Steel production has stopped at the Algerian steel mill of Turkish steelmaker Tosyali after a workers' strike began on Wednesday April 24, according to local newspaper reports. Tosyali could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. "Production at Tosyali has stopped, and in the past two or three days, we have seen increased Algerian interest for wire rod imports from Italy and Spain,...Read More
If the United States places import tariffs on cars produced in Germany it could trigger an economic slowdown in Germany, corporate audit director of Czech steel distributor Ferona, Jan Moravec, said at Eurometal's Regional Meeting in Central Europe held in Prague on April 25.One of the major risks to the German steel industry is the import tariffs in the United States, Moravec said.Tariffs on impo...Read More
Tata Steel aims to produce 32 million tonnes per year of crude steel at its Indian operations by 2025, the company said.The 2025 capacity target in India would constitute the entirety of the steelmakers' global crude capacity following the planned divestment of operations in Asia and a planned joint venture of European flat steel operations with Germany's ThyssenKrupp.Of the Indian steelmaker's cu...Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, when market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. Normally volatile low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, after which market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. F...Read More
When the London Metal Exchange amended its policies related to its physical delivery network a few years ago, it overlooked one key thing. The issue centers on LME's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule, which operates by linking the amount of metal a warehouse loads in to the amount it is obligated to load out for warehouses that have queues of over 50 days.The rule changes were part of package of...Read More
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Friday April 26, supported by a slight dip in the US dollar index below the psychological level of 98.Solid GDP figures from the US also aided buying momentum.The three-month zinc price closed at $2,768 per tonne, up by more than 1% over the afternoon, in decent volumes - almost 10,000 lots changed...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves.Read More
Warrant traders are reporting an uptick in European zinc warrants available on the London Metal Exchange amid fresh inflows of material this month, while a strong backwardation in the metal's nearby spreads has left participants questioning what is incentivizing buying. This week, Fastmarkets was informed of business at $25-30 per tonne for 99.995% North European zinc warrants, its highest le...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves.Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves.Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices showed varying dynamics in the week ended Friday April 26 following price drops in Turkey and Vietnam, while prices moved up in Taiwan and India. Only deal done this week sends Turkish prices down US export market remains static Prices move down in Vietnam Taiwan prices begin recovery India prices inch up on tight supply.Turkey importsThe Turkish mills remained mostly s...Read More
The price of alloy steel scrap in Europe and the UK have decreased this week following lower nickel and ferrous scrap prices. The London Metal Exchange nickel price was the main driver behind the decline, having fallen to $12,345-12,350 per tonne on April 26 from $12,690-12,700 per tonne on April 18. Austenitic alloy scrap prices, for which nickel values are the most significant influence, reacted...Read More
The price of shredded ferrous scrap imported into India moved up again this week on a lack of available material, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 26.Fastmarkets' weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India inched up to $334.65 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, from $332.25 per tonne cfr one week before.There were very few deals heard in the market for shredded s...Read More
Generally London Metal Exchange prices have been weak in recent days and the strong dollar has been a factor in that, but dip-buying appears to be providing support in morning trading on Friday April 26. Asian equities generally weaker this morning Dollar index extends gains Market waiting for US GDP data Base metals Base metals prices on the LME were for the most part firmer across the...Read More