Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices remained largely unchanged on Thursday February 20, despite the market going quiet after this week's buying spree, sources told Fastmarkets. Steel mills in the country have booked at least six deep-sea cargoes so far this week, totaling around 180,000 tonnes. The most recent deals put the price for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $279 per tonne c...Read More
Equity markets remain buoyant in Asia, but pre-market western equity indices have started to weaken, while metals are mixed this morning, Thursday February 20.It seems as though equities are focused on how well the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is being contained, while the metals are taking a more cautious stance as they wait for the market to assess the impact on supply and demand. Indeed, given...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?481.07 ($519.45) per tonne on Thursday February 20, down by ?,?0.18 per tonne from ?,?481.25 per tonne on February 19.The index was calculated based...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices rose on Thursday February 20 amid optimism attributed to the progress of work resumption in downstream markets in the wake of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,490-3,510 yuan ($499-502) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,270-3,300 yuan per tonne, up 40-70 yuan per tonneWhile sellers in Shanghai...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) increased in Northern Europe over the past week, supported by strong demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?570-600 ($615-648) per tonne ex-works on February 19, compared with ?,?560-600 per tonne ex-works a week earlier. Starting from the year beginning the asse...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices have increased over the past week on further weakness of the country's lira, rising scrap costs and improving demand that was itself triggered by the upturn in prices, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,150-3,190 lira ($518-525) per tonne on Thursday, up from the...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices have continued to increase in line with rising scrap costs although demand, especially for rebar, was still not strong enough for the mills, sources said on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment on Thursday for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was $430-440 per tonne on an actual weight basis, up from last week...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
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices remained largely unchanged on Thursday February 20, despite the market going quiet after this week's buying spree, sources told Fastmarkets. Steel mills in the country have booked at least six deep-sea cargoes so far this week, totaling around 180,000 tonnes. The most recent deals put the price for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $279 per tonne c...Read More
Chinese port prices increased by as much as 15 yuan per tonne ($2.14 per tonne) for Pilbara Blend fines on Thursday February 20 amid a surge in the May iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.01 per tonne, up $2.01 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.34 per tonne, up $2.01 per tonne.62% Fe low-...Read More
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), intra-year demand volatility and seaborne supply uncertainty are likely to contribute to iron ore price volatility in the coming year, Australia miner BHP said."If Covid-19 is effectively and demonstrably contained within the March quarter, we expect that an accelerated run-rate in the construction and manufacturing sectors for the remainder of th...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have increased over the past week thanks to rising imported scrap costs and improving demand, sources said on Thursday February 20.In response to the rising scrap import prices in Turkey, the suppliers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have raised their billet offer prices to $405-415 per tonne from last week's $400-405 per tonne.A steel mill in...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
China's domestic rebar prices were mixed on Thursday February 20, with a partial resumption of work by the construction sector providing support in the eastern region while the cold weather in the north kept demand in check.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,400-3,430 yuan ($486-490) per tonne, up 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,330-3,350 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneSeveral key...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
Ukraine's largest producer of long steel, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR), is currently bringing its new continuous casting machine No3 (CCM No3) to designed capacity, the company announced on Monday February 17."We already produce 150mm billet at CCM No3 and will start production of 130mm billet soon, " a company source told Fastmarkets.The equipment addition is part of a company project to repla...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 20 that are worth another look.US-based metallurgical coal producer Warrior Met Coal has announced plans to develop a hard coking coal project in Alabama with a capacity of 3.9-million-tonnes per year, through an investment of around $550-600 million over the next five years.Alcoa Corp has been certified by the Aluminium...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday February 20, falling by more than 1% but holding above the nearby support level, while nickel failed to reduce its losses despite low turnover.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,112 per tonne in the afternoon, with daily trading volumes the second-highest across the base-metals complex...Read More
Alumina prices on an fob Australia basis have gone up over the past week due to a high-priced deal for material destined for China, but market participants were still searching for clarity on market conditions on Thursday February 20.Fastmarkets calculated the daily alumina index, fob Australia, at $289.84 per tonne on Thursday, up from $281.69 per tonne a week earlier.It was now at its highest le...Read More