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
China's cobalt sulfate price fell in the mid-week pricing session on Wednesday October 30 after coming under pressure from lackluster demand amid an underperformance in the country's electric vehicle (EV) market.Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China at 52,000-55,000 yuan ($7,365-7,790) per tonne on Wednesday, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne - or 6.1% - from...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday October 30.Key drivers Low demand has resulted in only very limited activity in the ferro-titanium and scrap markets.Some liquidity was reported at lower prices than the previous range of $4.40-4.60 per kg as some market participants attempted to clear...Read More
China produced 22.49 million tonnes of crude stainless steel in the first nine months of 2019, according to data released by the China Stainless Steel Council on Thursday October 31. This is a 10.5% increase compared with the output over the same period of last year, which it said had been adjusted after verification by...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures moved higher following release of the October employment report released at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for October Non-farm Payrolls was 75,000 versus an upwardly revised 180,000 in September. Actual was 128,000. Consensus for the October Unemployment Rate was 3.6% versus 3.5% i...Read More
The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Wednesday October 30, falling by more than 2% against tight forward spreads, while aluminium futures closed at their highest level since September 24.Lead's outright price closed at $2,208 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, softening from an intraday high of $2,256.50 per tonne. A little more than 3,500...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 30.Please click...Read More
Three-month base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange mostly failed to make gains in the morning session on Wednesday October 30 amid low volumes traded across the complex, with a weaker dollar index, down by 0.04% at 97.65, failing to stimulate investors' appetites.The global macro picture continues to exert a hold over the metals market while United States-China trade tensions rumble on, a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 30 that are worth another look.The GFG Alliance will consolidate all of its steel businesses into one global group named Liberty Steel Group by the end of this year and align them with a strategy for carbon-neutral operations by 2030.Japanese copper producer Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) has offered its Chinese customers co...Read More
Chinese aluminium producer Xinfa Group has material and production lines prepared for restarting operations at its Jiaokou alumina refinery in Shanxi province, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 30.Xinfa's Jiaokou alumina refinery, which has a 2.8 million-tonne-per-year alumina capacity, was ordered to be closed due an investigation of its chemical leakag...Read More
Tsingshan Group has kept its ferro-chrome tender price for November delivery unchanged at a time when upstream chrome ore prices have been under pressure. The eastern China-headquartered stainless steel mill announced on Wednesday October 30 that its November high carbon ferro-chrome tender price will remain at 6,396 yuan ($906) per tonne, unchanged from October. The latest tender price from Tsing...Read More
China's imports of cobalt intermediates, including cobalt hydroxide, surged by 24.5% in July-September versus the prior quarter amid extensive procurement from Chinese consumers, who looked to take advantage of falling cobalt raw material prices during the period.China imported 85,571 tonnes of cobalt intermediates in the third quarter of this year, up from the 68,717 tonnes shipped in April-June...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices seem to have hit a bottom this year in North America, but the price spread between raw material costs - especially ferrous scrap for rebar - and the price of steel products is expected to remain at high levels, Gerdau chief executive officer Gustavo Werneck said on Wednesday October 30.According to the executive, at $502 per short ton, the United States' metal spread reached i...Read More
A booking of European scrap by a Turkish steel mill came to light and helped to push up prices on Wednesday October 30, sources told Fastmarkets, with many traders returning to work after a two-day public holiday in Turkey.A steel producer in the Iskenderun region bought a European cargo on Friday comprising 22,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $248 per tonne and 2,500 tonnes of bonus for $258 per...Read More
The GFG Alliance will consolidate all of its steel businesses into one global group named Liberty Steel Group by the end of this year and align them with a strategy for carbon-neutral operations by 2030.It claimed this will give the new group 18 million tonnes of rolled steel capacity annually, making it the eighth largest steel producer outside China, with annual sales of approximately $15 billio...Read More
China's imports of cobalt intermediates, including cobalt hydroxide, surged by 24.5% in July-September versus the prior quarter amid extensive procurement from Chinese consumers, who looked to take advantage of falling cobalt raw material prices during the period.China imported 85,571 tonnes of cobalt intermediates in the third quarter of this year, up from the 68,717 tonnes shipped in April-June...Read More
The GFG Alliance will consolidate all of its steel businesses into one global group named Liberty Steel Group by the end of this year and align them with a strategy for carbon-neutral operations by 2030.It claimed this will give the new group 18 million tonnes of rolled steel capacity annually, making it the eighth largest steel producer outside China, with annual sales of approximately $15 billio...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices remained stable for a third day on Wednesday October 30 with mills receiving a steady stream of orders, though stockists drew down their inventories on a bearish outlook for the market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,500-3,520 yuan ($495-498) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,500 yuan per tonne, unchangedSteady downstream demand kept prices flat du...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 30 that are worth another look.The GFG Alliance will consolidate all of its steel businesses into one global group named Liberty Steel Group by the end of this year and align them with a strategy for carbon-neutral operations by 2030.Japanese copper producer Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) has offered its Chinese customers co...Read More