The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Friday January 24, with price action continuing its descent against consistent inflows, while copper futures found support back above nearby resistance. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $13,285 per tonne, 0.7% below Thursday's closing price of $13,350 with just 536 lots exchanged as...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States went down slightly on Friday January 24 due to slow spot market activity amid negative outlooks on ferrous scrap prices, sources said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $30.09 per hundredweight ($601.80 per short ton) on Friday, down by 1.1% from $30.44 per cwt on January 23 but 0.5% higher than $29.94 per cwt a...Read More
Czech steelmaker Trineck?(C) ? 1/2 elez??rny plans to increase its capacity and production volumes in 2020 despite reducing its level of investment, the company said on Thursday January 23.Last year, the company reduced its planned investments by 500 million Czech koruna ($22 million) due to a decline in demand and low prices, it said."We reduced total investment by more than 500 million Czech kor...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices have risen by 400 rupees ($6) per tonne in the week ended Friday January 24, on price rises announced by all the country's major iron ore miners.The price of steel billet, domestic, ex-works India, assessed by Fastmarkets on January 24, rose by 400 rupees per tonne to 30,100-30,300 rupees ($422-425) per tonne, compared with last week's assessment at 29,700-2...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and color-coated coil or pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI), decreased in the week to Friday January 24 amid moderate demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand was moderate because buyers had expected prices to decrease more because of falling scrap prices.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr T...Read More
Chinese steelmaker Hebei Jingye Group has moved a step closer to acquiring British Steel following an agreement made with the trade unions that could result in 500 job losses.The proposals from Jingye on terms of employment now need to be agreed by British Steel staff following the negotiations by the various trade unions.Other outstanding hurdles to the deal include Jingye reaching an agreement.....Read More
Low pig iron availability in the export market from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) prevented prices from following the rapid drop in the scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets during the week ended Thursday January 23."I agree that normally pig iron follows the trend in the scrap market, but now the availability from the CIS is so low that this rule doesn't apply," one exporter said....Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for light iron scrap in the UK was steady in the week ended Friday January 24, but a drop in European export prices to traditional markets in Turkey and the Indian subcontinent may drag on British prices in the near term, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?95...Read More
The price of grade-316 stainless steel scrap rose in the UK domestic market this week on short supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 24. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel scrap 316 solids, domestic, delivered merchants UK, was ?1,200-1,220 ($1,575-1,601) per tonne on Friday, up from ?1,170-1,200 per tonne a week ago.Supply of stainless steel scrap is typically low in...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India continued to fall this week, in line with the drop in international scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' calculation of the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, was $296.51 per tonne on January 24, down from $313.61 per tonne on January 17. Deals for shredded material into India were heard at the beginning of the week...Read More
The Turkish steel mills ended the working week having purchased only one deep-sea cargo, because they were still struggling with sluggish rebar demand, sources said on Friday January 24.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region had booked a UK cargo, comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $277 per tonne cfr, late on January 22, which sent the daily scrap indices down by $6.45 per tonne on Thur...Read More
A summary of Anglo American's production results for iron ore in the fourth quarter and full-year 2019, as well as production guidance for 2020, following the company's report released on Thursday January 23. The South African Kumba unit increased production on both comparisons due to the Sishen mine improving operational performance and the Kolomela mine - both mines are part of the Kumba un...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were rangebound on Friday January 24 while the week-long Chinese New Year holiday starts, but market participants who were still working believe that the outlook is bearish with the ongoing fears of the coronavirus not being contained.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.71 per tonne, up $0.27 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.75...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were unchanged on Friday January 24 in the absence of transactions, with the largest buyer in the spot market, China, starting its week-long public holiday for the Chinese New Year.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.29 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $162.73 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal,...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Korea Zinc will stop refining selenium as a byproduct of copper ore now that market levels have made it unprofitable, the company confirmed to Fastmarkets."We are stopping selenium production temporarily due to poor market conditions. We have been losing money for a while with this metal," Kris Hans, assistant sales manager at Korea Zinc, said."We will resume production in a healthier market, but...Read More
The price of stainless steel flat products in the European domestic market was unchanged this week ahead of an expected, but moderate, rise in monthly surcharges for February, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday January 24. Finland's Outokumpu announced that it will raise the alloy surcharge for grade-304 stainless steel flat products for February by ?,?11 per tonne month on month to ?,?1,448...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, the United States and Asia for the week ending Friday January 24. Europe The high-carbon ferro-chrome market rose strongly with some producers reporting increased demand from some end consumers. Production cuts have led to a shortage of lower-priced material to parts of the market, while an increase in offer prices for Indian material has c...Read More
Demand dipped in Asia's ferrous scrap markets in the lead-up to major holidays in Vietnam and Taiwan, with steel mills scaling back purchases in preparation for the Lunar New Year.The downward trend for global scrap prices also dampened buying sentiment. Buyers have withdrawn from the market to wait for prices to bottom out.VietnamFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scra...Read More
There was thin spot liquidity in the Singapore rebar import market this week due to the looming Lunar New Year holidays.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $455-465 per tonne for the week to Friday January 24, unchanged from a week earlier.There were n...Read More