Fastmarkets MB's World DRI and Pellet conference, held in Dubai last week, took place against a backdrop of challenging circumstances for the steel industry.Finished steel prices, both in the Middle East region and beyond, have trended down over recent months, while certain raw materials prices - such as for iron ore-derived products - continue to soar, heaping pressure on margins.The best way to...Read More
CIS export slab prices slumped in the week to Monday June 24 pressured by increased competition from Brazilian suppliers as well as by the slowdown of activity in the finished steel end-user market. A cargo of Ukrainian slab was sold to Italy at $430 per tonne cfr, equivalent to around $410 per tonnes fob Black Sea. Meanwhile, Russia-origin slab was booked in Turkey at $430-435 per tonne cfr, or $...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday June 24 that are worth another look.Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia following a leak at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24. The United States Supreme Court has denied a request by the American Institute for In...Read More
J? 1/4 rgen Schalamon will retire from his role as chief executive officer of Samancor Chrome at the end of June after nearly 15 years in the position, Fastmarkets understands. Samancor chief operating officer Desmond McManus will succeed Schalamon as CEO...Read More
Zinc's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was up by more than 2% at the close of trading on Monday June 24, settling at just under $2,500 per tonne. Just under 10,000 lots were exchanged.Despite a slight uptick in zinc's three-month price, storage and financing costs for the metal remain sizable. Zinc's forward spreads on the LME remain tight, with the cash/three-month spread recently...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil surged on Monday June 24 after news spread that mills in Tangshan, the steelmaking hub in the country's northern region, will start production cuts to curb air pollution.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,890-3,910 yuan ($566-569) per tonne, up 110 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,830-3,850 yuan per tonne, up 60-70 yuan per tonnePrices surged nationwide after the...Read More
Fresh production cuts in China's steel-heavy region of Tangshan in Hebei province worsened sentiment in the seaborne coking coal market on Monday June 24."Mills have been asked to follow the output restrictions guidelines according to the categories they have been classified under, so mills in Category A will have to slash output by 20% while the other mills will have to slash by at least 50%," a...Read More
The benchmark for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in the third quarter of 2019 has settled at a premium of $108 per tonne cif over the London Metal Exchange cash price. The settlement represents a 3% increase from the second-quarter benchmark of $105 per tonne, which was set at the end of March. Deals for a total of 34,500 tonnes between three major producers, two consumers an...Read More
The discount for No2 copper scrap, comprising 94-96% copper content, narrowed in the Chinese market this month while more buyers began acquiring spot units after the first batch of quotas were announced for purchases in the second half of 2019.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment of the discount for No2 copper, birch/cliff stood at $0.29-0.35 per lb on a cif China basis, as of June 24, down from $0.34-...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday June 24 that are worth another look.Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia following a leak at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24. The United States Supreme Court has denied a request by the American Institute for In...Read More
Employees at Codelco's Chuquicamata unit in the Chilean Atacama desert can voluntarily return to work in five days, the state-owned copper producer said on Saturday June 22 amid an ongoing strike at the division.The majority of members of the three workers' unions currently on strike voted against the company's latest offer on Saturday. According to the unions, 1,511 workers were against an agreem...Read More
Nyrstar will write down the value of its zinc-copper-gold Myra Falls mine by an additional ?,?30 million ($34.18 million), it said on Saturday June 22, bringing total 2018 impairment on assets to ?,?130 million. Specifically, the company is impairing ?,?117.2 million on its Myra Falls and Langlois mines, with its metal smelting unit taking a ?,?11.4 million write-down. "The company has continued t...Read More
Koniambo Nickel SAS, 49%-owned by commodity firm Glencore, has evacuated and temporarily ceased production at its North Plant in New Caledonia after a leak that occurred at 6.22am local time on Monday June 24. The leak, the cause of which is currently unknown, lasted approximately one hour across both of the plant's production lines and constituted a mixture of molten materials from the plant incl...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during morning trading on Monday June 24, with thin volumes capping the complex in narrow trading ranges amid a weaker US dollar index.Despite this morning's fresh cancelation of some 14,200 tonnes of aluminium, the light metal's three-month price remains subdued, recently trading at $1,769 per tonne.Some 10,400 tonnes were booked o...Read More
Plate prices in the United States have fallen again, but sources questioned whether the decline was due to similar declines in hot-rolled coil prices or to plate market fundamentals.Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for domestic cut-to-length plate dropped to $38.50 per hundredweight ($770 per short ton) on Friday June 21, down by 2.5% from $39.50 per cwt ($790 per ton) a week earlier and it...Read More
Declining raw material costs, weakening demand from the automotive end market and competitively priced imported material have driven down prices for cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod in the United States. Fastmarkets AMM's monthly pricing assessment for cold-heading quality wire rod dropped to $41.50 per hundredweight ($830 per short ton) North American delivered duty p...Read More
Crude steel production in Argentina fell by in May due to a weak economy, national steel association Acero Argentino said.The country produced 406,800 tonnes of crude steel last month, down by 7.1% from 438,100 tonnes a year earlier, the association said on Friday...Read More
The export market for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has weakened during the week ending Tuesday June 18 amid slow market demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for HRC exported from the CIS was $470-485 per tonne fob Black Sea on June 18, moving down from $475-490 per tonne fob on June 10. "Demand is weaker than expected after [the Isla...Read More
The export market for hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has remained moderate during the week ending on Monday June 24 amid slow market demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for HRC exported from the CIS was $470-485 per tonne fob Black Sea on June 24, unchanged week on week. Steel mills in the CIS have almost closed sales for July product...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained out of the deep-sea scrap markets at the beginning of the week, while suppliers were trying to keep offers firm, sources said on Monday June 24.Mills slowed their bookings last week, with almost 80% of all their July requirements booked. Although, this means they still need to book scrap, sources told Fastmarkets.As a result, suppliers were keeping their offers as...Read More