The CIS export market for pig iron was largely quiet in the week to Thursday January 9, awaiting more clarity after the year-end holidays, particularly in the scrap sector.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS, was $320-325 per tonne on January 9, unchanged week on week.Suppliers returned to the market with offers varying within the...Read More
Physical iron ore prices fell on Thursday January 9 following derivatives losses amid paused restocking from Chinese mills and a big increase in steel inventories.62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $94.37 per tonne, down $1.85 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.46 per tonne, down $1.85 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $95.22 per tonne, down $1.65 per tonne.58% Fe fines...Read More
The seaborne coking coal price fob DBCT rose again on Thursday January 9, although trading activity has waned from a day earlier. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $148.30 per tonne, up $2.04 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $157.35 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122.33 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.02 per tonne,...Read More
China has granted allowances for 3,180 tonnes of ferrous scrap imports in the second round of import quotas issued by the China Solid Waste & Chemicals Management Center on Wednesday January 8. This represents a more than four-fold increase from the previous ferrous scrap quotas which totaled 610 tonnes issued in October 2019. The first round of import quotas for 2020, announced at the end of Dece...Read More
If you ask an executive at your local mill in the United States which way prices will go in 2020, they will probably tell you nowhere but up.That would not be incorrect. Between late October and the end of last year, US steel mills rolled out four price increases totaling at least $150 per ton ($7.50 per hundredweight). And prices have since risen steadily.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-ro...Read More
Overseas buyers have become more willing to pay for Chinese hot-rolled coil, although China's domestic market experienced some weakness on Thursday January 9.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,880-3,920 yuan ($559-564) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,620-3,630 yuan per tonne, widened downward by 10 yuan per tonneTransactions in Shanghai were largely concluded at 3,900-3,920 yuan...Read More
Export prices for Chinese rebar picked up slightly on Thursday January 9 on an appreciating yuan, while the domestic market was flat amid inactivity.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,680-3,710 yuan ($530-534) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,570 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar demand remained persistently weak, which continued to weigh on prices during the day.Traders did not lower...Read More
Chinese stainless steel prices maintained their downward trend over the past week amid sparse trading activity.Nickel futures on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange picked up in the first couple of days this week after falling sharply, but they failed to push up spot prices for stainless steel due to soft demand, sources said.The three-month nickel contract on the LME ended...Read More
Trader and consumer restocking sent prices for cobalt metal higher on Wednesday January 8, with firmer Chinese equity markets, salts prices and raw material payables also underpinning sentiment. Fastmarkets assessed the price for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam at $15.55-16.50 per lb on Wednesday, up 2.4% from Friday. The cobalt alloy-grade, in-whs Rotterdam price was marginally...Read More
Join Fastmarkets' web seminar on what could be in store for the minor metals markets now most stocks formerly held by the Fanya Metal Exchange in China have been sold off in auctions.The whereabouts of minor metal stocks held by the now defunct Fanya Metals Exchange has been a weight on the outlook of minor metals prices and contract negotiations since the exchange collapsed in 2015.Fastmarkets wi...Read More
A second auction for the 3,609.5 tonnes of indium once held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange has been scheduled for January 17, according to an official notice published via the Alibaba judicial online platform on Thursday January 9.The latest sale comes after a previous auction at the end of last year failed to attract any bids.Next week's auction will close at 10am Shanghai time on January 18...Read More
Key data from Wednesday January 8 pricing session in Shanghai and London. Key drivers Spot buying appetite for cobalt hydroxide has picked up considerably since late last month amid strength in downstream cobalt sulfate prices in China, while rising inquiries resulted in higher offer prices from suppliers.Consumers, especially those who have not engaged in any long-term supply contracts,...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 6 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the December Employment Report at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for December Non-farm Payrolls was a drop to 165,000 from 266,000 in November. Actual was 145,000. Consensus for December Unemployment Rate was unchanged from November at 3....Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday January 8.Please click...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange settled at a two-month high at the close of trading on Wednesday January 8, climbing by just under 2% and breaching the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level against the highest daily trading volumes since September 2019.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,403 per tonne, its highest closing price since November 13, while daily turnover...Read More
In what some market participants called a short-term move, the nickel briquette premium crept up in the United States on Tuesday January 7, while all other regions had a slow return to business after year-end holidays. Some US sales pushed up the US nickel briquette premium incrementally Europe welcomes a return to contango in the London Metal Exchange nickel forward price spread Shangha...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday January 8 that are worth another look.Escalating tensions between the United States and Iran have not affected appetite in Southeast Asia for Iranian steel products, sources told Fastmarkets.Limited buying interest ahead of national holidays has dragged the Shanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years, whi...Read More
Limited buying interest ahead of national holidays has dragged theShanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years, while copper premiums are stable in Europe and the United States with minimal spot activity for the first week of 2020.Limited buying interest ahead of the national holidays has dragged the Shanghai copper premium to its lowest level in almost three years Copper prem...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import markets remained silent on Wednesday January 8, with mills still in negotiations for cargoes to be shipped in February, sources told Fastmarkets.Mills in Turkey have been mostly quiet in the deep-sea scrap import markets since the middle of December due to year-end holidays, but resumed their purchases at the end of the last week.They booked four deep-sea cargoes on J...Read More