Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 4.Key drivers The scrap markets were down in the past week, with supply offer prices dropping against slowing demand in the run-up to year-end holidays. Metals producers typically run down their feedstocks in December, a time usually set aside for book-squaring, banking profits and settling accounts. The alloy market...Read More
Market participants have been surprised by the continued rise inAsian ferrous scrap prices, especially in the face of weak downstream demand. "Some people have been caught short and now have to purchase at higher prices after selling their cargoes previously," a trader in Vietnam told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 4.Prices in Asia have been on an upward trend from early October, boosted by lim...Read More
Non-haven markets are generally under pressure after United States President Donald Trump said he was prepared to wait until after the 2020 US presidential election for a trade deal with China.This has dented sentiment, sending gold prices and the yen higher, while US treasury yields have weakened. Asian equities are weaker, led by a 1.6% fall in the Australia's ASX 200The yuan has weakened to 7.0...Read More
Glencore has signed a six-year deal to supply cobalt hydroxide to South Korea-based electric vehicle (EV) battery maker SK Innovation, the Swiss miner-trader announced on Wednesday December 4.SK Innovation will purchase up to 30,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide between 2020 and 2025. "This newly established partnership demonstrates the continuation of Glencore's cobalt hydroxide marketi...Read More
As 2019 draws to a close, Fastmarkets examines the underlying factors driving the spread between US hot-rolled coil and steel reinforcing bar prices throughout the year.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US averaged $33.12 per hundredweight at the midpoint in January-November, while the steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US averaged $29.77 per cwt, creatin...Read More
European steelmakers have announced price rises for coil products across the region in the past week, and transaction prices have moved up in the south, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 4.Northern European buyers have not settled deals at higher prices yet, because they have been processing the new offer levels. But domestic prices in the region were expected to pick up soon, accordi...Read More
Demand for flat steel products in Turkey was strong in November because of purchases for re-stocking, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday, December 4.Local producers have now filled their order books until late February, sources added, and have started to accept orders for early-March production.Local demand was weak in Turkey in October because of decreasing prices, but improved in...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday December 4 that are worth another look.French special steelmaker Ascoval, part of the British Steel group, is to supply 140,000 tonnes per year of semi-finished products, rectangular blooms, to rail manufacturing specialist BSFR (British Steel France Rail) to be processed into rails for the SNCF R?(C)seau national train networ...Read More
As 2019 draws to a close, Fastmarkets examines the underlying factors driving the spread between US hot-rolled coil and steel reinforcing bar prices throughout the year.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US averaged $33.12 per hundredweight at the midpoint in January-November, while the steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US averaged $29.77 per cwt, creatin...Read More
The price of steel rebar in the Southern Europe domestic market was unchanged this week with buyers and sellers disagreeing on the direction the market should take, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 4.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?465-480 ($515-532) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week-on-week.Simi...Read More
Brazilian iron ore exports totaled 27.25 million tonnes in November 2019, a 19.8% year-on-year decrease from 33.97 million tonnes, data from the country's ministry of economy showed on Monday December 2.Shipment volumes also fell by 18.3% in comparison with 33.35 million tonnes during October 2019, according to the ministry.Figures from October were revised upward after the foreign trade secretari...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have continued their purchases of deep-sea market scrap for January shipments, while prices became even more firm, sources said on Wednesday December 4.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5) at $290 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo, comprising 20,000 to...Read More
Seaborne prices edged up slightly on Wednesday December 4 amid gains in the futures market.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.06 per tonne, up $0.75 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.15 per tonne, up $0.75 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.63 per tonne, up $0.43 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $76...Read More
The Iranian export billet market has been rather quiet in the first week of December amid reduced availability of material for shipment in January, Fastmarkets has heard.This was due to successful sales to Africa, the Middle East and Asia in previous weeks as well as increased domestic demand."Local buyers were worried about the fluctuation [in the value] of the Iranian rial after fuel subsidy iss...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices kept their downward trend on Wednesday December 4 as traders unloaded inventory. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-4,000 yuan ($562-566) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,700-3,740 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneRising spot market inventory caused by weaker demand and high output led trading houses to urgently destock...Read More
Latin American crude steel output decreased by 14% year on year in October due to slower global economic growth and blast furnace outages in Brazil, regional steelmakers' association Alacero said on Tuesday December 3.Production reached approximately 4.9 million tonnes in October compared with about 5.67 million tonnes in the same month last year. Output for the first 10 months of 2019 totaled 50....Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 4.Key drivers The scrap markets were down in the past week, with supply offer prices dropping against slowing demand in the run-up to year-end holidays. Metals producers typically run down their feedstocks in December, a time usually set aside for book-squaring, banking profits and settling accounts. The alloy market...Read More
Hollow steel sections prices moved up across Europe over the past week due to increases in feedstock costs, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 4.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment of steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?590-600 per tonne ($653-664) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?580-590 per tonne a week earlier."I see some price lists coming...Read More
Brazilian iron ore exports totaled 27.25 million tonnes in November 2019, a 19.8% year-on-year decrease from 33.97 million tonnes, data from the country's ministry of economy showed on Monday December 2.Shipment volumes also fell by 18.3% in comparison with 33.35 million tonnes during October 2019, according to the ministry.Figures from October were revised upward after the foreign trade secretari...Read More
Demand for flat steel products in Turkey was strong in November because of purchases for re-stocking, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday, December 4.Local producers have now filled their order books until late February, sources added, and have started to accept orders for early-March production.Local demand was weak in Turkey in October because of decreasing prices, but improved in...Read More