The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market has been relatively stable amid some widening in price assessments while suppliers and consumers jockey for position in their estimates for the outcome of July monthly settlement talks due to start next week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?80-...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India decreased for the fifth consecutive week, however many market participants were optimistic that prices had reached their lowest and a recovery was imminent, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India went down to $308.88 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, from...Read More
Demand for steel billet in the Philippines remained weak during the country's rainy season due to a slowdown in construction activity, although demand from Indonesia was expected to recover after the country's election results were finalized.The rainy season continued to dampen demand for steel billet amid continued weakness in the domestic steel markets, a trader in the Philippines said. The Phil...Read More
China's rebar market maintained its upward momentum on Friday June 28 amid rising futures, though spot demand fell gradually. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,960-4,000 yuan ($577-583) per tonne, up 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,850-3,880 yuan per tonne, up 40-50 yuan per tonneRebar futures rose during the day with traders engaging in speculation amid bullish sentiment attribute...Read More
European stainless steel prices were unchanged this week but decreases are expected because of lower monthly alloy surcharges for July, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.European mills have announced alloy surcharges for July at lower levels compared to June because of decreased Nickel costs. Fastmarkets' alloy surcharge for July deliveries of grade-304 cold-rolled stainless sheet is set to fall...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) on copper concentrates are marginally lower this week because of further aggressive bids from traders on third-quarter tonnages despite fresh spot supply from the Cobre Panama greenfield project.Fastmarkets' Asia-Pacific TC/RC index dropped to $52.4 per tonne/5.24 cents per lb on Friday June 28, its lowest since the index was launched in June 2013. It was $53.5 per tonne/5....Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ended Friday June 28.China China's domestic ferro-chrome spot price weakened again after some suppliers cut offer prices further to attract buyers. Chinese stainless steel mills remained wary of restocking citing ample stocks at plants.The imported charge chrome ferro-chrome index was stable in a week of low acti...Read More
European stainless steel prices were unchanged this week but decreases are expected because of lower monthly alloy surcharges for July, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.European mills have announced alloy surcharges for July at lower levels compared to June because of decreased Nickel costs. Fastmarkets' alloy surcharge for July deliveries of grade-304 cold-rolled stainless sheet is set to fall...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices ended the downtrend during the working week from Monday June 24 to Friday June 28, with Turkish mills returning to the market for August shipment deep-sea cargoes, bringing a positive sentiment to the market. Turkish import prices increase sharply on resumed buyingUS export markets remain weak with sales from West CoastCheaper Japanese scrap to limit US imports into Asi...Read More
Improving demand from manganese alloy smelters is likely to help protect the ore market from a sharp downward correction in the event a liquidation of port stocks, market sources told Fastmarkets. Manganese ore stocks in Chinese ports stand at 3.85-3.93 million tonnes, according to Fastmarkets' latest assessment, after they rose to 4.09-4.18 million tonnes early in June - their highest since the a...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange maintained weekly gains of around 5% at the close of trading on Friday June 28, closing at $12,690 per tonne while turnover was moderately light with some 8,800 lots of nickel exchanged by the close.The metal's three-month price began the week trading just above the $12,000-per-tonne support level, after trading below that mark the week prior...Read More
Nickel stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 20,464 tonnes as of Friday, up by 3,208 tonnes or 19% from last Friday, according to the SHFE's latest inventory report. The largest inflow of nickel this week was registered at Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai, with 2,164 tonnes of the metal entering the warehouse. An increased number of orders for nickel could have resulted from expectations of...Read More
Pessimism remained in the seaborne coking coal market despite cfr China prices regaining some losses on Friday June 28.A Capesize cargo of premium low-vol hard coking coal, scheduled for loading over July 5-15, was sold to a southern Chinese steelmaker at $197 per tonne cfr China during the day, a source at the mill said."I would still think that the price floor has yet to be reached. But we have...Read More
Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange maintained weekly gains of around 5% at the close of trading on Friday June 28, closing at $12,690 per tonne while turnover was moderately light with some 8,800 lots of nickel exchanged by the close.The metal's three-month price began the week trading just above the $12,000-per-tonne support level, after trading below that mark the week prior...Read More
The UK light iron inter-merchant spot market has been relatively stable amid some widening in price assessments while suppliers and consumers jockey for position in their estimates for the outcome of July monthly settlement talks due to start next week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for UK grade-5C ferrous scrap on an inter-merchant basis was ?80-...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More
Unionized workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata copper mining and smelting complex in Chile have accepted the company's offer of a new labor contract, union officials said in the early hours of Thursday June 27.The agreement ends a strike that had started on June 14 at Chuquicamata, the world's largest open-pit copper mine.Employees were reintegrated during the morning of June 28, the unions added.Chi...Read More
June blister copper refining charges (RC) have dropped below the annual benchmark level on tighter spot supply following Konkola Copper Mine's (KCM) output halt as well as a rising demand due to scrap shortages. Fastmarkets' monthly RC for 98-99% blister copper fell by $10 to $150-160 per tonne on a cif China basis on Friday June 28, the lowest since the price was launched in February 2018. T...Read More
Nickel stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 20,464 tonnes as of Friday, up by 3,208 tonnes or 19% from last Friday, according to the SHFE's latest inventory report. The largest inflow of nickel this week was registered at Zhongchu Dachang in Shanghai, with 2,164 tonnes of the metal entering the warehouse. An increased number of orders for nickel could have resulted from expectations of...Read More
Nyrstar has confirmed that its lead smelter at Port Pirie, Australia, will now resume operations in the second week of July, extending its previous estimates of a late June restart, Fastmarkets learned on June 28. The Belgium-based company declared force majeure on contracts to supply lead from the Port Pirie smelter on June 10 due to an unplanned stoppage, while the facility has been offline sinc...Read More