The Egyptian Administrative Court will make a ruling on billet and rebar import duties on May 23, after a number of domestic rebar re-rollers appealed to have them removed, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday February 24.The Egyptian Ministry of Trade & Industry announced definitive import duties on steel billet, rebar and wire rod on October 10 last year. The definitive safeguard duty...Read More
The price of UG2 chrome ore dropped in the week to Friday February 21 due to lower bids from alloy smelters after China's major stainless steel mills kept their February tender prices flat month on month. China's Tsingshan Group and Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Tisco) held their ferro-chrome tender prices for February delivery unchanged from January. The latest tender prices came as a shock to the mark...Read More
The Egyptian Administrative Court will make a ruling on billet and rebar import duties on May 23, after a number of domestic rebar re-rollers appealed to have them removed, market participants told Fastmarkets on Monday February 24.The Egyptian Ministry of Trade & Industry announced definitive import duties on steel billet, rebar and wire rod on October 10 last year. The definitive safeguard duty...Read More
Dexin Steel Indonesia will fire up its first blast furnace on Friday February 21, an industry source told Fastmarkets.Owned by China's Delong Holdings, the mill in Central Sulawesi province's Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, will have a total production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per...Read More
Flat steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 5.3% year on year in January, with the country's steel consumption rising amid price increases, according to national flat steel distributors' association Inda. Shipments amounted to 279,400 tonnes last month, against 265,300 tonnes a year before, Inda said on Tuesday February 18."The market is improving slowly," Inda president Carlos Loure...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 24 that are worth another look.Chinese rebar remained the most competitively priced of imports of the long steel product in Singapore over the past week, edging out Turkish products.The discount for copper scrap imported into China has fallen in February on a lower commodity price and a negative arbitrage, with the impact o...Read More
CIS export prices for steel slab remained firm in bookings made in the seven days to Friday February 21 despite a weakening of the finished flat steel sector in the region and in some customers' markets.A cargo of Russia-origin slab was reported sold to Belgium at $425 per tonne fob Black Sea last week, in line with asking prices.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Bla...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in both Northern and Southern Europe rose at the end of the week to Friday February 21, supported by a lack of competitive imports and a degree of recovery in demand.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?483.99 ($524.88) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?4.65 per tonne week on week from ?,?479.34 per tonne on February...Read More
Steel billet prices in the global markets were up in all regions except Asia last week, supported by increasing raw material costs, particularly scrap.Low-priced Japanese billet transactions and competitive offers for Chinese billet resulted in a $10-per-tonne decline in the Southeast Asian market.Southeast Asia, ChinaSeveral cargoes of Japanese billet were booked in the Philippines last week with...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 24 that are worth another look.Chinese rebar remained the most competitively priced of imports of the long steel product in Singapore over the past week, edging out Turkish products.The discount for copper scrap imported into China has fallen in February on a lower commodity price and a negative arbitrage, with the impact o...Read More
Trade disputes and geopolitical uncertainties had already made the prospects for global economic growth uncertain. A coronavirus has now added to the challenges facing financial markets.The epicenter of the virus is Wuhan, an important commercial hub in China that is home to 11.9 million people, including the country's largest student population. It is also a manufacturing hub, with around 500 fac...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday February 24, with downward moves taking it to its its lowest close since July 2016, while broad risk-off sentiment across the base-metals complex saw copper lose 1.2% of its outright price.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,046 per tonne on Monday afternoon, falling from an i...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were largely steady on Monday February 24 following an upward trend last week, with market participants contemplating the direction of prices for this week.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.88 per tonne, down $0.37 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.82 per tonne, down $0.34 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $79.72...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were flat on Monday February 24, with market participants waiting for new drivers to emerge in China.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $159.20 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $141.63 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $149.44 per tonne, unchangedA co...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were stable day on day on Monday February 24, but producers remained bullish, sources told Fastmakets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?484.02 ($524.91) per tonne on Monday, almost unchanged from ?,?483.99 per tonne on February 21.The index was calculated based on deals and "workable" pr...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday February 24, with downward moves taking it to its its lowest close since July 2016, while broad risk-off sentiment across the base-metals complex saw copper lose 1.2% of its outright price.Zinc's underlying price on the LME closed at $2,046 per tonne on Monday afternoon, falling from an i...Read More
The discount for copper scrap imported into China has fallen in February on a lower commodity price and a negative arbitrage, with the impact of virus-led delivery delays on the overseas scrap price being minimal in the Chinese market.Fastmarkets assessed the monthly discount of No 2 94-96% copper scrap, birch or cliff, at 31-34 cents per lb cif China on February 24, down from 33-37 cents per lb i...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Monday February 24, with price action down by 2.4% and trading at its lowest level since July 2016, while copper futures also fell through nearby support levels. Zinc's outright price on the LME recently traded at $2,059 per tonne on Monday morning, falling from an intra-morning high of $2,101 per tonne, wh...Read More
Broader markets are seeing risk-off while they focus on the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) this morning, Monday February 24, after the number of cases and deaths escalated outside of China, especially in South Korea.China remains in a very difficult position as it needs to ramp-up the return to work, while at the same time the virus is not contained. China exported $60 billion of auto...Read More
Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down at the close of the morning trading session on Monday February 24, with sentiment hit by a spike in novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases over the weekend.Currently, China has reported a total of 77,345 confirmed cases of the virus and 2,592 deaths so far, according to figures from the country's National Health Commission. But it...Read More