European buyers held back from hot-rolled coil purchases due to expectations of a decline in domestic prices and massive import volumes being released in the European Union after Friday October 1, sources told Fastmarkets on September 29. Low import offers that have emerged in Europe have also contributed to negative sentiment in the market. The latest offers of HRC have been heard at ?,?800-900 (...Read More
The US nickel briquette price hit a new all-time high; premiums in Asia and Europe remain unchanged. China premiums stable ahead of Chinese National Holidays US briquette hits new all-time high amid extreme shortage European premiums remain flat Shanghai premiums stable ahead of holidays The premiums on nickel cathodes imported into China remained stable in the week to Tuesday September 28,...Read More
Nexa Resources has halted mining operations at the San Gerardo open-pit zinc-lead mine at its Atacocha project in Peru, after protesters began "illegally blocking public roads" in the Pasco region of the country, the company said this week. The company said that, despite the blockade in and around the mine by the local Joraoniyoc community, there had not been a material impact on production a...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in Europe softened in the week to Wednesday September 29, ahead of the renewal of European Union import quotas, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,300-1,330 ($1,519-1,554)per tonne on Wednesday September 29, down from ?,?1,350-1,400 per tonne on Wednesday September 2...Read More
Prices in the Indian import steel scrap market have dropped in recent days amid continued weak demand in the country, while power shortages are constraining Chinese scrap demand, market sources told Fastmarkets.Weak demand in India continues to pressure pricesChina's restrictions on power usage depress buying interests furtherTaiwan secures containerized scrap cargoes at $465 per tonne cfrIndiaPri...Read More
ArcelorMittal has secured a ?,?280 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for research and innovation to support its decarbonization objectives, the steelmaker said.The loan will enable the company to expand its research and development (R&D) activities significantly in the field of decarbonization as well as related capital expenditure, it said on September 27.Investment spendi...Read More
Base metals prices edged down in morning trading on Wednesday September 29, with weakness in across the complex supported by the rising US Dollar Index, which pushed up to its highest level since November 2020."Copper and most of the other metals [prices fell] on Wednesday, with Asian equities suffering from a global stock sell off," Marex LME desk analyst Anna Stablum said."Wall Street [had its]...Read More
Rebar prices in Shanghai increased on Wednesday September 29 on restocking ahead of the National Day holidays, but demand is expected to drop in areas in north, east and central China on plans to start dust inspections at construction sites from October 1 to March 31, 2022.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,830-5,870 yuan ($902-908) per tonne, up by 40 yuan per tonneThe Ministry of Ecology and En...Read More
The export billet price from the Commonwealth of Independent States strengthened on Wednesday September 29 with a fresh Black Sea cargo reported sold to China.A 40,000-tonne lot of Ukraine-origin billet was sold to China at $705 per tonne cfr on Wednesday, a source on the seller side told Fastmarkets. Market participants estimate that the price nets back to $600-605 per tonne fob Black Sea, consid...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Jon Stibbs...Read More
Limited supplies of cobalt hydroxide on the spot market and rising feedstock prices have revived interest in cobalt briquettes among refineries looking to secure near-term supplies of raw materials.In the week to Friday September 24, several tens of tonnes cobalt briquettes were purchased in the spot market by cobalt salts refineries, after barely any had changed hands in previous weeks, trader so...Read More
The Brazilian steel industry intends to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in order to lower the country's carbon footprint, the steelmakers' association, Instituto A??o Brasil, said on Wednesday September 29.The methods to cut emission will include developing a strong local carbon credit market and moving forward with higher scrap and charcoal usage, as well as improving...Read More
German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has introduced carbon surcharges for steel products following anticipated changes in pricing methods in the European industry, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 29.Thyssenkrupp's carbon surcharge for hot-rolled coil is ?,?22.78 ($26.62) per tonne, two German traders said. The company has also notified its customers that the current cost of e...Read More
The US nickel briquette price hit a new all-time high; premiums in Asia and Europe remain unchanged. China premiums stable ahead of Chinese National Holidays US briquette hits new all-time high amid extreme shortage European premiums remain flat Shanghai premiums stable ahead of holidays The premiums on nickel cathodes imported into China remained stable in the week to Tuesday September 28,...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed on the morning of Wednesday September 29 while they consolidated against a backdrop of numerous headwinds. Uncertainty has picked up regarding how high US treasury yields and the dollar will go and what will the fallout be if China's Evergrande starts defaulting on foreign-owned debt. China's power rationing set to hit metal production and manufacturing, and in turn s...Read More
ArcelorMittal Belgium will build a 2.5 million-tonne-per-year direct reduced iron (DRI) plant and two electric furnaces (EAFs) at its Ghent site that will drive down its carbon emissions, it said.The steelmaker has signed a letter of intent with the governments of Belgium and Flanders, supporting the ?,?1.1 billion ($1.16 billion) project, it said on Tuesday September 28.This will reduce CO2 emiss...Read More
Base metals prices edged down in morning trading on Wednesday September 29, with weakness in across the complex supported by the rising US Dollar Index, which pushed up to its highest level since November 2020."Copper and most of the other metals [prices fell] on Wednesday, with Asian equities suffering from a global stock sell off," Marex LME desk analyst Anna Stablum said."Wall Street [had its]...Read More
Export slab prices from Iran continued to decrease in the week to Wednesday September 29 amid weakening customer markets.Southeast Asia and China are currently the main destinations for Iran-origin slab.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index export, fob main port China, was $ 910 per tonne on September 29, unchanged day on day but down by $15 per tonne week on week.In such conditions...Read More
Turkish mills are actively seeking United States-origin scrap and expect to negotiate their next US deep-sea cargoes at prices comparable to or higher than the last-reported sales, sources said on Wednesday September 29.Tight shredded and bonus-grade scrap supply is staving off further export market downside and shoring up heavy melt prices, with buyers willing to pay more to secure units of grade...Read More
Boliden has opened a new leaching plant that will extract metal from residual material at its R??nnsk??r copper smelter in Sweden,the company said on Tuesday September 28."Our aim is to extract as much metal as possible from our raw materials while ensuring the best achievable environmental and climate performance," Boliden Smelters president Daniel Peltonen said in a...Read More