Manganese ore market participants are braced for more sharp price drops amid reports on Thursday October 31 of miners cutting offer prices by as much as 15-20% since the weekend. The price drops affect both low and high grade manganese ore prices as parcels of high grade ore were offered at similar prices to low grade prices the previous week, market sources told Fastmarkets. The...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe decreased over the week due to limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants believe, however, that prices have already reached "bottom" and although demand will not allow to increase prices they are likely to remain stable.Northern EuropeFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?415-...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 31 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has be...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 30, settling below the $5,800 per tonne support level against high turnover, while lead futures also closed below nearby support.Copper's three-month price closed at $5,797 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, with some 20,000 lots exchanged over the day. The red metal's outright price fell...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was largely steady on Thursday October 31, with participants awaiting the conclusion of a tender in the fob Australia premium segment to gauge the direction of prices.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $143.45 per tonne, down $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $161.53 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $128.84 per...Read More
Chinese steelmakers appear to be divided on the approach to take with exports, with a major mill issuing a significantly lower offer than the rest of its peers on Thursday October 31, though that still failed to stimulate sales.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($496-499) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, unchangedMajor Chinese steelmakers produc...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to increase the frequency of its steel hot-rolled coil domestic Northern Europe price from weekly to daily, and to change the price from an assessment to an index. HRC production in Belgium, Germany and Netherlands is estimated to have totalled 36.1 million tonnes in 2018, or 44% of the EU HRC output, according to Fastmarkets MB research. Northern Europe is the hub of the Euro...Read More
The widespread adoption of steel price indices used for risk management will depend on educating steel industry stakeholders on the benefits and best practices of hedging while also overcoming the challenges of the fragmented nature of the steel markets, a panel of experts said at the London Metal Exchange's Ferrous Focus Session on Thursday October 31.Educating steel industry stakeholders, in par...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday October 31 that are worth another look.Fastmarkets plans to replace its weekly assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northern Europe with a daily index - to better reflect the increasing price volatility caused by tougher EU trade measures.A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has be...Read More
The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30 on lackluster China PMI, shrugging off the interest rate cut announced by the United States' Federal Reserve the day before.The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange were trading down in the morning session on Thursday October 30...Read More
A spike in nickel prices as a result of a flip-flop decision in Indonesia regarding an ore export ban of the alloying metal failed to offer any support to China's stainless steel market over the past week.Reports of an immediate commencement of the nickel ore export ban in Indonesia had emerged on Monday October 28, but a day later, Indonesian officials said that the prohibition will only come eff...Read More
A meeting between Asarco and representatives of striking workers has been scheduled for November 14, a United Steelworkers (USW) union spokesperson told Fastmarkets."We are scheduled to meet on November 14," Manuel Armenta, a sub-district director for USW told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30."The strike is going on, people are on the picket lines," Armenta added, referring to the ongoing picke...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were all down during the morning trading session on Thursday October 31 despite the US Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to cut interest rates for a third consecutive time.As expected, the US central bank lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 1.5-1.75% at the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) October...Read More
Prices for imported flat steel products have declined further or remained low over the past two weeks, and buyers in the United States have shown renewed interest in booking foreign products for the first time since domestic prices began falling this year, sources said. The biggest reason for such sudden interests in offshore products is the expectation that domestic flat-rolled mills may be able...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau will make a maintenance stoppage at its Ara??ariguama unit, located in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, during December, which market participants believe could help boost the domestic rebar price.The plant has capacity to produce 950,000 tonne per year (tpy) of crude steel, and has a 600,000-tpy rolling capacity, Gerdau said. The company expects the maintenance st...Read More
CIS billet producers failed to pass on higher prices to customers this week as demand in the major destinations was weak, Fastmarkets learned on Thursday October 31.CIS-origin billet was offered within the range of $380-385 per tonne fob Black Sea. The material was mainly heard available from Russian mills, particularly Novorosmetal and Abinsk Electric Steel mill, which can ship material quickly a...Read More
Export prices of rebar from Turkey have decreased over the past week, because of weak demand and deals heard at low prices, sources said on Thursday October 31. The country's mills are offering rebar for export at $410-430 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, compared with last week's $410-420 per tonne. Deals were heard to Africa and several other destinations at $409-410 per tonne...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday October 31, with market participants contemplating a possible change in direction in the coming weeks, sources told Fastmarkets.With no new cargoes booked market participants were uncertain of whether the next bookings would be at similar or even higher prices.One market participant said that demand for scrap was...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices weakened on Thursday October 31 amid losses in the derivatives markets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.97 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.79 per tonne, down $1.16 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.63 per tonne, down $0.97 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qingdao: $7...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials.Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreVale, tender, 63,408 tonnes of 63.34% Fe Lump Ore Carajas, traded at the December average of Fastmarkets' index...Read More