An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 1.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Trading activity was limited in the seaborne market on Friday October 1 during the start of the Chinese holiday.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.79 per tonne, down $3.44 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.54 per tonne, down $3.40 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $88.06 per tonne, down $3 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qin...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More
Due to a technical error, the September monthly averages for the following prices were noted as being for October rather than September.MB-STE-0009 - Steel galvanized coil 1mm export, fob main port China, $/tonneMB-STE-0141 - Steel billet import, cfr Manila, $/tonneMB-STE-0144 - Steel hot-rolled coil index export, fob main port China, $/tonneMB-STE-0145 - Steel cold-rolled coil export, fob China m...Read More
Five key global lithium producers SQM, Ganfeng Lithium, AMG Brazil, Orocobre and Pilbara Minerals have announced the setup of the International Lithium Association (ILiA), which aims to provide a central voice for lithium producers and to promote the sustainable development of a global battery value chain.The founding members account for over half of current global lithium production, according to...Read More
The rally in Chinese lithium prices paused in the week to Thursday September 30, with sentiment turning slightly more cautious owing to power restrictions being implemented in some battery materials production hubs.Chinese lithium prices stabilize; hydroxide trades still active ahead of week-long National Day holiday (October 1-7).Seaborne Asian lithium market also stable, but spot activity thins....Read More
Demand for coated steel coil in Turkey was very weak during the week to Friday October 1, with prices decreasing further, sources told Fastmarkets.Stock levels for the product were enough for buyers to wait and see how low prices would go, sources said.Hot-rolled coil prices kept decreasing as well, so buyers continued toexpect more price cuts for coated coil.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment f...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from Brazil was stable during the week to Friday October 1 because suppliers have full order books until late December-January.Fastmarkets' price assessment of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $480 per tonne on Friday, stable week on week."We are sold out till January, so right now we are not...Read More
Flat steel prices continued to fall in Turkey during the week ended Friday October 1 because of weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers wanted to prices to flatten before placing orders and end-user demand was also weak, sources said.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey was $880-900 per tonne on October 1, falling from $890-920 pe...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
The inter-merchant market for light-iron steel scrap in the UK was steady for the second week in a row in the week to Friday October 1, with major processors holding their offer prices stable to ensure a steady stream of supply into their yards, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant UK was ?170-190 ($229-256) p...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close on Friday October 1, but the copper price was the star performer closing 2.1% higher.The three-month copper price closed at $9,128 per tonne, recovering from Thursday's dip when it closed at $8,936.50 per tonne. It hit a high of $9,143 per tonne earlier in the day."Thursday's sell-off [for copper] could be either due to invest...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were fairly stable on Friday October 1 because buyers held back from making new deals, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers have paused purchases because they anticipate that domestic mills will soon accept lower prices. In addition, the stocks of European distributors were sufficient so they felt no pressure to get additional volumes in the short run, sour...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy...Read More
Buyers in the Philippines are being asked to bid higher to secure steel billet cargoes due to limited supply available to the Philippine market, sources told Fastmarkets.In China's latest round of buying in the week to October 1, the steelmaking behemoth took in material from Russia, Turkey and Indonesia, among others. Total purchases of import billet to China since September 6 have now reached ar...Read More
The import pig-iron market in the United States was calm in the week to Friday October 1 because steel makers - the key buyers - preferred to wait and see in an unclear scrap market, which is a strong indicator for them.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price of pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $530-540 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.Steelmakers, who are the key pig...Read More