The seaborne iron ore index was rangebound on Thursday January 16, likely due to weaker demand from mills, while demand for low-alumina fines seemed robust.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.36 per tonne, down $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $95.40 per tonne, down $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $97.20 per tonne, up $0.09 per...Read More
Trading activity in the CIS export billet market enlivened by mid-January with new bookings coming to light. But the general trend still lacked clarity because the price range of bookings was wide.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $408 per tonne on January 16, unchanged day on day.A 50,000-tonne cargo of Ukrainian special-grade billet was sold to Saudi Arabia a...Read More
Turkish steel billet import prices fell slightly over the past week on the back of weakening scrap costs, and domestic and export billet prices are expected to follow suit soon, sources said on Thursday January 16.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey, was $410-415 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing down from $410-420 per tonne last week.Steel billet supp...Read More
Prices for steel rebar in Egypt fell again in the week to Thursday January 16, due to weak demand and falling billet prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers were offering rebar at E ?9,650-10,120 ($607-637) per tonne ex-works, including 14% VAT, down from last week's ?,?'9,775-10,580 per tonne ex-works....Read More
China's stainless steel prices decreased slightly ahead of the upcoming January 24-30 Chinese New Year holiday amid sluggish trading due to a segment of the market already starting their breaks well in advance."Producers made minor adjustments to their stainless steel prices, if any at all, because the price of nickel has been mostly stable with only minor movements," a steel processor source in e...Read More
Demand for passenger cars in Europe moved up by a remarkable 21.65% year-on-year in December 2019, making it the fourth consecutive month of growth.New car sales in Europe totalled 1,215,076 vehicles in December last year, compared with 998,791 units sold in the corresponding month of 2018, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA)...Read More
Turkey's vehicle output totaled 1,461,244 units in 2019, down by 5.74% from 1,550,260 vehicles the previous year, the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) said on Sunday January 12.Domestic vehicle sales of 491,909 units last year is down by 23.32% from 641,550 vehicles in 2018.The country exported 1,252,586 vehicles in 2019, a decline of 5.03% from 1,318,869 vehicles the previous ye...Read More
Market participants in China say they are not worried by the expected increase in steel imports from the United States, even after the two major economic powers signed the phase one economic and trade agreement on Wednesday January 15. While the agreement does not set out the increase in quantity of US-origin steel exports China will accept, Chinese market participants do not expected the increase...Read More
Central China-based Henan Luoyang Iron & Steel is to sell its 1.04 million tonnes per year of crude steel capacity to a mill in southern China's Guangdong province, according a notice released by the Henan Industry & Information Technology Department on Tuesday January 14.Seller: Luoyang Iron & SteelLocation: Luoyang city, Henan...Read More
The Chinese steelmaking industry will focus on six key areas in 2020 to maintain its structured and orderly development, China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) chairman Gao Xiangming said in a speech at a conference last weekend.These are meant to round out the final year of China's 13th Five-Year Plan and contribute to the stable growth and reform of the Chinese economy.1. Maintain stable, efficie...Read More
UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers have added a further round of price increases for the latest monthly settlements to be delivered in January, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 16.January contracts were up by ?10 ($13) per tonne, the latest step in a climb of ?35 per tonne over three months, after increasing by a similar amount last month and by ?15 per tonne in Novem...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday January 16, falling by more than 3.5% to settle below nearby resistance, while a steady upswing in tin's outright price saw it close at a six-month high.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,775 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, losing more than $650 per tonne from an intraday high of...Read More
Trading activity in the CIS export billet market enlivened by mid-January with new bookings coming to light. But the general trend still lacked clarity because the price range of bookings was wide.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $408 per tonne on January 16, unchanged day on day.A 50,000-tonne cargo of Ukrainian special-grade billet was sold to Saudi Arabia a...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) in Europe increased over the past seven days, driven up by rising hot-rolled coil feedstock costs, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was fairly stable at ?,?443.10 ($493.66) per tonne on Wednesday January 16, up by ?,?3.10 per tonne week on week.And Fastmarkets'...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 16 that are worth another look.Trading activity in the Iranian export market for steel billet and slab slowed down in the week ended Wednesday January 15, with the United States tightening its sanctions against a number of the Middle Eastern country's major steelmakers amid increased tension between the two nations.Fres...Read More
The London Metal Exchange will on February 1 introduce a reporting process that will increase transparency into levels of off-warrant stocks. The exchange announced the plans in November 2019 and aims to attract more metal back in LME sheds. It is controversial, but its passage into the LME rulebook on February 1 follows a consultation last year. Some market participants are now saying the LME sho...Read More
A string of long-term deals for cobalt hydroxide show that bullish forecasts for cobalt consumption from the electric vehicle (EV) sector are coming into play. Glencore will supply battery manufacturer SK Innovation with up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide over six years, it said last week - a deal worth about $1 billion in today's market. And other deals also point...Read More
If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday January 16, falling by more than 3.5% to settle below nearby resistance, while a steady upswing in tin's outright price saw it close at a six-month high.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $13,775 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, losing more than $650 per tonne from an intraday high of...Read More
The seaborne iron ore index was rangebound on Thursday January 16, likely due to weaker demand from mills, while demand for low-alumina fines seemed robust.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $96.36 per tonne, down $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $95.40 per tonne, down $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $97.20 per tonne, up $0.09 per...Read More