Comex copper prices were dragged lower on Tuesday April 23 morning in the United States, with a surging dollar and concerns over Chinese growth weighing on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down by 2 cents to $2.8815 per lb. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price direction over the past few weeks...Read More
Physical iron ore prices stayed rangebound on Tuesday April 23 while the 65% Fe derivative on the Singapore Exchange traded actively.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $94.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $93.31 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $96.88 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.13 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premiu...Read More
Despite falling to a more than 18-month low point in April, iron ore producer Ferrexpo expects pellet premiums to bounce back this year, with growing long-term demand supported by the need for increased steelmaking efficiency."We continue to believe long-term demand for pellet will be supported by [the need] for iron ore of a higher grade and in a form that reduces energy inputs, slag vo...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the period ended Tuesday April 23. The European high-carbon, low-carbon and low phosphorous ferro-chrome and Turkish lumpy chrome ore cfr Chinese ports prices were due to be assessed on Friday April 19. As this was a UK public holiday, these prices were rolled over from the previous pricing day, as per our methodology. Th...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 23 that are worth another look.Metal brands deliverable on the London Metal Exchange will have to comply with international standards for responsible sourcing by the end of 2020, if a consultation by the exchange is approved by market members, Fastmarkets has heard. Negative pressure arising from delays in the electri...Read More
A number of executives have left Chile's state-owned copper producer Codelco as part of a cost-cutting program, Fastmarkets understands. Ra??l de la Piedra, vice president of copper sales, and Victor P?(C)rez, most recently executive vice president of sustainable market development, are two of the most high-profile managers to leave. De la Piedra had been with the company for almost 23 years, whil...Read More
The P1020 Midwest aluminium premium in the United States fell on Tuesday April 23 to its lowest point since March 2018, with several traders offering discounts so as to move metal and weak buying interest following the Easter holiday weekend.Fastmarkets' P1020A Midwest premium assessment declined to 18.5-19 cents per lb on April 23, down by 0.5 cents from the previous assessment of 19-19.5 ce...Read More
Comex copper prices were dragged lower on Tuesday April 23 morning in the United States, with a surging dollar and concerns over Chinese growth weighing on the base metals complex.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down by 2 cents to $2.8815 per lb. The red metal has been unable to set a clear price direction over the past few weeks...Read More
Metal brands deliverable on the London Metal Exchange will have to comply with international standards for responsible sourcing by the end of 2020, if a consultation by the exchange is approved by market members, Fastmarkets has heard.The LME launched a consultation on Tuesday April 23, proposing that it apply guidance set up by the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) that...Read More
Scrap metal importers in China can apply for import quotas starting in mid-May after the government rejected plenty of applications earlier this year, the industry lobby group China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association's (CMRA) Recycling Metal Branch said.The statement, filed on Friday April 19, details that eligible scrap importers could prepare the documents for quota application before new re...Read More
Declining raw material costs and a slowdown in demand have caused spot prices to fall in the US cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod markets, sources have told Fastmarkets AMM. Fastmarkets' price assessment for cold-heading quality wire rod declined to $45 per hundredweight ($900 per short ton) North American delivered duty paid Great Lakes region on Monday April 22, while the ...Read More
Plate prices in the United States have fallen to their lowest point in more than a year on weak demand, increased imports and shorter mill lead times.Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for domestic cut-to-length plate dropped to $45.50 per hundredweight ($910 per short ton) on Monday April 22, off by 1.1% from $46 per cwt previously and down by 7.1% from $49 per cwt at the beginning of the ye...Read More
The price of mesh-quality wire rod exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has decreased by $5 per tonne over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price of CIS export wire rod was $500-510 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 23, moving down from $505-515 per tonne fob a week earlier.Limited demand for finished steel in...Read More
The price for steel slab exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States has softened by $5 per tonne week on week, amid low demand and reduced market activity because of the long Easter holiday weekend, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for CIS export slab was $470-480 per tonne fob Black Sea on April 23, down from $475-485 per tonn...Read More
Prices for flat steel products imported into the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia dropped over the past week due to limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 23.End-user demand has been weak recently, so buyers have been unwilling to place orders for large tonnages, they added.The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when business normally slows down, starts in early...Read More
Rebar producers that re-roll billet in Egypt have appealed to the Egyptian government to reconsider a recently imposed safeguard duty on imports of the semi-finished product.The country's Ministry of Trade & Industry began imposing a temporary import duty of 3-15% for billet on April 15, in addition to a 25% tariff on rebar, following an investigation that began at the end of last month. The provi...Read More
Physical iron ore prices stayed rangebound on Tuesday April 23 while the 65% Fe derivative on the Singapore Exchange traded actively.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $94.53 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $93.31 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.05 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $96.88 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.13 per tonne. MB 58% Fe Premiu...Read More
The second-tier segment of the seaborne coking coal market took the spotlight on Tuesday April 23, with a transaction being concluded above prevailing prices.A cargo of second-tier hard coking coal, scheduled for loading in end-April, was sold to an end user in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at $191 per tonne cfr China during the day, sources told Fastmarkets.This is $7 per tonne higher than a s...Read More
Egypt, the largest consumer of direct reduced (DR) grade pellets in North Africa, may face a short-term pellet shortage as a result of Vale's production cuts, Fastmarkets heard at the North Africa Iron & Steel Summit in Cairo on April 16-17."There will be a challenge in the next few months to secure DR pellets [a feedstock for direct-reduced iron making] as a knock-on effect of Vale's accident," o...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has abandoned a planned accelerated timeline for its cobalt contract to meet new responsible sourcing principles, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain said on Tuesday April 23. This comes as the LME launched a formal market-wide consultation on proposed rules for the application of responsible sourcing principles to all LME-listed brands. These rules build on the s...Read More