China's cobalt metal price consolidated gains made since late August on Friday October 11 due to weak demand and falling futures prices following the week-long national holiday break. Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, exw China dropped to 295,000-310,000 yuan per tonne (approx $16.72-17.57 per lb, China-VAT free) on Friday, down by 2.4% from the midweek pricing session. Spot de...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia fell during the past week, with market participants remaining bearish due to the ongoing plunge in downstream hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets."Margins for steel mills in Southeast Asia have been squeezed because of the decline in HRC prices, which has led to demands for lower slab prices," a source in Southeast Asia said...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices strengthened on Monday October 14 amid steady demand, making export transactions challenging even though the country reached some form of a truce with the United States last Friday amid an ongoing trade spat.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,580-3,600 yuan ($505-508) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,550 yuan per tonne, up 30 y...Read More
As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More
Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States fell again across the cold-finished and hot-rolled grades due to declining ferrous scrap prices, and demand from key end markets is expected to remain tepid for the rest of 2019.The price decrease stems from the $40-per-gross-ton decline in Chicago No1 busheling, a key feedstock for SBQ production. Fastmarkets understands that S...Read More
A summary of the financial results for Egypt's biggest steelmaking group, Ezz Steel, for the first half of 2019, between January 1 and June 30.In briefEarnings were down due to "the falling price of steel products and the rising costs of iron ore pellets. This pressure was increased by the exceptionally high costs of funding and energy in Egypt," Paul...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore resumed their downtrend over the past week due to ample supply.The weekly Fastmarkets price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) import, cfr Singapore - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical-weight basis - was $420-425 per tonne for the week to Monday October 14, down $10 per tonne from a week earlier.Qatari rebar offered at...Read More
Pig iron export prices from the south of Brazil were stable during the week ended Friday October 11, because suppliers have sold out all the available material until mid-December.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $275-280 per tonne on October 11, stable week on week."Suppliers are sold out and have availability only for mid-December," o...Read More
Deep-sea scrap import prices in the Turkish market increased in the latest bookings heard for November shipments, sources said on Monday October 14.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo on Monday, comprising 40,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $237 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region also booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20)...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes changing the publication times of its weekly global pig iron and hot-briquetted iron price assessments from 3pm to 4pm London time.The CIS export, fob main port Black Sea and fob main port Baltic Sea, price assessments, along with the pig iron import, cfr Italy, and HBI, cfr Italian ports assessments will be published at 4pm Lo...Read More
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia fell during the past week, with market participants remaining bearish due to the ongoing plunge in downstream hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets."Margins for steel mills in Southeast Asia have been squeezed because of the decline in HRC prices, which has led to demands for lower slab prices," a source in Southeast Asia said...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices remained flat on Monday October 14 despite China and the United States making some progress in trade talks late last week. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,700-3,730 yuan ($522-526) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,570-3,600 yuan per tonne, unchangedThe US will be delaying the imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth o...Read More
As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More
As the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel imports enter the second half of their second year, ferrous markets across the globe are still reeling from their effects.The tariffs - imposed after a year-long Section 232 investigation into whether imports of steel, as well as aluminium, posed a national security risk to the US - were vaunted as policies to safeguard the country's domestic indu...Read More
Tom Bird, the head of Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), will leave his position as the chief operating officer of Chiho Environmental Group in November, Fastmarkets learned on Sunday October 13.Chiho Environmental is China's largest scrap metal recycling company. It runs 700 yards globally with extensive operations in the recycling of ferrous...Read More
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Monday October 14, falling by more than 4% over the afternoon against high turnover while the majority of the base metals complex followed that downtrend.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $16,600 per tonne, falling by more than 4% from an intraday high of $17,545 per tonne, while more than...Read More
Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA)."At first, no company is really aiming to charge a higher premium for 'greener' aluminium," CBA's primary aluminium director Luis Jorge Nunes told Fastmarkets in an exclusive...Read More
Pig iron export prices from the south of Brazil were stable during the week ended Friday October 11, because suppliers have sold out all the available material until mid-December.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $275-280 per tonne on October 11, stable week on week."Suppliers are sold out and have availability only for mid-December," o...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in London, New York and Shanghai for the week ended Friday October 11.EuropeKey drivers European prices for grade 4-4-1 and grade 5-5-3 silicon edged down by 1.6% and 2% respectively after deals were concluded at lower levels. The silicon market has experienced slightly more activity both in the week to October 11 and the week before, with some traders taking pos...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday October 14 that are worth another look.Lower-carbon aluminium may not yet award producers with higher premiums, but it has started making a difference when consumers pick their suppliers, according to a key executive at Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA).The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) will advocate for a Ch...Read More