Prices for steel billet imported into Egypt decreased again in the week to Thursday January 23 amid weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers were offering rebar at E ?9,650-10,000 ($610-632) per tonne ex-works including 14% VAT, down from last week's E ?9,650-10,120 per tonne ex-works. ...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market were stable on Thursday January 23 amid a bearish outlook for the ferrous scrap market and the absence of market participants in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast Asia, which mainly looks at 120-150mm 5sp grade billet sold into Manila, was $442-443 per tonne on Januar...Read More
Samancor Chrome plans to reduce annual chrome ore and ferro-chrome production by 29% and 20% respectively due to poor market conditions, it said on Thursday January 23. South Africa's largest ferro-chrome producer provided the update days after confirming proposals to restructure and retrench staff at its mining and smelting operations. It had also warned in December that production cuts were...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices dropped significantly on Thursday January 23 in the lull ahead of the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, amid rising concerns over the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.44 per tonne, down $3.24 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.48 per tonne, down $3.24 per tonne.6...Read More
Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS), also known as Hesteel Group, has secured a yuan-denominated contract to buy iron ore from Vale, China's second-biggest steelmaker said this week.The contract was signed on Monday January 20 according to an announcement on the HBIS website on Thursday, and is worth around 200 million yuan ($29 million).The...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to change the timing in its fob China export HRC index to 4-8 weeks from the current 4-6 weeks.The proposed amendment reflects the changing situation in the region, where steel mills are now booking orders one or two months ahead, instead of around one month in advance.The amended specification will be as follows:MB-STE-0144 - Steel hot-rolled coil...Read More
LME three-month copper fell to its lowest price since December 5 on Thursday January 23, dipping belowthe $6,000-per-tonne support level at the close amid strong turnover, while tin led the complex in terms of losses. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,987 per tonne this afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $6,116 per tonne, while turnover was at its highest l...Read More
Further reductions in the domestic output of hot-rolled coil in Europe, combined with the continuing lack of competitive import offers, has been supporting domestic prices in the region, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 23.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?461.18 ($511.20) per tonne on Thursday, compared with ?,?462.38 per tonne...Read More
The Chinese government published the long-awaited non-ferrous scrap metal renaming criterion on its website late on Friday January 17. This is the latest policy adopted by the world's biggest scrap metal importer. Copper scrap, of copper content ranging 94-99.9% and meeting certain impurities thresholds, will be renamed under five categories of renewable materials. Below is a table translated and...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan's Indonesian unit is in financing discussions with a syndicate of banks for its new $3 billion copper smelter and expects the project will be funded by a bank loan. The United States producer, one of the project's joint venture partners, said that the economics of PT-FI's share of the new smelter will be shared by its shareholders according to their respective share ownership perc...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 23 that are worth another look.The digitalization of global trade received another push this week, with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the government of Singapore and industry participants signing an agreement to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of technologies in commerce at the World Economic Forum...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products....Read More
Hudbay Minerals has appointed Peter Kukielski the company's president and chief executive officer, the copper-zinc miner said on Wednesday January 22.Kukielski has been serving as interim president and CEO of Hudbay since July 2019, a period which coincides with a US District Court blocking the company's Rosemont project."We are very pleased to appoint Peter as Hudbay's president and chief executi...Read More
LME three-month copper fell to its lowest price since December 5 on Thursday January 23, dipping belowthe $6,000-per-tonne support level at the close amid strong turnover, while tin led the complex in terms of losses. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,987 per tonne this afternoon, falling from an intraday high of $6,116 per tonne, while turnover was at its highest l...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was quiet on Thursday January 23 with many participants in China already away for the Chinese New Year, though a mysterious respiratory virus that is spreading across the country is clouding the outlook for prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.29 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $162.73 per tonne, unchangedHar...Read More
The three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange dipped below nearby support levels during morning trading on Thursday January 23 on a rewarranting of 68,875 tonnes, while copper's price struggles continued. Aluminium's outright price on the LME was recently at $1,797 per tonne, 0.7% below Wednesday's closing price of $1,811 per tonne and sinking below the key threshold. Turnover in a...Read More
Alumina prices rose in an active week of trading ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holidays starting on January 24 in China, which market participants say will dampen liquidity through the rest of January. Fastmarkets calculated the benchmark daily alumina index, fob Australia at $277.92 per tonne on Thursday, up from 275.93 per tonne last Thursday. The index has been range-bound so far in 202...Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices went down once again on the news of a fresh deal for a UK-origin cargo heard on Thursday January 23.The cargo was booked late on January 22 by a steel mill in the Iskenderun region at $277 per tonne cfr for 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20).This transaction compared with the most recent cargo sold at $295 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (95:5) from the United States o...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 23 that are worth another look.The digitalization of global trade received another push this week, with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the government of Singapore and industry participants signing an agreement to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of technologies in commerce at the World Economic Forum...Read More
Exports of non-ferrous scrap from the United States increased by 3.7% in the first 11 months of last year, reaching more than 2.8 million short tons, with aluminium the only metal to register an increase during the period.Zinc, meanwhile, recorded the biggest year-on-year decline, with shipments abroad falling by 23.2% to 31,940 tons from January-November 2019 versus the same period the previ...Read More