The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange held onto Thursday's 2% gains during morning trading on Friday June 28, while market participants await developments in the global economic landscape from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The nickel price was recently at $12,690 per tonne. The benchmark three-month price continues to trade above $12,600 per tonne amid a continued drawdown in...Read More
Latin American crude steel production reached 5.18 million tonnes in May, falling by 1.40% from 5.25 million tonnes a year before, regional association Alacero said on Thursday June 27.Rolled steel output totaled 4.36 million tonnes during the month, the data showed. Volumes were down by 5% in comparison with 4.59 million tonnes in the same period of 2018."Industry numbers in Latin America reflect...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled coil and coated steel in the United States stabilized in the week to Thursday June 27, after a slew of mill price increases were announced earlier the week. Fastmarkets AMM's weekly assessment for domestic cold-rolled coil stood at $35 per hundredweight ($700 per short ton) on June 27, unchanged from one week earlier.Fastmarkets assessed the domestic hot-dipped galvanized st...Read More
Steel billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased export offers over the week to June 28 on reduced availability of July-rolling volumes in the market as well as improved sentiment in the raw materials segment, particularly scrap.Buyers were in no hurry to accept the increase, with buying activity limited in most of the major outlets, including North Africa, Gulf Co-...Read More
Coated flat steel prices in Turkey decreased over the week ended on Friday June 28, with demand reportedly weak in both the local and export markets.Export demand had initially improved after the United States decided on May 17 to reduce its tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25% from 50%, but then declined again because of Turkish producers' high prices.Domestic pricesDemand in the country's loc...Read More
Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil prices in Turkey moved down over the past week due to the summer slowdown and reduced end-user consumption, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for Turkish domestic HRC was $500-510 per tonne ex-works on Friday, compared with $500-520 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.Turkish mills have been offering th...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in Poland have been largely unchanged over the past week supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic 12mm B500B-grade rebar in Poland was 2,000-2,100 zloty ($534-561) per tonne ex-works on June 28, compared with 2,000-2,110 zloty per tonne ex-works a week earlier.The assessment reflects the deals...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 hot-rolled coil exporters capitalized on higher prices on Friday June 28 amid stability in the domestic market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,920-3,940 yuan ($570-573) per tonne, narrowing from 3,900-3,950 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,850-3,860 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneTrading activity picked up a bit in Shanghai after prices fell a bit from the high end compar...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
Turkish steel producers returned to the deep-sea scrap market for August shipment cargoes at the end of the week, accepting higher prices, sources said on Friday June 28.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a UK cargo, comprising 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $293 per tonne, 15,000 tonnes of shredded at $298 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus scrap at $303 per tonne cfr on...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were steady on Friday June 28, with only minimal price moves compared with Thursday's activity, but interest in the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivative contract remained strong.By 6:30pm Singapore time, 205,000 tonnes had been traded and cleared on the contract, according to SGX data. This compares with 143,000 tonnes traded the previous day.MB...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
Cheaper H2 scrap from Japan is likely to limit the large quantities of heavy melting scrap (HMS) coming into the region from the United States, at least in the near term, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.This is mainly because Vietnamese steel mills will be loathe to pay premiums for US-origin material when they can get Japanese scrap at cheaper prices.VietnamFastmarkets' price assessment...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
The first day of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Japan gets underway on Friday June 28. With world leaders gathering at the event, and a few notable meetings scheduled on the sidelines, market participants will be keeping a close eye on any developments.The London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices were weaker on Friday morning and it is worth noting that the strongest performer this we...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly little changed to weaker during Asian morning trading on Friday June 28, with aluminium leading on the downside. The most-traded August aluminium contract on the SHFE stood at 13,805 yuan ($2,008) per tonne as at 10.38am Shanghai time, down by 95 yuan per tonne, or 0.7%, from Thursday's close of 13,900 yuan per tonne.The rest of the c...Read More
ERG partially restarted production of cobalt metal at Chambishi in Zambia earlier this month. It is understood that the new production is fed by hydroxide produced at ERG's Metalkol Roan Tailings & Reclamation (RTR) project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). RTR started production late last year, with output in the process of increasing to 14,000 tonnes per year of cobalt in the form of...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 June 28:Minor metalsAntimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $6,180-6,400 per tonne from $6,300-6,500Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $6,100-6,350 per tonne from $6,150-6,400Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $2.95-3.15 per lb from $3.00-3.20Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 41,500-42,500 yuan per tonne from 42,000-43,000 yu...Read More