The United States Department of Justice has closed its anti-trust review of Tenaris' acquisition of Ipsco Tubulars, clearing the way for the completion of the purchase from Russia's TMK, Tenaris said in a statement on Tuesday December 17."Tenaris expects to be able to consummate the transaction shortly," the Luxembourg-based company said in its statement. In March, Tenaris agreed to buy Ipsco...Read More
European distributors of flat steel products reported a 3.6% year-on-year drop in shipment volumes in January-October 2019, Eurometal said this week.And multi-product distributor shipments in the region fell by 4.8% year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year, Eurometal said, with declines reported for most products and only rebar registering an...Read More
Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil in Southern Europe increased over the week, supported by reduced availability of domestic material and rising import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 18.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, ex-works Southern Europe, was ?,?430-440 ($479-491) per tonne on December 18, up by ?,?1...Read More
Turkish steel mills made no deep-sea bookings for a second day, while prices remained firm, sources said on Wednesday December 18.Turkish steel mills made no deep-sea bookings for a second day, while prices remained firm, sources said on Wednesday December 18.At the beginning of the week, two Baltic Sea cargoes were sold at $299-300 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20).Some suppliers were heard offer...Read More
Seaborne prices for hard coking coal rose in the cfr China segment on Wednesday December 18 while those for premium products were largely stable, with support coming from a pickup in China's domestic market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $135.67 per tonne, up $1.51 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $147.33 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $122....Read More
Seaborne prices for mid-grade iron ore came under some pressure on Wednesday December 18, with steelmakers in China continuing to show a preference for materials sold at Chinese ports.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.20 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.29 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $93...Read More
Anglo American has begun iron ore blending operations at a port in China, following the lead of other global miners.The miner has held a ceremony to celebrate completion of its first batch of "AAAF Blended Sinter Feed" at the port of Caofeidian in northern China's steel hub of Tangshan city, Fastmarkets learnt on Tuesday December 17.AAAF stands...Read More
Indonesian ferrous scrap demand should continue to grow in 2020 despite the new rules imposed by authorities."The new regulations should be smoothed out over the next couple of months and containerized scrap shipments should resume within the first half of the year," Hoffman Iron & Steel chief executive Phil Hoffman told Fastmarkets.He was referring to the new regulations enacted by the Indonesian...Read More
The contango in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month aluminium spread widened in morning trading on Wednesday December 18 after a further 43,725 tonnes flowed into LME-approved global sheds. Some 14,650 tonnes of material were put back into warehouses in Johor while a greater 29,085 tonnes were delivered into warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, the third day of significant inflows into regio...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil exporters kept their offers high on Wednesday December 18 despite sliding domestic prices amid a limited supply of cheaper goods from other parts of the world in the international market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,870-3,880 yuan ($553-554) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,640 yuan per tonne, narrowed downward by 10 yuan per tonnePrices...Read More
Broader markets are generally weaker this morning, Wednesday December 18, with equities in Asia mainly lower, metals mixed and havens little changed.In Europe, fear that a hard Brexit has not vanished is weighing on sentiment, especially in sterling, while a lack of detail on the United States-China trade deal has made it difficult for markets to see further follow-through buying. Equities in Asia...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 18.Key driversThe price range of alloy has narrowed over the past week, with the low end moving up as sources reported deals done towards the upper end and with previous lows disappearing.Producers and traders are preparing for renewed demand in January in expectation of consumers in the steel sector and other usage areas.T...Read More
Cronimet Group has hired Martin Stepper, the former head of ferro-alloys at Thyssenkrupp, the company told Fastmarkets on December 18.Stepper will start in his new role as head of the...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 3 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was a drop to 225,000 from 252,000 last week. Actual was 234,000. Consensus for December Philly Fed Index was a drop to 8.0 from 10.4 in November. Actual was.0.3%T...Read More
(Updates with closing prices) By Peter Hobson LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Copper prices dipped from theprevious session's 7-month high on Wednesday as data showingrecord Chinese production of the metal helped persuade investorsto pause for breath after a rapid rally.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)did not trade in closing rings, but was bid down 0.5% at $6,172a tonne after touchi...Read More
All segments of the metals industry - especially aluminium and steel producers that supply the aerospace sector - are likely to be affected by Boeing's decision to suspend production of its grounded 737-Max airplanes in January 2020, an industry expert told Fastmarkets.Metals suppliers who provide materials to airplane parts manufacturers on shorter lead times - within three to six months - will b...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday December 17.Please click...Read More
The nickel price closed down more than 1.6% on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday December 17, seemingly succumbing to inventory pressure.The three-month price ended at $13,960 per tonne after stocks in LME-listed warehouses rose by another 6,090 tonnes.The contango in the benchmark cash/three-month spread widened to $61 per tonne this afternoon from $41.25 per tonne earlier today and $57 per to...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 17 that are worth another look.Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia were stable during the past week, as suppliers' attempts to achieve higher prices failed despite the recovery in downstream hot-rolled coil prices.Market observers do not expect planned interruptions to power supply in South Afri...Read More
Market observers do not expect planned interruptions to power supply in South Africa by Eskom to affect deliveries from South32's Hillside aluminium smelter, they told Fastmarkets.State power utility Eskom implements load shedding - controlled power blackouts - to reduce pressure on the country's electricity grid when power is severely constrained.Last week it was forced to implement stage 6 load...Read More