canada, although shipments for the last year were down by 28% from 2018, according to the latest US Census Bureau data.Stainless steel scrap exports totaled 74,774 tonnes in December compared with 33,343 tonnes the previous month. For 2019, ex...Read More
Sino-Pakistani steel producer Al-Haj Asia Star Steel will begin production of steel rebar in northern Pakistan from early March and will enter the market for imported scrap, Fastmarkets has been told.Al-Haj Asia Star Steel is a joint venture formed in 2017 between Pakistani conglomerate Al-Haj Group and China's Hebei Xingang Iron & Steel Group.In its first six months of production, the mill will p...Read More
Taiwanese ferrous scrap buyers continued to purchase cargoes at high prices this week, although buying momentum slowed toward the end of the week on returning supply of Japanese scrap.Vietnamese buyers continued to focus heavily on Japanese scrap due to its large discount against materials from the United States' West Coast.VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for deep-sea bulk cargoes of s...Read More
The vast majority of copper and brass scrap imported into China could meet the criteria of reclassification as copper renewable materials, according to research by Jinrui Futures.Referencing the Chinese import data of 2019, 97% of the copper scrap products and 79% of the brass scrap products brought into the country last year could be renamed as copper renewable materials, Zark Huang, analyst with...Read More