Indian steel mills are aggressively cutting their prices to increase export sales of hot-rolled coil with domestic demand for the commodity remaining weak, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.HRC export prices from India have fallen by $5 per tonne in the current week while market participants were expecting further falls because traders were short-selling HRC aggressively in the Southeast Asia...Read More
The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry announced permanent duties on steel billet, rebar and wire rod on October 10, effective from October 12, Egyptian sources told Fastmarkets.The permanent safeguard duty is 16% of the cif price and a minimum of $74 per tonne for steel billet from October 12, 2019 until April 11, 2020. The duty will fall to 13% and $60-per-tonne minimum payment on April 12,...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) fell in the week to Friday October 11, with demand remaining weak, sources have told Fastmarkets.The price for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil, has continued to fall as well this week, and coated coil prices have followed the downtrend.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was...Read More
China's steel mills posted a fall in profits in the first eight months of the year on weakening steel prices and costly raw materials. Profit in the country's steelmaking industry totaled 179.94 billion yuan ($25.17 billion) in January-August 2019, down by 32.3% year on year and deepening the drop in the month prior of 26.4% on an annual basis, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Most...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) have continued to fall over the past week on low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 11.The uncertainty in the market persisted after Turkey started a military operation in Syria.On October 9, Turkey launched "Operation Peace Spring" in the area east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, intended to secure its own bor...Read More
China has been ramping up its imports of merchant iron metallics in recent months because of the price competitiveness of such products as October progresses, market participants have told Fastmarkets.In August alone, China imported 234,601 tonnes of direct-reduced iron (DRI), more than its annual volumes in each of the past four years, according to customs data. Imports of DRI for January-August...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK-origin light iron scrap was steady in the week ended Friday October 11, extending stability after losses in September against a small recovery in European export prices to traditional markets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?60-80 ($74-98) per tonne on Friday.European steel scrap p...Read More
Steelmakers in the UK have won a round of price cuts in their monthly intake of ferrous scrap from domestic suppliers for October delivery contracts, amid a slowdown across the European steels sectors, Fastmarkets heard on Friday October 11.The UK monthly steel scrap market to domestic consumers has settled with prices down by an average of about ?35 ($43) per tonne.Persistent weakness in consume...Read More
Prices for ferrous scrap imported into India have begun to inch up for the first time in 13 weeks on a change in sentiment that developed after prices stabilized on the international scrap markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 11.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $253.56 per tonne on Friday, up from $251.34 per tonne...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap markets at the end of the week despite increasing offers for the material, sources said on Friday October 11.The most recent confirmed transaction was done from the United States on October 9. A Turkish steel producer booked a cargo comprising 23,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $233 per tonne and 17,000 tonnes of shredded at $238...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were largely steady on Friday October 11 as participants mulled drivers, with Chinese buyers staying on the sidelines.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.62 per tonne, up $1.23 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $159.50 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $123.13 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $134.0...Read More
Physical iron ore prices were rangebound on Friday October 11, with some low-alumina products showing signs of recovery.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $93.76 per tonne, up by $0.08 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.25 per tonne, down by $1.98 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.90 per tonne, up by $0.82 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premi...Read More
The Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivative contract registered its first 2020 trades this week as well as posting its highest single-day of traded volumes since its launch. A total of 5,670 lots or 567,000 tonnes of the contract were traded and cleared on Friday October 11 as of 7pm Singapore time.A day earlier, 670 lots of January and February 2020 month contracts were also traded...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices dropped on Friday October 11 with participants cautious on price trends despite robust demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,570-3,580 yuan ($499-501) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Northern China (Tangshan): 3,520 yuan per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonne Spot prices dropped in line with declines in the futures market, with participants being cautio...Read More
The spot silicon price in the United States has fallen into what many consider troubling territory, reaching a nearly three-year low on Thursday October 10 due to weak demand and surplus supply. Overseas suppliers have increasingly been sending silicon to the US at levels that undercut domestic producers' prices, further weighing on the market, sources said."There's a flood of impor...Read More
Key data from the October 11 pricing session in London.Key drivers:- A steady run of spot business concluded, mostly for smaller volumes either side of 5 tonnes, in the high $17s and low $18s over the course of the week. Offer prices...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday October 11:Minor metals Antimony max 100ppm Bi, in-whs Rotterdam $/tonne: $6,050-6,400 per tonne from $6,050-6,350Antimony MMTA standard grade II, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $6,050-6,385 per tonne from $6,050-6,300Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 39,500-41,500 yuan per tonne from 39,000-40,000 yuanCobalt 99.8% Co min,...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets in the week ended Friday October 11, and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Southwestern China's Kunming Intermediate People's Court will release cargoes of four minor metals held by the collapsed Fanya Metal Exchange for auction, it said in a notice seen by Fastmarkets on Friday October 11. The court is releasing cargoes of germanium, gallium, tellurium and...Read More