Turkish steel mills have taken a break from deep-sea scrap purchasing at the beginning of the week but are expected to soon book more cargoes for August shipment, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 8.After booking a Baltic Sea cargo at $298.50 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) late last week, mills were quiet at the beginning of this week.However, they are expected to book more deep-sea...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for steel scrap have remained stable over the past seven days on weak demand in the summer holiday period, sources said on Monday July 8.Only one steel mill changed its buy price for auto bundle scrap in the past week. Habas reduced its purchasing price for the material by TRY20...Read More
More copper units are entering China via the form of concentrates and scrap to match the country's ambitious smelting expansion plans, raising the possibility - albeit distant - that the world's biggest copper importer will eventually stop buying refined copper from overseas.Chinese imports of copper cathodes dropped around a tenth to 1.2 million tonnes over the first five months in 2019 from a ye...Read More
Although the softer dollar index has provided a conducive backdrop for risk sentiment, there is still an air of caution amid the simmering geo-political tensions in the Middle East.Over the weekend, Iran warned that it is 'fully prepared to enrich uranium at any level and with any amount', sparking fears that the long-tense relations between Iran and the United States is edging closer to a full mi...Read More
Key data from the Friday July 5 pricing session in Shanghai. Key drivers China's cobalt market broadly remained under pressure on weak demand last week, with metal and tetroxide prices dropping 1.8% and 1.6% respectively on Friday from the midweek pricing session. The cobalt metal price dropped by 8,000 yuan at the high end, which usually represents the...Read More
Key data from the July 5 pricing session in London. Key driversThe benchmark standard grade cobalt price fell to its lowest level in 32 months, with spot demand slow over the summer. Sellers are cutting their offer prices, or targeting the lower end of Fastmarkets' price range to lock in trades. Some sellers said they might be open to taking a bid below...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
The export prices for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil (HRC, CRC) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have increased on longer lead times and reduced availability, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 8.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $480-495 per tonne on July 8, up by $10 per tonne week on week.Metinvest, the only flat stee...Read More
Prices for steel coil products in the Brazilian domestic market remained unchanged this month, with producers encountering difficulty when trying to increase prices amid tough competition and weak steel demand.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price for steel hot-rolled coil (HRC), domestic, monthly, exw Brazil, was 2,517-2,565 Reais ($658-671) per tonne on Friday July 5, stable from a month earlier....Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices fell further on Monday July 8, though market participants expect things to improve soon with trading activity picking up domestically.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,870 yuan ($560-561) per tonne, down 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,840 yuan per tonne, narrowing downward 10 yuan per tonneSpot prices fell with mills lowering their offe...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday July 8 that are worth another look.Major miner Antofagasta has broken away from decades-long tradition to sign copper concentrates supply contracts for the first half of 2020 with China's two biggest copper smelters in June, Fastmarkets understands. A higher tender price for silico-manganese in China for July impro...Read More
Brazilian imports of flat and long steel decreased in June due to lower coil shipments from China and reduced rebar deliveries from Turkey.Brazil imported 74,541 tonnes of flat steel in June, down by 44.86% from 135,187 tonnes in the same month last year.Imports of cold-rolled coil from China tumbled to 2,438 tonnes in June from 26,360 tonnes a year earlier.Inbound shipments of hot-dipped gal...Read More
Some Egyptian steel mills have appealed against the decision to suspend the safeguard duties on steel billet and rebar taken by the country's Administrative Court last week, Fastmarkets understands.The appeal was made on Sunday July 7 and follow's July 4 court ruling suspending an earlier decision to impose safeguard duties on imports of rebar...Read More
Turkish steel mills have taken a break from deep-sea scrap purchasing at the beginning of the week but are expected to soon book more cargoes for August shipment, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 8.After booking a Baltic Sea cargo at $298.50 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) late last week, mills were quiet at the beginning of this week.However, they are expected to book more deep-sea...Read More
Turkish domestic prices for steel scrap have remained stable over the past seven days on weak demand in the summer holiday period, sources said on Monday July 8.Only one steel mill changed its buy price for auto bundle scrap in the past week. Habas reduced its purchasing price for the material by TRY20...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Monday July 8, with supply tightness a lingering concern for most market participants.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.38 per tonne, up $3.57 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines, cfr Qingdao: $118.30 per tonne, up $4.24 per tonne. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe low alumina fines, cfr Qing...Read More
Some Egyptian steel mills have appealed against the decision to suspend the safeguard duties on steel billet and rebar taken by the country's Administrative Court last week, Fastmarkets understands.The appeal was made on Sunday July 7 and follow's July 4 court ruling suspending an earlier decision to impose safeguard duties on imports of rebar...Read More
There were varied expectations for the development of the CIS export slab market in the week ended Monday June 8.Some market participants expected prices to pick up following the recent rises in raw materials prices - iron ore and scrap, in particular - as well as the recent successful sales of material from both the Black Sea and Russia's Far East ports to Asia."We intend to increase prices this...Read More
Steel slab import prices in Southeast Asia and East Asia remained unchanged, despite the fall in iron ore prices, because market participants were holding back awaiting further clarity, sources said on Monday July 8.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao, was $114.81 per tonne on July 5, down $3.66 per tonne from a week earlier.A slab producer in the Commonwealth of Independent...Read More
A higher tender price for silico-manganese in China for July improved sentiment and increased prices for low-grade manganese ore in the week ended on Friday July 5. Low-grade ore price increases in ChinaHigh-grade ore in China falls amid low liquidityEuropean alloys softenUS market rolls over for public holiday Low-grade seaborne manganese ore prices rose for the second consecutive week after Chi...Read More