The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for rebar, wire rod, steel beams and other long steel products. Latest transaction: rebarRebar East China, domestic, grade...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices went up in almost all of the major markets during the working week from Monday July 1 to Friday July 5, following the rebound in Turkish prices. Turkish import prices continued to rise with August shipment bookings A US scrap sale to Turkey raised sentiment in the export and domestic markets Mixed signals in the Asian scrap market Shredded scrap prices moved up in India despit...Read More
The UK and European alloy steel scrap markets were very subdued this week, with prices remaining stable, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 5.The markets have entered their usual summer slowdown, which traditionally spans July and August. But the downturn in activity could be more pronounced this year given that it started earlier than usual."It seems that each year [the summer slowdown] star...Read More
The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market remained unchanged for the second consecutive week as negotiations between suppliers and consumers for monthly delivery settlements continued, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?80-100 ($101-126) per tonne on July 5. Some sources said the...Read More
CIS billet exporters expect to see an uptick in demand from the Egyptian market after it temporary suspended safeguard duties on imports of steel billet and rebar.The decision, announced on Thursday July 4, comes in two stages. The first part is to suspend the decision of the minister imposing 25% import duty for rebar and that for billet at 3-15%. The second part will move the case to the board o...Read More
China's rebar prices were flat on Friday July 5 with market participants taking a wait-and-see approach in spite of lower futures. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,970-4,000 yuan ($578-582) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,920-3,950 yuan per tonne, unchangedRebar futures fell during the day, but the decrease was attributed not to developments in the long steel market but to the...Read More
Billet import prices in Southeast Asia nudged upward in the week ended Friday July 5 after producers raised their asking prices in response to a rebound in the ferrous scrap market.Trading activity in the region remained quiet during the rainy season in the Philippines, however.The price of ferrous scrap in the bellwether Turkish market surged because steel mills in the country needed to procure f...Read More
European prices for stainless steel flat products slipped this week on lower monthly alloy surcharges for July and soft demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 5.Alloy surcharges for July were announced at lower levels last week by European mills, primarily reflecting lower nickel prices.These surcharge decreases were implemented into stainless steel prices this week, although some distrib...Read More
Stainless steel prices in Europe were likely to remain under pressure due to a longer-than-usual summer slowdown and the renewal of the region's safeguarding quota allocations, while in the United States the determining factor was likely to be the level of alloy surcharges.Meanwhile, the resumption of trade talks between the US and China was likely to boost market activity in Asia.EuropeParticipan...Read More
Brazilian vehicle production increased by 2.8% year on year in the first half of 2019 but the pace of growth lost steam from the first five months of the year, data from national car manufacturers association Anfavea showed on Thursday July 4.Output totaled 1.47 million units in the January-June period compared with 1.43 million units a year earlier. In the first five months of 2019, volumes had r...Read More
Slow demand will remain as the main challenge for European hot-rolled coil producers and will keep adding pressure to domestic coil prices in the third quarter of 2019, market sources told Fastmarkets this week. Slow demand will remain as the main challenge for European hot-rolled coil producers and will keep adding pressure to domestic coil prices in the third quarter of 2019, market sources told...Read More
The European Commission (EC) should remove its 5% import quota increase as it makes safeguard measures ineffective and puts jobs in the EU steel segment at risk, the European steel association (Eurofer) said on July 3."We call on the EC to heed our call and those of member states that have already expressed concerns about the rise - and to respond by undoing this out-of-step expansion before it fu...Read More
Turkish authorities are considering whether to launch a trade defense case against imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from the EU, market sources have told Fastmarkets.European mills have increased their HRC export volumes recently, particularly to Turkey, due to the weak demand in their home markets."The start of an anti-dumping case against EU-origin HRC will entirely depend on the attitude of the...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices went up in almost all of the major markets during the working week from Monday July 1 to Friday July 5, following the rebound in Turkish prices. Turkish import prices continued to rise with August shipment bookings A US scrap sale to Turkey raised sentiment in the export and domestic markets Mixed signals in the Asian scrap market Shredded scrap prices moved up in India despit...Read More
The UK and European alloy steel scrap markets were very subdued this week, with prices remaining stable, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 5.The markets have entered their usual summer slowdown, which traditionally spans July and August. But the downturn in activity could be more pronounced this year given that it started earlier than usual."It seems that each year [the summer slowdown] star...Read More
The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market remained unchanged for the second consecutive week as negotiations between suppliers and consumers for monthly delivery settlements continued, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?80-100 ($101-126) per tonne on July 5. Some sources said the...Read More
Base metals other than nickel closer lower on the London Metal Exchange on Friday July 5 in thin volumes after the release of weak macroeconomic data from the United States.Zinc was one of the busiest - more than 10,000 lots traded by the close of trading - because of swing in its cash/three-month spread into a slim $3-per-tonne contango from a $9.50 per tonne earlier in the day.The cash/three-mon...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has just finished its trial to calculate nickel prices using a volume weighted average price (VWAP) method on the exchange's electronic trading platform. If early indications are anything to go by, metals market participants did not embrace this method of price discovery in the way some had anticipated. For three months since Monday March 18, closing prices for nickel car...Read More
The United States Secretary of Commerce has joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the current method of setting the US Midwest aluminium premium. Wilbur Ross said the US Midwest aluminium premium is at inflated levels that do not justify the cost of transportation and logistical handling costs that it was originally designed to reflect. His view is being echoed by a number of...Read More
A decade ago, the Shanghai Futures Exchange launched its steel rebar futures contract. In the years that followed it has become the gold standard for steel derivatives, achieving a success that other exchanges aspire to emulate. And they are definitely trying, with a total of 11 steel derivatives contracts launched by the main trading exchanges since. SHFE, which launched a wire rod futures contra...Read More