The price of steel billet in the Turkish market increased over the past week because of tight supplies and rising imported scrap costs, sources said on Thursday October 24.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet import, cfr main port Turkey, was $380-385 per tonne on Thursday, up from the $365-380 per tonne.Mills in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region have increased t...Read More
The price for steel rebar in Egypt was stable in the week ended Thursday October 24, but the import price for steel billet has increased again, sources have told Fastmarkets.Egyptian rebar producers reduced their domestic prices on October 9, but have not made any further changes since then.Ezz Steel, Egypt's biggest producer, was currently offering rebar at E ?10,900 ($672) per tonne, El Marakby...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Thursday October 24 , although market participants told Fastmarkets they expected prices to start dropping amid weakening demand despite data showing a sharp decrease in inventory levels.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,610 yuan ($507-511) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,550-3,590 yuan per tonne, unchangedSpot market inventories...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices looked set to find support from restocking demand in China in October but the outlook for the rest of the quarter and months ahead is uncertain.The spread between the mid-grade iron ore products, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe iron ore, and the high-grade materials, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 65% Fe iron ore stood at $6.60 per tonne in September th...Read More
The proposed takeover of steelmaker British Steel by a Turkish army pension fund is looking uncertain with the UK government indicating it is willing to open talks with other interested parties, the official receiver said.Ataer Holdings, a division of Turkish army pension funk Oyak, had been in exclusive talks with the British government regarding the proposed takeover of the Scunthorpe-based...Read More
Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has kept its shipment guidance unchanged for its 2020 financial year (FY20) at 170-175 million tonnes, according to its latest quarterly report, released on Thursday October 24. The shipment guidance also included 17-20 million tonnes of the miner's 60.1% Fe Western Pilbara fines, a product first shipped out in December 2018.Strong demand from Chinese steel mills, with...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices looked set to find support from restocking demand in China in October but the outlook for the rest of the quarter and months ahead is uncertain.The spread between the mid-grade iron ore products, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 62% Fe iron ore, and the high-grade materials, represented by Fastmarkets' index for 65% Fe iron ore stood at $6.60 per tonne in September th...Read More
The continued unpredictability of trade relations between China and the United States has made long-term planning harder for businesses, including mining companies.But what would happen to the mining sector if the trade wars were to end overnight?According to the heads of the world's largest miners, the impact would be smaller than one might expect.For starters, there would not be a sudden rush to...Read More
Fastmarkets has identified several rounding discrepancies in its implied pellet premium historical prices between data published in the Excel file on the MB Iron Ore Index website; and those published in Price Book and distributed via the Excel Add-In. The Fastmarkets MB CFR China Implied Pellet Premiums are derived figures that are calculated by subtracting the weekly averages of the Fastmarkets...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More
Trade unions representing workers for Chile's state-run miner Codelco have called on their members to mobilize in support of protests against the government.Union No1 for Codelco's Chuquicamata has joined Sindicato No1 for BHP's Escondida in backing protestors, whose opposition to inequality in the country has escalated into alleged looting and arson, and to violent confrontations with the militar...Read More
Electric vehicles (EVs) are forecast to reach cost and functional parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2025. Theoretically, this should create the global tipping point for mass market EV adoption, along with the development of the associated charging infrastructure required to accompany the growth.In practice, it is not quite as straightforward.A recent report by investment res...Read More
The world's largest low-grade iron ore producer has confirmed that it will bid for two blocks at what is considered the world's largest untapped high-grade ore resource, a move that reiterates what the industry has been saying over the past few years - that demand for green iron ore or high-grade ore is a structural change in the making."Following the release of information at a public meeting hel...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More
Market analysts are preparing their predictions for base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ahead of LME Week 2019, but the recent volatility in LME nickel prices and spreads is proving an obstacle to price forecasting for the fourth quarter of the year.Trading houses and research analysts are giving ever wider ranges, seemingly not knowing whether to err on the side of their bear or bull...Read More
The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More
One of the largest producers of metallurgical coal expects rising steelmaking capacity in India and Southeast Asia as well as constraints on investments in steelmaking coal capacity to be the long-term drivers of the market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.40 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.07 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBC...Read More
The global economy has been transfixed by the China-United States trade war that came to the fore in the second quarter of 2018. When the trade war started, market participants hoped that an agreement would be reached by the time of the US mid-term elections in November 2018. But that date came and went without a deal. Fastmarkets then said there was a race against time before either a trade deal...Read More
Trade wars, slowing economic growth, Brexit... the storm clouds are gathering for metals markets around the world.Issues around the new protectionism, born of geopolitical competition, look unlikely to be resolved any time soon.To help you navigate these markets, Fastmarkets provides the quality data and market intelligence that producers, traders, consumers - everyone, in fact, involved in the bu...Read More