Barring copper and zinc, base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell in the week to Friday September 6, with the biggest percentage fall in lead stocks, which tumbled by 16.3% or 5,081 tonnes to 25,998 tonnes. The largest outflow in lead inventories was registered at Zongchu Wuxi's warehouse in Jiangsu, which delivered out 2,863 tonnes leaving 8,641 tonnes of material,...Read More
Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal on an fob Australia basis edged up on Friday September 6 while the other segments remained stable, leaving buyers and sellers on the lookout for factors that could set a more definite tone for the market. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $151.43 per tonne, up $2.34 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $169.01 per tonne...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
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
Secondary aluminium alloy prices fell across the board on Thursday September 5 due to diminishing demand in the United States, with the London Metal Exchange's North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) also tumbling to a more than 10-year low.Fastmarkets' assessment for aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest, was at 63-67 cents per lb on September 5, down a penny from 6...Read More
Some aluminium scrap prices in the United States slipped over the past week, with the majority unchanged from the previous week, due to muted market activity and a lack of demand, sources said on Thursday September 5.Fastmarkets' assessment of the aluminium scrap non-ferrous auto shred (90% Al) buying price, delivered to Midwest secondary smelters, was at 38-40 cents per lb on September...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Barring copper and zinc, base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell in the week to Friday September 6, with the biggest percentage fall in lead stocks, which tumbled by 16.3% or 5,081 tonnes to 25,998 tonnes. The largest outflow in lead inventories was registered at Zongchu Wuxi's warehouse in Jiangsu, which delivered out 2,863 tonnes leaving 8,641 tonnes of material,...Read More
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the listing of a non-ferrous metals exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). The Dacheng Fund Nonferrous Metal Futures ETF will track the Shanghai Futures Exchange Non-ferrous Metals Futures Index, SZSE said on Monday September 2. "Investors will have one more tool to defuse investment risks and improve asset a...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Friday September 6, with upward momentum tempered by a fresh inflow of some 1,100 tonnes, while copper futures continued to find support above the $5,800-per-tonne support level. Recently trading at around $17,405 per tonne, nickel futures remain in a downtrend after news of an expedited Indonesian ore ba...Read More
There was an air of optimism among copper participants attending a conference in the Chinese city of Qiqihar on Thursday September 5, with many there telling Fastmarkets they had heard deals and offers for copper cathode at higher levels than in recent weeks due to improving market fundamentals.The higher offers and deals for copper cathode basis cif and in-warehouse Shanghai heard on Thursday fol...Read More
The export price of Brazil-origin slab increased this week amid renewed deals to the United States' West Coast, market participants told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed steel slab export, fob main port Brazil at $430-450 per tonne on Friday September 6, up from $425-435 per tonne fob the previous week.A revival in demand from US slab buyers, especially on the West Coast, led to deals at $440-450...Read More
Cold-rolled and galvanized coil prices in the United States were steady this past week, although market conditions were said to be more robust than for hot-rolled coil.Most sources indicated prices were unchanged week on week, with Fastmarkets' assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, holding at $37.50 per hundredweight ($750 per short ton) on Thursday September 5, unchan...Read More
Latin America's apparent steel consumption fell by 3% year on year in the first half of 2019, to 33.67 million tonnes, mainly due to lower performance in Mexico and Argentina."Latin America's performance is reflecting the global economic deceleration," Latin American steel industry association Alacero's general director, Francisco Leal, told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 5.From January to June...Read More
Indian steel producers have reduced the price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) for domestic sales in September by about 1,000 rupees ($14) per tonne through discounts and price support offered to distributors.The price of steel HRC, domestic, ex-works India, was assessed by Fastmarkets on Friday September 6 at 35,000-35,500 rupees ($486-493) per tonne, lower by 1,000 rupees per tonne than last week's asse...Read More
Import prices in South America for flat steel products moved in different directions during the first week of September, with galvanized coils showing the strongest effects from the recent Chinese upturn, while most other prices were down or steady compared with the previous assessments.Demand remained weak especially in Brazil, but more activity was reported in Peru, Chile and Colombia.Fastmarket...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil decreased over the week ended Friday September 6, with the market still slow because of the falling prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.The country's main export market, Europe, has only recently come back from its holiday season, so export demand has yet to pick up.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's local market was p...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
The import market for pig iron in the United States has gone down during the week ending Friday September 6, mainly under pressure from falling scrap prices, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $340-350 per tonne on September 6, down from $350-360 per tonne the week before."Customers will need to replenish stocks, but for now...Read More
Brazilian pig iron exporters were trying to avoid any rapid falls in price that might occur due to the slump in the ferrous scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 6.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was $310-315 per tonne on Friday, narrowing downward from $310-320 per tonne last week.Scrap is the relative substitute for pig iro...Read More