An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The federal court in Bel?(C)m, Brazil, has lifted its final embargo on Alunorte's new bauxite residue disposal (DRS2) under a criminal lawsuit, Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro announced on Thursday September 26.The decision by the federal court to lift the DRS2 embargo under the criminal lawsuit comes after a similar decision on September 20 to lift the DRS2 embargo under a civil lawsuit....Read More
All base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, declined in the week to Friday September 27, attributed to active restocking to cover operations during China's week-long National Day holiday on October 1-7. Copper stocks registered the largest drop in percentage terms, falling by 17% or 23,924 tonnes to 117,455 tonnes as of Friday. The largest outflow in copper inventories...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price climbed up by 0.6% during morning trading on Friday September 27 to trade around $17,330 per tonne.Although the nickel price has consistently waxed and waned over the week, it remains well supported above $17,000 per tonne despite a 1,134-tonne inflow into the LME warehouse on the same day.The inflow, thought to be material delivered from China to...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed during the morning trading session on Friday September 27, with the complex continuing to be pushed and pulled by a firm dollar and signs of easing tensions between China and the United States.Positivity stemming from US President Donald Trump saying earlier this week that a trade deal with China could come sooner than people think pro...Read More
The transition to high-nickel "811" battery cathode chemistries will encourage adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), ultimately to the benefit of cobalt demand, according to panelists speaking at Fastmarkets' Battery Materials Conference in Amsterdam on Thursday September 26. Nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) 811 battery cathodes contain eight parts nickel for every one part of cobalt and manganese, co...Read More
The export price for Brazil-origin steel slab fell this past week after producers renewed offers at lower levels and buyers in the United States pushed for price reductions.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, was at $400-410 per tonne on Friday September 27, down from $420-435 per tonne fob a week earlier.Offers were reported at $400-410 per tonne fob...Read More
Indian mills are set to reduce domestic HRC prices by about 2,000 rupees ($28) per tonne for October sales, with domestic demand shrinking while mill and distributor inventories continue to grow. Officials from two HRC producing mills confirmed that their mills will have to cut their offer prices for distributors by this amount in October. Fastmarkets price assessment for steel HRC,...Read More
Steel billet prices in the CIS region decreased slightly in the week to Thursday September 26 after last week's rebound, because of the resumed weakening of scrap prices in Turkey.Several billet cargoes were reported sold to Asia and Egypt at prices of less than $360 per tonne fob Black Sea, Fastmarkets learned.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $357 per ton...Read More
Turkish prices for pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) or color-coated coil fell in the week to Friday September 27, and demand was still weak, sources have told Fastmarkets. Prices for hot-rolled coil, the base product for coated coil, have been coming down recently, and coated coil prices were expected to follow soon. Domestic prices Demand in the country's local market was poor over the pricing...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-rolled coil continued to fall last week on low demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 27. Demand is unlikely to improve in the coming weeks because of weak steel and raw material prices, Fastmarkets was told. HRC exports Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob main port Turkey, was $425-435 per tonne on September 27, down from $435-...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have moved down slightly over the past week due to decline of scrap costs in September, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 27.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,060-2,080 zloty ($514-519) per tonne on September 27, down by 10 zloty per tonne from 2,070-2,090 zloty per tonne.The assessmen...Read More
Malaysia has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of steel rebar produced in Turkey and Singapore, the country's Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) said earlier this week.The provisional tariffs will be effective for 120 days, covering the period from September 24 until January 21, 2020.The products subject to the provisional duties fall under the following HS codes:72...Read More
Sales of ferrous scrap imported into India resumed this week at lower prices after a pause in trading last week that was triggered by a sudden price drop in the Turkish scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 27.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $251.81 per tonne on Friday, down from $256.82 per tonne one w...Read More
Turkish steel producers have skipped the last day of the week and refrained from any deep-sea purchases, digesting the week's previous transactions, sources said on Friday September 27.Domestic mills in the country have booked nine deep-sea cargoes so far this week, totaling almost 300,000 tonnes, with the most recent deals booked from the Baltic Sea region.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked...Read More
No major sales were completed in the Commonwealth of Independent States' pig iron export market during the week to Thursday September 26, although market levels went down on free falling scrap prices and a general pessimistic mood.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS declined to $290-295 per tonne on Thursday September 26 from $295-...Read More
Fastmarkets published its iron ore daily indices 79 minutes later than scheduled and its iron ore weekly indices 130 minutes later than scheduled on Friday September 27 due to technical problems.The following indices were published in Fastmarkets' price book later than scheduled:Iron ore 58% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao, $/tonneIron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao, $/tonneIron ore 65% Fe fines, cfr Qi...Read More
Physical iron ore fines prices were rangebound on Friday September 27 while the lump premium traded higher.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.85 per tonne, down by $0.06 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.24 per tonne, down by $0.06 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $90.46 per tonne, up by $1.01 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-premium, cfr Qin...Read More
Trading activity in the second-tier hard coking coal segment of the seaborne market emerged this week after several weeks of inactivity.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $132.73 per tonne, down $0.87 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153.59 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $121.25 per tonne, down $1.25 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $132.76 per tonne, unc...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices continued to weaken on Friday September 27 but exporters of the product maintained their offers, though weakening demand is expected to put pressure on them to make concessions.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,600-3,610 yuan ($505-506) per tonne, narrowing downward by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,520 yuan per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonne...Read More