All base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, barring tin, fell in the week to Thursday September 12 as a result of a pick-up in activity at the start of the traditionally busy season of September and October for the non-ferrous metals sector. Copper registered the largest drop in percentage terms, tumbling by 6.1% or 9,871 tonnes to 152,188 tonnes as of Thursday. The lar...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an ex-works China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets price assessment for lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot price range exw China, yuan/tonne. Fastmarkets lith...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued their silence in the deep-sea scrap markets on expectations of lower prices, while suppliers were keeping their offers firm, sources said on Thursday September 12.There have been no bookings confirmed since a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo of 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $240 per tonne cfr late on September 9.But the mills were see...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday September 12 that are worth another look.The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange closed lower on Thursday September 12, while considerable tightness in the metal's forward spreads prompted questions in the market about prospective deliveries into LME warehouses to ease trading conditions.The proposal...Read More
All base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses, barring tin, fell in the week to Thursday September 12 as a result of a pick-up in activity at the start of the traditionally busy season of September and October for the non-ferrous metals sector. Copper registered the largest drop in percentage terms, tumbling by 6.1% or 9,871 tonnes to 152,188 tonnes as of Thursday. The lar...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange approached its highest level since August 1 during morning trading on Thursday September 12 amid high morning turnover, while the nickel price also appreciated by 2%.Volumes traded this morning were high at 7,300 lots of copper exchanged as of 9:40am London time, more than half of Wednesday's total trading volumes of 12,240 lots.The copper...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China narrowed over the past week amid a mixed outlook for demand in the next few weeks.Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic, ex-whs China in the country's major market of Wuxi was 15,300-15,700 yuan ($2,150-2,206) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday September 11, narrowing on both...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were little changed during the morning session on Thursday September 12, with trading activity light ahead of a national holiday in China on Friday to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival.While most of the SHFE base metals prices drifted higher following news that US President Donald Trump had agreed to postpone a latest round of tariff increases on Chin...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Turkey fell over the past week due to falling scrap import values and limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 12.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey, was TRY2,825-2,920 ($490-507) per tonne ex-works, compared with the TRY2,910-2,940 per tonne of last week.Steel mills in the Istanbul region were...Read More
Import prices for steel billet in Egypt fell in the week ended Thursday September 12, amid lower offer prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in particular. While the lower offers are the result of limited market activity across all major sales outlets, in Egypt continuing uncertainty over the country's import safeguard duty has stifled market activi...Read More
Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices fell in the week to Thursday September 12, in line with the downturn in imported scrap values, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) export, fob main port Turkey, was $410-415 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $430-435 per tonne, on an actual-weight basis.Earlier in the week, Tur...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market dipped on Thursday September 12, in response to an ongoing price war between Indian and Russian billet suppliers, sources said.Russian billet was offered at $417-420 per tonne cfr Manila and Thailand, while Indian billet was available at $415-420 per tonne cfr Manila and Thailand.Market sources believe that offers at the low end of the range for India...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices widened on Thursday September 12, having fallen earlier in the day due to lower offers before rising in the latter half on rising futures.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,680-3,710 yuan ($517-521) per tonne, widened by 10 yuan per tonne on both endsNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,600-3,630 yuan per tonne, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonneIn Shanghai, few...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices surged on Thursday September 12 amid support from Chinese steelmakers stocking up ahead of the week-long National Day holiday at the start of October.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $99.30 per tonne, up $4.64 per tonne.62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines, cfr Qingdao: $99.69 per tonne, up $4.64 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $...Read More
Chinese end users generated some buying activity in the seaborne coking coal market on Thursday September 12 ahead of a public holiday in China to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival.Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $149.34 per tonne, down $0.30 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.76 per tonne, down $1.63 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $131.75 per tonne, unchangedHard coking c...Read More
The CME Group will launch two gold futures contracts on October 14 this year, pending regulatory approval, in a move that will see it begin to collaborate with the world's largest physical gold exchange, the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE).The two new financially settled contracts will be denominated in US dollars and the offshore Chinese yuan accordingly, with contract sizes currently set at 1kg, Un...Read More