Turkish mills have resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases for August shipments after a short break in negotiations, sources said on Tuesday July 9.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo, comprising 25,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $288 per tonne cfr.This compared with the most recent deep-sea cargo sold at $298.50 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the Baltic Sea region on...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 9 that are worth another look.Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry. The United States' Section 232 tariffs have benefited certain steel producers but mostly negative...Read More
Former Rusal and Aludium executive Ulrich Schridde has joined Skyadvisory as associate partner this month, the Switzerland-based consultancy announced on Tuesday July 9.Schridde, who retired in April after nearly 40 years in the aluminium industry, will "strengthen Skyadvisory as a strategist in the metal...Read More
Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry. An unprecedented expansion of Chinese copper smelting capacity has triggered lower concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), cathode premiums and sulfuric acid prices, all key sources of smel...Read More
The seaborne iron ore market plunged last week amid a sell-off of the steelmaking raw material's futures triggered by heightened scrutiny in China on factors that have driven prices to their highest in five years.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao stood at $114.81 per tonne last Friday July 5, down $7.22 per tonne - or 5.9% - from a day earlier. The index was at just $63.14...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly directionless in afternoon trading on July 9 due to a stronger dollar index, up 0.13 to 97.50.This mixed consolidation in LME three-month prices has been broadly attributed to weak Chinese equities data and waning macro optimism in anticipation of a United States Federal Open Markets Committee decision on interest rates, expected on July...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Tuesday July 9, with spot market activity driven by the premium hard coking coal sector. A top-quality cargo changed hands at around $198.50 per tonne cfr China, sources said, adding that another premium cargo had traded at around $191 cfr China.Both cargoes were sold by a trader, they added. On the Global Coal platform, an offer for a branded cargo...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices were largely steady on Tuesday July 9 while those in the north dipped, with a withdrawal of securities traders from the spot market resulting in a thinning of trading activity.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,980-4,000 yuan ($578-581) per tonne, narrowing upward by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,880-3,910 yuan per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneDespi...Read More
Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry. An unprecedented expansion of Chinese copper smelting capacity has triggered lower concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), cathode premiums and sulfuric acid prices, all key sources of smel...Read More
Exports from Mozambique made up about three-quarters of the recent record-breaking volumes of graphite flake imported into China, Fastmarkets has learnt.China imported 21,245 tonnes of flake graphite in May 2019, an increase of 49% month on month and 4.7 times more than in May last year, according to official but unconfirmed data seen by Fastmarkets.This was the highest volume of graphite flake to...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 9 that are worth another look.Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry. The United States' Section 232 tariffs have benefited certain steel producers but mostly negative...Read More
Trading in the shares of European zinc and lead producer Recylex was suspended on Monday July 8 at the company's own request, following an "unexplained rally" during the previous two days.The price of the lead and zinc recycler's shares on Euronext Paris had ramped up by more than 40%, rising between July 5 and July 8 to ?,?5.2 ($5.8) per share from ?,?3.7 per share.In January, the company's Germa...Read More
Former Rusal and Aludium executive Ulrich Schridde has joined Skyadvisory as associate partner this month, the Switzerland-based consultancy announced on Tuesday July 9.Schridde, who retired in April after nearly 40 years in the aluminium industry, will "strengthen Skyadvisory as a strategist in the metal...Read More
Nystar has confirmed that a production outage at its Port Pirie lead smelter in Australia is now expected to continue until the last week of July 2019 instead of the second week of the same month, as it had previously estimated. The company had to declare force majeure under a number of its agreements due to an unplanned stoppage of production at the Port Pirie smelter, which has been offline...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly rangebound during morning trading on Tuesday July 9, with a steady appreciation of the US dollar index capping commodity investment. Continuing its price decline, the three-month zinc futures contract moved away from the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level, hitting an intra-morning low of $2,363 per tonne. The galvanizing metal's pric...Read More
European wire rod processors are demanding an increase in the EU's safeguard quota for imports of the material, the European Non-Integrated Wire Rod Processors Association (Eunirpa) said on Tuesday July 9."We urgently call on the policymakers to support the repeal of the safeguard measures imposed on wire rod, or at the very least to adjust significantly upward the level of the current quotas," Eu...Read More
Market fundamentals are unlikely to support the recent rise in ferrous scrap prices, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said in its latest short-range outlook this week.Fastmarkets' daily scrap index for Northern Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) imported into Turkey rose to $296.41 per tonne cfr on Monday July 8, up from $292.09 per tonne cfr&...Read More
Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil experienced an uptick in the week to Tuesday July 9, although market participants expressed doubts that the recent uptrend was sustainable. Flat steel prices in China rebounded after production curbs were announced in the country's steelmaking hub of Tangshan."I believe prices will not rise further because there are no...Read More
In the process of standardizing the names of its prices, Fastmarkets has found that the range of thicknesses was displaying incorrectly in the name of its CIS steel heavy plate export price.In the Fastmarkets price name for CIS steel heavy plate exports fob Black Sea, the plate thickness had been listed as 10-50mm. The correct thickness, as properly specified in the Fastmarkets ferrous methodology...Read More
Troubled UK long steel producer British Steel has reported "encouraging levels of interest" in the sale of the business after a number of bids were made before the June 30 deadline, the company said on July 5.The bids were made to the UK Insolvency Service after the company went into compulsory liquidation in May.British Steel said it was continuing to operate as normal even though the c...Read More