Brazilian steel slab producers are close to resuming bookings of semi-finished material to clients in the United States for November shipment, while they look forward to the renewal of the annual Section 232 import quota for 2020.Such material would arrive at US ports in late December and early January, market participants said."We are now planning for November and December shipments, getting read...Read More
Sales volumes for Brazilian distributors of flat-rolled steel rose year-on-year in July for the fifth month this year, with figures recovering from a weak performance in 2018 and companies continuing to destock, national steel distributors' association Inda said on Wednesday August 21.An error in Inda's press release for June meant that a year-on-year fall in sales that month was not widely notice...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas is currently operating at 42% of its rolling capacity for flat steel, chief executive officer Sergio Leite told reporters on the sidelines of the Brazilian Steel Conference on Wednesday August 21.Weak market conditions were restricting the throughput at the company's Cubat??o and Ipatinga units, while global trade protectionism was preventing the company from exportin...Read More
News of a fresh cargo traded out of Europe has broken the silence in the Turkish deep-sea scrap market and confirmed the latest assessments of price levels, sources said on Thursday August 22.A steel mill in Turkey booked a European cargo, comprising 16,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $275 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $285 per tonne cfr.This compared with the previous European cargo sol...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices bounced up on Thursday August 22 after a major plunge to almost a seven-month low a day earlier.Fastmarkets indicesIron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.42 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $84.80 per tonne, up by $2.04 per tonne. Iron ore 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.13 per tonne, up by $2.56 per tonne. Iro...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transactions: iron oreIron oreVale, Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center (Corex), 170,000 tonnes of 65% Fe Iron Ore Carajas, sold at the October average of Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao, at a premium of $0.60 per tonne,...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market was steady on Thursday August 22, with Chinese buying activity keeping prices largely at prevailing levels.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.67 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $166.12 per tonne, up $1.03 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $138.76 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $153 per tonn...Read More
China's spot hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Thursday August 22 after the release of statistics showing a drop in inventory levels for the flat steel product.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,700-3,720 yuan ($524-527) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,700 yuan per tonne, unchangedSellers were only to sell at around 3,700 yuan per tonne in the morning in Shanghai, wh...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices edged up on Thursday August 22 amid a recovery in the futures market, while those in the northern region were stable amid weak demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,660-3,690 yuan ($518-523) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,600-3,630 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures charted a recovery in the afternoon after trending downward in th...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange declined during morning trading on Thursday August 22, with the metal falling by around 1.9% against moderately high turnover, while a fresh cancelation in aluminium did little to stop a slight downturn in the metal's outright price. Despite reaching an intra-morning high of $2,287 per tonne, the galvanizing metal has shed some $50 per tonne...Read More
Domestic stainless steel prices in China dropped slightly over the past week on soft demand and high inventories.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 15,000-15,400 yuan ($2,125-2,181) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange consolidated during morning trading on Thursday August 22 while market participants await further direction from the release of manufacturing data later.The highly anticipated minutes from the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s July meeting came out on Wednesday, but the release did little to stimulate much trading, eliciting only a small...Read More
Recent large-scale production suspensions by antimony producers in central China's Hunan province have partly offset the negative effects of the recent announcement of an auction for the entire antimony stock held in the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange, market sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets assessed the price for antimony, MMTA standard-grade II, ddp China at 36,500-37,500 yuan ($5,168-5,...Read More
Cobalt metal prices in China softened this week amid lackluster demand, but tight availability of certain domestic brands of the blue metal has limited the downward move.Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt 99.8% Co min, exw China at 260,000-280,000 yuan per tonne ($14.78-15.91 per lb, minus China value-added tax) on Wednesday August 21, widening downward by 10,000 yuan per tonne from 270,000-...Read More
With little changed in the depressed markets, focus will now turn to what ideas central bankers come up with when they meet at the Economic Policy Symposium at Jackson Hole, in the US state of Wyoming, on Friday August 23. In particular, all eyes will be on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Thursday’s flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) showed US manufa...Read More
U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 17 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved lower following news that China plans to impose new tariffs on September 1st on an additional goods valued at $75 billion.U.S. Investors are waiting for comments on monetary policy to be released at the Jackson Hole symposium this morning at 10:00 AM EDT. The Canad...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Wednesday August 21, gaining by 2.3% on low turnover, while a steady decline in tin futures continued to prompt market concerns.Zinc futures began the day trading at around $2,230 per tonne before a strong bout of buying saw the metal close at $2,288.50 per tonne, its highest price since August 13.Volumes...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday August 21.Please click...Read More
Nickel premiums in China fell due to a widened arbitrage loss in the week to August 20 while European and United States premiums held during the quiet summer period despite a tightening forward curve and London Metal Exchange price volatility. Chinese premiums decline with traders not prepared to purchase material at a negative arbitrage, which widened to a loss of 6,000 yuan per tonne on Tuesday...Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and their latest price moves.Read More