Fastmarkets examines hot-rolled coil and plate prices across the United States, China and the European Union, to determine what influence - if any - the two carbon steel products have on each other's pricing movements.US: Is the wider spread between HRC and plate the "new normal"?The wide spread between prices for hot-rolled coil and plate has been blamed for the fast-falling US plate market in th...Read More
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange continued to rise on Friday July 12, being up by 2.6% day-on-day at the close of trading to $13,470 per tonne.Nickel has outperformed the other base metals to finish the week up by 7.9% to its highest recorded level since August 2018. It continues to return toward the year-to-date peak of $13,765 per tonne it set on March 6.Market partic...Read More
Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to soften on Friday July 12, with traders continuing to make concessions to boost trading activity, though producers raised their offers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,850-3,860 yuan ($560-562) per tonne, down 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,840 yuan per tonne, unchangedTransaction prices in Shanghai fell further during th...Read More
Interest for seaborne premium low-vol coking coal is picking up in China following recent price drops for such cargoes.A shipment of top-tier product scheduled for loading in August was traded at $191.50 per tonne cfr China, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.Prices for premium low-vol materials on a cfr China basis have fallen by around $6-7 per tonne since the beginning of this month. A...Read More
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange continued to rise on Friday July 12, being up by 2.6% day-on-day at the close of trading to $13,470 per tonne.Nickel has outperformed the other base metals to finish the week up by 7.9% to its highest recorded level since August 2018. It continues to return toward the year-to-date peak of $13,765 per tonne it set on March 6.Market partic...Read More
Import pig iron prices in the United States picked up in the week ended Friday July 12 on reduced availability from the Commonwealth of Independent States, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was $360 per tonne on Friday, up from $350-355 per tonne a week before."There is deferred demand for pig iron in the US, while we [supplie...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
TradeCloud will launch a public round of their Switzerland-based Security Token Offering, the company said on Thursday July 11. Security Token Offerings are a fundraising channel through blockchain transactions but backed by real assets. In the case of the TradeCloud Tokens, they have utility and security features. The digital metals trading platform has set the new offering to run for three month...Read More
The three-month prices of base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange universally rose during the morning session on Friday July 12, buoyed by a slew of positive economic data released from China. China's trade balance, which tracks the monetary differential between a country's net imports and exports over a period of time, increased a significant 23% year on year to 345 billion yuan ($19.65 b...Read More
China's trade surplus with the United States in the first half of 2019 has increased as imports from the US have fallen by 25.7%, stoking fears thatPresident Trump will harden his position in trade talks with China. In his speech to Senate Banking Committee, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell maintain a dovish stance and stated that the US economy is in a very good place but faced exte...Read More
Nickelinventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased by 26% week on week as of Friday July 12 amid weak domestic demand and ample supply.Deliverable nickel stocks at SHFE-approved warehouses rose by 5,308 tonnes to 25,819 tonnes in the week to July 12. The largest inflow of nickel this week was registered at Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai, with 4,264 tonnes of the metal entering its warehous...Read More
Base metals prices were mixed in the Chinese morning trading session on Friday July 12, with copper, zinc and tin all higher amid US dollar weakness and overall optimism followingUS Federal Reserve Chair Powell's dovish testimony, while aluminium and nickel both moved lower.The dollar index dipped by 0.02 to 97.03 as at 9.05am Shanghai time. "During Wednesday's testimony Fed Chair Powell...Read More
Steel sheet products prices showed little change in the United States during the week ended July 12, with market participants waiting for clearer cues after a second round of a $40-per-short-ton ($2-per-hundredweight) increases by domestic mills.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US, was at $35 per cwt ($700 per ton) on July 11, unchanged from one we...Read More
Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) increased over the week ended Friday July 12, with demand reported to be moderate in the local and export markets.Some bookings were heard during the week because buyers wanted to avoid paying more, with producers planning to raise their prices later in July.Coated coil producers intended to increase their prices because of price rises for Turkey...Read More
Prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) in Turkey have gone up in some market sectors over the past week and further increases are expected next week, although the summer slowdown and reduction in end-user consumption continue, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Turkey, narrowed upward to $...Read More
The CIS export billet market started to show signs of weakening on Friday July 12, with customers growing cautious after the recent drop in scrap prices in Turkey and uncertainty over import duties in Egypt.Fastmarkets' daily CIS export billet index was $423 per tonne fob Black Sea down by $2 on Friday.In Egypt, some steel mills have appealed against last week's decision to suspend...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market fell on Friday July 12 because of sluggish demand in the key import markets of Indonesia and the Philippines.The price was also pressured downward during the week by a decline in scrap prices in the bellwether Turkish market and the availability of competitively priced Japanese billet.The downturn in Japan's domestic ferrous scrap market, coupled with...Read More
Export prices for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased on reduced availability, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS high-manganese pig iron exports, fob main port Black Sea was $335-340 per tonne on Thursday July 11, up from $325-335 per tonne a week earlier."[Ukraine's] Metinvest cut availability due to lack of...Read More
The UK ferrous scrap market for deliveries to domestic consumers in July has settled at prices unchanged from the previous month, on a tightness in the volume of material on the market, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.The market will soon slow down for the usual summer break, they predicted, when production will typically be reduced by workers' holidays, and by plants' maintenance...Read More
Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have declined over the past month due to falling demand from the mills, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.The monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E3 (old thick scrap), domestic, delivered mill Italy, was ?,?240-255 ($270-287) per tonne on July 12, compared with ?,?245-265 per tonne in the assessment in the middle of June."The market is w...Read More