The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market was unchanged for the third consecutive week following the rollover of monthly delivery settlements, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.Fastmarkets' steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, inter-merchant price was ?80-100 ($100-125) per tonne on July 10. Although many market participants agreed that prices were steady this week, some may have...Read More
Turkish steel producers ended the week with only one deep-sea transaction amid weak long steel and billet markets, sources said on Friday July 12.Since a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo at $288 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) on July 9, steelmakers have stayed away from the deep-sea scrap market.The reason behind the weak demand for deep-sea scrap was th...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India has risen for the second consecutive week following the appearance of higher offer prices on the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 12.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $319.09 per tonne on July 12, up from $316.27 per tonne a week earlier.Once again, this week no...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
A weakening of rebar futures in China on Friday July 12 led to participants withdrawing from the spot market for the long steel product, resulting in a drop in trading activity and keeping prices at a standstill for a second day. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,980-4,000 yuan ($579-582) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,910 yuan per tonne, unchangedTraders kept prices flat...Read More
New stainless steel futures that the Shanghai Futures Exchange is looking to launch by the end of 2019 could support physical trading activity and increase liquidity in the spot market, sources told Fastmarkets this week."This could increase liquidity in the spot markets because market participants can have a clearer idea of future price trends," an industry source said.SHFE chairman Jiang Yan las...Read More
US silicon prices have again moved lower in an unusually active spot market, with sources indicating that some forced discounting for midyear accounting purposes may be taking place; demand is typically weakest during the northern hemisphere's summer months.Fastmarkets' price assessment for silicon, ddp US, fell to $1.05-110 per lb on Wednesday July 10, down from $1.08-11 per lb a month earlier on...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 12:Minor metalsAntimony MMTA standard grade II, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $5,900-6,150 per tonne from $5,950-6,150Bismuth 99.99% Bi min, in-whs China, yuan/tonne: 40,500-41,500 yuan per tonne from 40,500-42,000 yuanChromium alumino-thermic 99% min, in-whs Rotterdam, $/tonne: $7,435-7,600 per tonne from $7,500-7,800Cobalt alloy g...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The European stainless steel market were stable this week in typically quiet summer trading, sources said on Friday June 12. Fastmarkets' stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe price was ?,?2,125-2,200 ($2,393-2,478) per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.Demand in most of Europe remains low but Scandinavia is a major exception. One distri...Read More
Austenitic alloy steel scrap prices in Europe increased this week as a result of higher nickel costs, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 12. The increases came about despite low demand, which in recent weeks has countered the influence of higher nickel prices. However, this week the nickel price rises were more substantial. The price of nickel, 3 months, London Metal Excha...Read More
Aluminium foundry premiums in the United States and Europe have fallen over the past month, pressured lower by a lack of demand.In the US, the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 ingot/t-bar premium, delivered duty-unpaid, declined to 9-12 cents per lb on July 12 from 12-15 cents per lb in the previous monthly assessment in June.The premium is now at its lowest since March 2018 when it stood at 10-11...Read More
(Corrects to add dropped "trln" in 4th bullet point) * Weak trade adds to evidence China's economy lost momentumlastmonth-analyst * June exports -1.3% vs -2.0% forecast * June imports -7.3% vs -4.5% forecast * June new loans at 1.66 trln yuan vs forecast 1.7 trln yuan * C.bank to further lower real interest rates for smallfirms * China and U.S. resume trade talks but no deal in sight By...Read More
Lead's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday July 11, climbing by around 2% through the day to approach the nearby resistance level at $2,000 per tonne, a threshold the metal has not surpassed since April this year.Three-month lead futures closed at $1,972 per tonne in the afternoon, while total volumes traded were at their highest since Octo...Read More
The London Metal Exchange nickel price rose to a three-month high of $13,140 per tonne during Thursday morning trading following news from Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources that the country will stop the export of unprocessed laterite ore in 2022. (This article was corrected to clarify that the proposed export ban could come into effect in 2022, not until 2022 as previously stat...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday July 11, building on Wednesday's gains above the $13,000-per-tonne threshold amid a continued drawdown on LME stocks. The metal's futures price reached an intra-morning high of $13,140 per tonne, with some 2,700 lots of nickel exchanged as of 8:55am London time. Total LME inventories continue to s...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 11 that are worth another look.Mexican steel association Canacero has denied that Mexican fabricated structural steel producers who export to the United States have been receiving subsidies, as alleged by US authorities.One of the world's biggest copper miners, Chile's Antofagasta, began to break away from the tr...Read More
A sharp increase in global freight rates over the past seven to 10 days has eroded margins at manganese ore market participants and caused shipments to be postponed, sources told Fastmarkets. Freight rates have risen by $5-8 per tonne for routes to China from South Africa, Brazil and the Black Sea amid increased demand for freight from some soft commodity sectors such as soybean and grain, sources...Read More