Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market edged down on Friday July 26 after domestic long steel prices softened in the region's major billet import markets of The Philippines and Indonesia.Domestic rebar prices remain soft because of the rainy season and the stronger Filipino currency, a trader in the Philippines said.The Philippine peso was trading at 51.11 peso per $1 on July 26, as compar...Read More
The price of stainless-steel flat products in Europe increased this week because of higher monthly alloy surcharges for August, which themselves have increased on a spike in nickel costs this month, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 26. Fastmarkets' assessment of the stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, price was ?,?2,190-2,250 ($2,440...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in China, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday July 26. China Chrome ore prices continued to rise amid bullish sentiment and strong demand from downstream consumers even though some smelters are running at a loss. Chinese major stainless steel mill Tsingshan released its August tender price at 6,296 yuan...Read More
The headwinds created by political uncertainties, on-and-off trade negotiations and the enactment of tariffs hurt mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the metals sector during the second quarter of this year, according to a quarterly report by consultancy group PwC. While overall deal volume remained relatively consistent with the trailing 12-month average, overall disclosed deal volume decl...Read More
Turkey produced 16.994 million tonnes of crude steel in January-June 2019, down 10.14% on the 18.912 million tonnes produced in the first six months of 2018.According to the Turkish Steel Producers Association (T???oeD), the fall in output was largely due to the negative sentiment that has been dominating Turkey's domestic steel market since August 2018 when the country's lira lost significan...Read More
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp approved investment funds to build a 230,000 tonne per year chromium coating line for packaging steel at its Rasselstein site in Andernach, western Germany, it said late in the week ending on July 19.The new coating line will be a replacement for the current line, following a change in European Union (EU) regulations, with production capacity remaining approximately...Read More
Indian mills were looking for a steep cut in domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in August in an attempt to boost sales, Fastmarkets heard on Friday July 26.According to an official from a private-sector steel mill, the price reduction in HRC for sales in August could be in the range of 1,000-1,500 rupees ($14-22) per tonne."Domestic demand for HRC is very weak," the official said, "and a pr...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the south of Brazil have increased on new deals reported during the week ended Friday July 26.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob Vitorio/Rio, Brazil, was up by $5 per tonne to $320-325 per tonne fob on Friday.One sale of 40,000 tonnes of high-phosphorus pig iron was heard to Turkey at $320 per tonne fob for September shipment.Another carg...Read More
UK alloy steel scrap price ranges increased and also widened in the past week amid volatile nickel prices and weakness of sterling versus the dollar, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 26.After increasing sharply since the start of July, this week nickel prices were volatile but ended lower week on week. Sources said, however, that the lack of a steady trend meant that many had thought that v...Read More
Prices for steel slab from Brazil remained stable in the week ended Friday July 26 because few deals were reported and buyers continued to push for lower costs.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, was $420-430 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.Cost pressures remained strong this week, and limited producers' ability to reduce prices f...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's proposed reform of its queue-based rent capping (QBRC) rule could provide support for European aluminium premiums. A consultation process was launched by the LME on July 25 proposing significant reform to its warehousing system. The consultation is open until September 12, 2019. One of the reforms included in the proposal is relaxing QBRC to 80 days, from the current 50...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Friday July 26, falling by around 1.3% against a flurry of fresh inflows into LME-registered Asian warehouses. Despite just under 70,000 tonnes of material delivered into LME-registered warehouses in Port Klang this week, aluminium's futures price held above the $1,800-per-tonne support level at the clo...Read More
Ajist S Mauskar of Bank Muscat led the base metals leaderboard in the Apex second-quarter 2019 contest, with an accuracy rating of 98.2%, while INTL FCStone's Edward Meir was top of the precious metals table with 98.9% accuracy.For steel raw materials, Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari of ANZ were at the top of the leaderboard with 96.36% accuracy.Click on the image below to download the full report.Se...Read More
Iron ore prices continued to rebound on Friday July 26 amid rumors that China could be less strict with its steelmaking restrictions next winter.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.31 per tonne, up by $1.31 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.23 per tonne, up by $1.31 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe lo...Read More
Flat-rolled steel prices were under pressure during the week ended Friday July 26 in South America, on discounted deals reported on the Pacific coast and amid lower offers from China.Fastmarkets assessed the price of steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main ports South America, at $520-540 per tonne on Friday, down from $540-550 per tonne a week before.At least two deals for August-September delive...Read More
A former employee is suing Gerald Metals, Gerald Holdings and the chief executive officer of both units for alleged fraud, negligent supervision and infliction of emotional distress related to their cobalt activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to court documents filed in the United States.Plaintiff Alain Vignon, who was employed at Gerald from April 2011 until June 2016 a...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower at the close of trading on Friday July 26, falling by around 1.3% against a flurry of fresh inflows into LME-registered Asian warehouses. Despite just under 70,000 tonnes of material delivered into LME-registered warehouses in Port Klang this week, aluminium's futures price held above the $1,800-per-tonne support level at the clo...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) continued to fall this week with tenders for nearby cargoes reaching new lows amid concerns over delivery delays from Peru's southern copper belt. At $51.2 per tonne / 5.12 cents per lb on Friday July 26, Fastmarkets' copper concentrates TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific is slightly down against last Friday's $51.6 / 5.16 cents. The...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Ajist S Mauskar of Bank Muscat led the base metals leaderboard in the Apex second-quarter 2019 contest, with an accuracy rating of 98.2%, while INTL FCStone's Edward Meir was top of the precious metals table with 98.9% accuracy.For steel raw materials, Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari of ANZ were at the top of the leaderboard with 96.36% accuracy.Click on the image below to download the full report.Se...Read More