Brazil's Usiminas is halting its No2 blast furnace at Ipatinga for another 90-150 days after an incident on Friday, the flat steel producer said on Monday September 27.The 660,000-tonnes-per-year furnace was only restarted in June after nearly 14 months out of action during the Covid-19 pandemic.Usiminas did not provide any further details of the incident, but confirmed that, depending on the natu...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 27 that are worth another look.Brazil's Usiminas is halting its No2 blast furnace at Ipatinga for another 90-150 days after an incident on Friday, the flat steel producer said on Monday September 27.For aluminium market participants...Read More
Spot zinc concentrate processing charges fell in the second half of September, with Chinese smelters stocking up for winter production and power curbs expected to limit smelting operations until early October.Fastmarkets assessed the zinc spot concentrate treatment charge, cif China at $75-88 per tonne on Friday September 24, narrowing downward by $4 from $75-92 per tonne two weeks prior. Prime br...Read More
Prices for seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets fell further in the week ended Friday September 24 amid thin trading caused by weak demand attributed to a public holiday in China last week.Fastmarkets iron ore indicesPellet premium over 65% Fe fines, cfr China: $37.20 per tonne, up $3.50 per tonne66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao: $125.70 per tonne, down $9.84 per tonne65% Fe blast furnace pell...Read More
Export slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region continued to fall toward the end of September. Mills had to make significant concessions to conclude deals in major export outlets due to the continuous weakening of finished flat-steel prices there.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe was ?,?880-900 ($1,031-1,055) per ton...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 27 that are worth another look.Brazil's Usiminas is halting its No2 blast furnace at Ipatinga for another 90-150 days after an incident on Friday, the flat steel producer said on Monday September 27.For aluminium market participants...Read More
Turkish steel producers made no new deep-sea bookings on Monday September 27 due to weak finished steel demand, but a cargo deal from late last week came to light.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo at $433 per tonne cfr for heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) late on Friday September 24. The cargo breakdown was not clear at the time of publication.This cargo deal compares wit...Read More
For aluminium market participants globally, the global energy shortage is one of the many shortages producers of the light metal are facing.Market participants say the energy crunch, caused by a lack of incentive to produce additional supply when energy prices hit lows in 2020, will particularly be felt by producers who have large exposures to the spot energy markets, although many say that most s...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 27 that are worth another look.Brazil's Usiminas is halting its No2 blast furnace at Ipatinga for another 90-150 days after an incident on Friday, the flat steel producer said on Monday September 27.For aluminium market participants...Read More
Export slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region continued to fall toward the end of September. Mills had to make significant concessions to conclude deals in major export outlets due to the continuous weakening of finished flat-steel prices there.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe was ?,?880-900 ($1,031-1,055) per ton...Read More
Seaborne coking coal cfr prices decreased on Monday September 27 due to market participants' expectations of lower demand in the coming months.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $594.56 per tonne, down $6.26 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $529.82 per tonne, down $45.41 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $406.07 per tonne, up $0.08 per tonneHard coking co...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices levelled out on Monday September 27 following futures gains and increased restocking demand.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,780-5,820 yuan ($894-900) per tonne, unchanged.A number of provinces are restricting the electricity supply to steel mills to reduce energy consumption and emissions, so market participants expect that steel output will keep dropping and pric...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Monday September 27, with futures charting a recovery amid news that tight electricity supply in China as well as local governments' rush to meet energy consumption targets were affecting steel production rates.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,700-5,750 yuan ($882-890) per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the S...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices increased on Monday September 27 because pre-holiday restocking activities at China's ports boosted market sentiment after price declines in the past two weeks.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $119.31 per tonne, up $7.98 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.10 per tonne, up $7.32 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes changes to the name and specifications of its UG2 chrome ore price index.Fastmarkets proposes to change the specification for its chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China to include MG material and to amend some qualities, including to clarify a base chrome iron ratio and to implement a normalization process to meet this base level. Fastmarkets...Read More
Base metals prices were mainly lower across both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Tuesday September 28, the exception was LME copper.* Oil prices extend gains; spot Brent crude approaching $80 per barrel.* US 10-year treasuries yields push through 1.5%.Base metalsThe three-month copper price on the LME was up by 0.3% at $9,376.50 per tonne and seemed buoyant this morn...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday September 24.Key drivers There are fears that spot availability will be even tighter during the dry season - which runs from the end of October/start of November through to May - when silicon producers...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes changes to the name and specifications of its UG2 chrome ore price index.Fastmarkets proposes to change the specification for its chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China to include MG material and to amend some qualities, including to clarify a base chrome iron ratio and to implement a normalization process to meet this base level. Fastmarkets...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb...Read More