Turkish export wire rod prices have plunged over the past week due to sluggish demand and falling raw material costs, sources said on Thursday September 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), export, fob main port Turkey, was $455-465 per tonne on Thursday, down from last week's $480-490 per tonne fob.Turkish producers have reduced their offers for exports to $46...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices plunged worldwide over the week ended Friday September 6, with buyers expecting more price falls in the near term after key Turkish mills bought cargoes at prices lower than the latest previous transactions.Key buyers in Turkey, Vietnam and South Korea were looking for bargains and bought cheap imported cargoes, but other market participants have remained in wait-and-se...Read More
Prices of austenitic alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market were stable this week at last week's closing level amid relatively stable nickel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6. A surge in the nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange on August 30 of 9.6% day on day resulted in higher scrap prices, which in turn widened upward the range of scrap prices for that week. Nic...Read More
Turkish steel producers stepped back from the market on Friday September 6 - no new bookings were heard following a series of price falls this week, sources said.Three bookings on Tuesday lowered prices by $12.30 per tonne from Monday. A steel mill in the Marmara region purchased a UK cargo comprising 18,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $250 per tonne cfr. A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices continued to decrease in early September in line with falling scrap values and limited demand for the material, sources said on Thursday September 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr main port Turkey, was $385-395 per tonne on Thursday, down by $10 week on week.One cargo of Russia-origin material was nevertheless heard sold to Turkey at...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices retreated on Friday September 6 due to weaker demand caused by a typhoon on the country's eastern coast. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,620-3,650 yuan ($504-508) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,630-3,660 yuan per tonne, widening downward by 10 per tonneEastern and Southern China experienced heavy rain during the day as a result of Ty...Read More
Stainless steel flat product prices in Europe remained unchanged this week with poor demand countering the effect of high nickel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,300-2,350 ($2,539-2,594) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week. Di...Read More
China's Hebei Steel, the country's second largest steel mill, has released its purchase price for silico-manganese at 7,700 yuan ($1,078) per tonne for September delivery, down by 150 yuan per tonne from its August tender price, market sources told Fastmarkets. The Friday September 6 announcement for the September tender price for silico-manganese came much later than expected. The tender result i...Read More
European buyers of imported hot-rolled coil (HRC) are expected to switch from Turkish material to products from India, Asia and Serbia, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.The European Commission (EC) recently presented a draft of adjusted measures including a 30% limit to the market share of the global quota that can be taken up by any single country that supplies HRC to Euro...Read More
A tighter supply-demand balance for iron ore at Chinese ports coupled with sharp price decreases in the seaborne market have led to the steelmaking raw material being sold at large premiums at the docks in China.Fastmarkets' implied China port price for 62% Fe iron ore fines, fot Qingdao was $10.18 per tonne higher than its index for 62% Fe iron ore fines, cfr Qingdao on August 5. This is the wide...Read More
Demand for flat steel products in Turkey was weak in August because of the seasonal summer slowdown as well as falling prices, market participants have told Fastmarkets.And local producers have now filled their order books until late October, they said on Thursday September 5.Turkish steel prices increased on May 17 after the import duty into the United States, which was applied at a rate of 50% i...Read More
The domestic price for Brazilian steel rebar dropped for the fourth consecutive month in September, with apparent long steel consumption faltering, smaller producers increasing the discounts granted to customers, and ferrous scrap costs holding steady.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, monthly, delivered Brazil, was 2,125-2,300 Reais ($519-561) per tonne on...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices plunged worldwide over the week ended Friday September 6, with buyers expecting more price falls in the near term after key Turkish mills bought cargoes at prices lower than the latest previous transactions.Key buyers in Turkey, Vietnam and South Korea were looking for bargains and bought cheap imported cargoes, but other market participants have remained in wait-and-se...Read More
Flat steel prices in the Brazilian domestic market have fallen in early September, with sellers granting discounts on large batches of inventory material, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, monthly, exw Brazil, was 2,250-2,470 Reais ($549-603) per tonne on Friday September 6, down from 2,470-2,517 Reais per tonne a month earlier.The pri...Read More
Prices of austenitic alloy steel scrap in the UK domestic market were stable this week at last week's closing level amid relatively stable nickel prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6. A surge in the nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange on August 30 of 9.6% day on day resulted in higher scrap prices, which in turn widened upward the range of scrap prices for that week. Nic...Read More
Following a flip in global steel and ferrous trade flow trends last year caused by economic jitters in Turkey, trade defenses by the United States and production cuts in China, this year it is steel prices that are turning upside down. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices are now below rebar prices in a phenomenon rarely seen outside of the Chinese domestic markets. HRC import prices in Vietnam have...Read More
The whole battery supply chain will benefit from lithium benchmark pricing, Fastmarkets head of battery raw materials research William Adams says as he explores what is driving auto manufacturers to support this pricing mechanism. The auto industry is going through a period of unprecedented change due to companies introducing electric vehicles (EV) into their portfolios alongside internal combusti...Read More
A tighter supply-demand balance for iron ore at Chinese ports coupled with sharp price decreases in the seaborne market have led to the steelmaking raw material being sold at large premiums at the docks in China.Fastmarkets' implied China port price for 62% Fe iron ore fines, fot Qingdao was $10.18 per tonne higher than its index for 62% Fe iron ore fines, cfr Qingdao on August 5. This is the wide...Read More
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange remain at historically low levels despite low stock levels, high premiums and sustained elevated raw materials costs. The LME aluminium three-month price has failed to trade over $2,000 per tonne since 2018 and closed at just $1,775 per tonne on Wednesday September 4. Yesterday's close price was 9% lower than the 2019 high of $1,951 per tonne from Marc...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price closed higher on Friday September 6, with fresh buying momentum prompting the metal's forward spreads to tighten, while a steady incline in lead futures led the metal to top afternoon gains. Volumes traded in nickel over the afternoon were moderate at 8,600 lots, while average daily turnover returned to the August average of below 10,000 lots. Mor...Read More