The zinc price has been fluctuating so much this year that analysts still cannot agree on where it is headed. Commodities researchers from major banks surveyed by Fastmarkets differed by $500 per tonne on their second-half 2019 forecast - that is 23.7% of the galvanizing metal's current value. At $2,460 per tonne at the open on Friday July 19, the LME three-month zinc contract was just $10 down fr...Read More
North China copper smelter Baiyin Nonferrous Group's one-month shutdown in July has had limited impact on copper concentrates and outright copper prices in China, market sources told Fastmarkets. Baiyin Nonferrous Group will restart its 200,000-tonne-per-year smelter by the end of July after the facility was suspended in late June to complete a flash furnace upgrade, market sources told Fastmarket...Read More
Prices of steel sheet products in the United States edged up during the week to Friday July 18, tracking an increase in the price for domestic hot-rolled coil.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, stood at $35.50 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on July 18, up by 50 cents per cwt - or 1.4% - from one week earlier.Fastmarkets' price assessments for hot-d...Read More
The Brazilian government has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of non-grain-oriented (NGO) electrical steel products from Germany, it announced in its official gazette on Friday July 19.The duty will be imposed at a rate of $166.32 per tonne, for a period of one year, according to a decision published in the gazette. After this period, the measure may be renewed, changed or suspend...Read More
Export prices for Brazil-origin slab remained stable for a second consecutive week on Friday July 19, with raw materials costs still high and deals sparse amid weak demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil, $/tonne, was $420-430 on Friday July 19, unchanged from the previous week.Offers for Brazilian slab remained at $420-430 per t...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil increased over the week ended Friday July 19, with demand reported to be moderate in the local and export markets.Coated coil producers increased their prices because of price rises for Turkey-origin hot-rolled coil (HRC).Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Turkey, rose to $520-525 per tonne ex-...Read More
The price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Turkey has gone up in some market areas over the past week but the summer slowdown and the reduction in end-user consumption have continued, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 19.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Turkey, increased to $520-525 per tonne on Friday, compared with $515-520 per tonne a week earli...Read More
Russian group Industrial Metallurgical Holding (IMH) is increasing the steel output from its new Tula Steel subsidiary, which is reducing the volumes available from merchant pig iron-making asset Tulachermet, Fastmarkets learnt during the week ended Friday July 19.So far in July, Tula Steel has been operating at a utilization rate of more than 50%, making around 70,000 tonnes of long steel product...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India fell this week due to a lack of demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $314.23 per tonne on July 19, down from $319.09 per tonne on July 12.Offer prices for shredded scrap moved down this week to $308-320 per tonne, from $315 to $3...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea ferrous scrap cargoes for August shipments at the end of the week, sources said on Friday July 19.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $295 per tonne, 12,000 tonnes of shredded at $300 per tonne and 6,000 tonnes of bonus at $305 per tonne cfr.A steel mill in the Marmara region b...Read More
The inter-merchant spot market for UK light iron has remained flat for the fourth consecutive week due to stable market conditions, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 19.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, inter-merchant, was ?80-100 ($100-125) per tonne on July 19, unchanged week on week.Market participants agreed that there had been no change...Read More
Physical iron ore prices rebounded on Friday July 19 amid gains in the futures markets.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.79 per tonne, up by $1.89 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.71 per tonne, up by $1.89 per tonne.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $122.81 per dry metric tonne...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil market softened on Friday July 19, but overseas buyers appear to be stepping up their purchases on expectations that export prices would stabilize or rise in the near term.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,880 yuan ($561-564) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,840-3,850 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneSpot prices drop...Read More
Chinese buyers continue to procure seaborne coking coal cargoes, keeping prices in the segment supported in the face of downward pressure in the rest of the market.A cargo of premium hard coking coal was traded at around $184 per tonne cfr China, Fastmarkets learned on Friday July 19.Another cargo of a different brand in the same segment changed hands at around $180 per tonne fob Australia, source...Read More
China's rebar prices dipped on Friday July 19 after selling pressure picked up in the market. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-3,990 yuan ($576-580) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,920 yuan per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneSellers lowered their prices during the day in an attempt to secure more orders ahead of the weekend, sources said.A trader in Shan...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Friday June 19, with the metal's weeklong price rally cooling across Asian trading hours. Nickel futures were recently seen trading around $14,745 per tonne, with volume traded lower than in recent days at some 3,900 lots exchanged as of 9.00am London time. Price action in nickel had surpassed $15,000 per t...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Fastmarkets minor metals prices changed on Friday July 19:Minor metalsAntimony max 100ppm Bi, in-whs Rotterdam $/tonne: $5,950-6,150 per tonne from $5,950-6,200Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 41,000-42,000 yuan per tonne from 40,500-41,500 yuanChromium alumino-thermic 99% min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $7,350-7,600 from...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Comments from US Federal Reserve officials overnight appeared dovish after New York Federal Reserve president John Williams stressed at the annual meeting of the Central Bank Research Association that "it is better to take preventative measures than to wait for disaster to unfold". With the market already pricing in a 25-basis-point cut in the central bank's benchmark interest rate at the Federal...Read More