Large price falls in the Asian ferrous scrap market this week have kept buyers away, with most market sources saying they expect more price falls to come in the near term. There were bids from South Korea for bulk cargoes, but no transaction were heard to be concluded. Vietnamese buyers did not exhibit interest for US-origin bulk HMS cargoes due to an abundant supply of alternatives from Japan, Eu...Read More
Prices for seaborne premium hard coking coal moved up on Friday August 30, recovering most of the losses suffered earlier this week and underlining a gap between low-vol and mid-vol cargoes in the segment.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.01 per tonne, up $5.01 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.54 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.0...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices picked up some strength on Friday August 30 amid heightened trading activity in response to gains in the futures market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,540-3,590 yuan ($495-502) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,540-3,560 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneTraders raised their prices slightly after rebar futures rose during the day. The...Read More
Markets are once again consolidating in the morning of Friday August 30, waiting to see how the United States responds to China's comments that it wants to make a trade deal.While any deal would likely turn sentiment bullish quickly, it does look as though the market is skeptical that anything will come of this. We should be braced for an active day because the next wave of US tariff increases on...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to make changes to the specifications of two cobalt hydroxide assessments it initially launched in February 2019.The two assessments are the cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low end), and the cobalt hydroxide index 30% Co min, cif China, $/Ib. Following an initial consultation among market par...Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday August 30:Minor metalsBismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 40,000-41,000 yuan per tonne from 40,000-41,500 yuanChromium alumino-thermic 99% min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $6,800-7,200 from $6,900-7,200Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb: $17.00-18.00 per lb from $16.85-17.65Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
An overview of the Chinese minor metals markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Southwestern China's Kunming Intermediate People's court will auction all of the 28,336 tonnes of ammonium paratunsgate (APT) held by the collapsed Fanya Metal Exchange in mid September, according to an official notice seen by Fastmarkets on Friday August 30.The volume of APT ingots is equivalent to about three months of Chinese output and will be put up for auction from 10am Beijing time on Septe...Read More
A nickel plant at the Ramu nickel-cobalt project in northeast Papua New Guinea, is still in full operation following the discovery of waste spilling into the nearby Basamuk Bay, according to media reports. Authorities are carrying out investigations into the spillage that was discovered over the weekend and Ramu could face compensation claims and possibly closure after investigation, Reuters repor...Read More
The monthly European alloy steel surcharges for September have surged upward from the August levels on higher nickel prices, Fastmarkets heard on Friday August 30.Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 alloy surcharge, domestic, Europe, rose to ?,?1,519-1,557 ($1,681-1,724) per tonne, according to data released by Outokumpu, Acerinox and Aperam. This was an increase of ?,?1...Read More
Grade-304 stainless steel flat product prices in Europe widened upwards this week, while mills confirmed that alloy surcharges for September would increase substantially, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 30. Fastmarkets' price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade-304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was ?,?2,300-2,350 ($2,546-2,601) per tonne on...Read More
Fastmarkets MB has corrected its monthly values for European grade-304 stainless steel alloy surcharges, which were published incorrectly on Friday August 30. The Fastmarkets stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe price assessment was originally published at ?,?1,889-1,934 per tonne. This has now been corrected to ?,?1,519-1,557 per tonne. The Fastmarkets...Read More
The three-month price of nickel traded on the London Metal Exchange continued to outshine the rest of the base metals complex on Thursday August 29, up by 2.3% at the close to $16,445 per tonne, compared with yesterday's close at $16,085 per tonne.The LME cash/three-month nickel spread continued to trade in its widest backwardation for 12 years, at $99 per tonne at the close of trading, a marginal...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange increased slightly during morning trading on Thursday August 29, bolstered by a fresh cancellation of 24,425 tonnes, while the nickel-tin price differential continues to widen. The fresh cancellations in copper now total just over 59,000 tonnes, the bulk of which have occurred out of LME-registered warehouses in Asia. Yet the red metal...Read More
Markets remain nervous on Thursday August 29, especially since the next wave of US tariff increases on Chinese goods are set to come into effect on September 1 and the US yield curve is showing the deepest inversion since 2007, with the 30-year yield falling to a historic low on Wednesday. Apart from nickel and to a lesser extent lead, most base metals prices remain in low ground, seemingly becaus...Read More
Due to a technical issue, Fastmarkets MB's 65% Fe Brazil-origin iron ore fines index data series found in the Fastmarkets Excel Add-in had some missing data. The missing data was scattered from November 2014 to March 2015.The missing data was from November 26, 2014 to December 5, 2014; December 16, 2014; from December 22, 2014 to January 5, 2015; January 16, 2015; and from January 19, 2015 to Marc...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China continued to fall over the past week amid soft demand.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 14,900-15,300 yuan ($2,079-2,135) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday August 28, down 100 yuan per tonne from a week earlier. Stai...Read More
The Turkish steel producers have remained quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets, expecting lower prices, after recently booking a number of cargoes for early-September deliveries, sources said on Thursday August 29.Most recent bookings involved US and UK cargoes sold at $270 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20), dragging the daily indices down by almost $12 per tonne on August 27.But the mills have low...Read More
Markets remain nervous on Thursday August 29, especially since the next wave of US tariff increases on Chinese goods are set to come into effect on September 1 and the US yield curve is showing the deepest inversion since 2007, with the 30-year yield falling to a historic low on Wednesday. Apart from nickel and to a lesser extent lead, most base metals prices remain in low ground, seemingly becaus...Read More