Export prices for steel rebar and wire rod from Turkey were unchanged over the week to Thursday September 24, despite the limited demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob main port Turkey, was stable week on week at $660-670 per tonne on Thursday.Rebar offers to foreign customers were heard mainly within the range of $665-675 per tonne fob. But aft...Read More
The processing charge on spot copper concentrates increased in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting the return of smelters to market activity after the traditionally slow summer months.Clean tonnages were sold to Chinese smelters in the low-to-mid $60s per tonne, with interest being shown for material to be available in the first quarter of next year.A new round...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 24. Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and Sybil...Read More
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
Turkish steel mills returned to the deep-sea scrap market on Friday September 24, ending a week-long absence and booking at least one new cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic-sea origin cargo, comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $434 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes of bonus at $449 per tonne. ...Read More
Coking coal prices in the seaborne cfr market were strong on Friday September 24, with views split among market participants over the direction of prices during the upcoming winter season.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $600.82 per tonne, up $1.51 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $575.23 per tonne, up $25.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $405.99 pe...Read More
A dearth of trading activity in the Turkish steel billet market kept prices largely unchanged in the week to Thursday September 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr main port Turkey, was $610-620 per tonne on September 24, unchanged week on week.Offers of CIS-origin billet from traders and mini-mills were heard within the range of $620-630 per tonne cfr.But booking...Read More
LME zinc's three-month price was just $2 away from setting a new year-to-date high, while aluminium's three-month price was the only one to close lower in the afternoon session on Friday September 24. The intraday high for zinc's futures contract was of $3,138 per tonne, just a couple of dollars short of its previous 2021 high of $3,140 per tonne from September 17. The metal was spurred on by news...Read More
Base metals mostly registered declines in inventories at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses during the week to Friday September 24, with nickel and copper falling the most, by 18.7% and 17.9% respectively; zinc stocks were up by 15.9%.Traders reported a more active nickel spot market; the uptrend in SHFE prices eased right prior to the Chinese public holidays. This provided buying opp...Read More
Limited availability of light-iron scrap in the UK has cemented the market in its current range in the week to Friday September 24, with major processors holding their offer prices to ensure a steady stream of supply into their yards, trade sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant UK, was ?170-190 ($233-260) per tonneo...Read More
Nyrstar, one of Europe's main zinc producers, will cut production at one of its European smelters due to rising energy costs at a time when premiums in the region are at six-year highs."Nyrstar's fully electrified zinc smelter in Budel-Dorplein, the Netherlands, is curtailing production during peak times of day when power prices exceed the break-even cost of production. This is in response to the...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China dropped on Friday September 24 after futures prices fell for a second day on growing demand concerns, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,680-5,720 yuan ($879-885) per tonne, down by 40-60 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 5,670-5,740 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 30 yuan per tonneThe most-t...Read More
Turkish alloy steelmaker ??emtas has started production at its new stabilizer line for supplying steel to commercial vehicle producer Man, ??emtas said on Tuesday September 21.Located in Bursa, ??emtas has a crude-steel production...Read More
The import pig iron market in the United States was stable in the week to Friday September 24 because of a lack of trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price of pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $530-540 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous assessment last week.Offers from suppliers based...Read More
Demand for steel, especially for flat products, in China could be hit by power supply constraints caused by the drive to reduce energy consumption and sustained coal shortages.Concerns among steel market participants have increased after reports by a major local information provider suggesting that some pipe mills in Hebei province's Tangshan and Tianjin have been required to suspend operations fo...Read More
Indian steel mills kept their prices for domestic cold-rolled coil and galvanized coil steady in the week to Friday September 24, even with traders selling such downstream flat steel products at significant discounts in the local markets, Fastmarkets has learnt.The price of steel hot-dipped galvanized coil, domestic, ex-whse India, was assessed at 80,500-81,500 rupees ($1,091-1,104) per tonne on F...Read More
Prices for slab exports from Brazil decreased sharply in the week ended Friday September 24 after a quiet few weeks, with buyers resisting offers and prices for material from other regions dropping.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $780-800 per tonne on Friday, down by $80-90 from $870-880 per tonne the previous week. Producers had been insisting on $8...Read More
South American flat-rolled steel import prices ended the week to Friday September 24 on an unclear trend amid more aggressive bidding from customers and slightly higher offers from traders due to soaring freight rates.Chinese material remained a rarity on the continent, with firm offers being scarce due to lower allocation from mills. Uncertainties regarding a potential export tax introduction in...Read More
Ford Motor Co is working in partnership with Redwood Materials to create a closed loop for recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) and a domestic supply chain for critical battery materials.Nevada, United States-based Redwood, founded by former Tesla chief technology officer Jeffrey Brian Straubel, said the US automotive manufacturer has invested $50 million in Redwood to help...Read More
LME zinc's three-month price was just $2 away from setting a new year-to-date high, while aluminium's three-month price was the only one to close lower in the afternoon session on Friday September 24. The intraday high for zinc's futures contract was of $3,138 per tonne, just a couple of dollars short of its previous 2021 high of $3,140 per tonne from September 17. The metal was spurred on by news...Read More