European distributors of flat steel products reported a 3.1% year-on-year decline in shipment volumes in July, the regional federation for steel, tube and metals distribution and trade, Eurometal, said on Sunday September 9."After quite high inventories at the turn of the year, mainly in coated products, stocks at EU steel service centers have now come back to normal," Eurometal said.Metal Bulleti...Read More
Turkish steel producers are expecting the country's export volumes to increase in the next few months because they will be offered at competitive prices due to the weakness of the country's lira, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said last week.Turkey's steel export volumes reached 11.523 million tonnes in January-July 2018, up by 3.40% year-on-year. In July 2018 alone, the country's...Read More
Global crude steelmaking capacity fell for the second consecutive year to 2.25 billion tonnes per year in 2017, but the decrease "still falls short of alleviating global excess capacity," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) said in a report released on Monday September 10.Global crude steel capacity was down year-on-year from 2.28 billion tpy in 2016.The utilisation rate...Read More
Import prices for rebar in Singapore were stable over the past week with transactions still being negotiated at levels similar to those a week earlier. Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for rebar in Southeast Asia - which mainly looks at cargoes sold into Singapore on a theoretical weight basis - was $535-545 per tonne cfr for the week to Monday September 10, unchanged from the precedin...Read More
Trade uncertainties continue to dominate financial markets.Trade figures released over the weekend will do little to alleviate tensions after China’s trade surplus with the United States widened to a record $31.05 billion in August, up from $28.09 billion in July.US President Donald Trump has threatened duties on another $267 billion of Chinese goods, atop the $200 billion expected to face ta...Read More
Export prices for Chinese ammonium paratungstate (APT) and ferro-tungsten fell further in the week ended Friday September 7 amid lower domestic prices and lackluster demand from overseas markets, while market prices in Europe were unchanged in a slow week there. Fob China ammonium paratungstate prices were under continued pressure due to sluggish demand from overseas markets and falls in domestic...Read More
Key data from the pricing session in the week ending Friday September 7.China Prices for cif China UG2 chrome ore rose again following the prior week's recovery to $158 per tonne owing to resistance from overseas miners and price increases for Chinese domestic ore. Chrome ore inventories at Chinese ports fell to around 3.76 million tonnes on September 7 from 3.83 million...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade. Cenovus (CVE $8.88 U.S. $11.71 Cdn) is expected to open higher after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral.Cummins slipped $0.03 to $141.00 after lowered target price to $156 from $172Constellation Brands (STI $) is expected to open lower after SunTrust downgraded the s...Read More
While ferrous scrap prices dropped across the board nationally in the monthly trade for September, midwestern mills benefited from a series of operational issues in the area and were able to secure steeper discounts than their neighbors in the southern United States.As a result of two consecutive corrections, the price for No 1 busheling has dropped by an average $30 per gross ton, while obsolete...Read More
The Turkish steel producers were inactive in the deep-sea scrap market at the start of this week because they were digesting the latest transactions, sources said on Monday September 10.The mills in the country have booked at least nine deep-sea cargoes over the past week, totaling more than 240,000 tonnes.But they need to make sure that rebar export sales will continue if they are to book more de...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have continued to climb over the past week, due to firm demand for the material, sources said on Monday September 10.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for auto bundle (DKP grade) ferrous scrap was TRY1,750-2,020 ($273-315) per tonne delivered, up from last week's TRY1,700-1,838 per tonne.The increase in the assessment came after steel mills and a major scrapyar...Read More
Iron ore export volumes from Western Australia's Port Hedland fell year-on-year for the first time this year in August.The port shipped 42.44 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last month, down by 0.8% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Pilbara Ports Authority on Monday September 10.August's shipments were 4.3% higher than July's...Read More
The latest bids, offers and deals in the global markets for iron ore, pig iron, direct-reduced iron and other steelmaking raw materials. Latest transaction: iron oreIron oreBeijing Iron Ore Trading Center, 110,000 tonnes of 62.8% Fe Newman fines, traded at the October average of a...Read More
Physical iron ore trading was lackluster on Monday September 10, although some index-linked cargoes of Australian fines were traded at slightly improved prices.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $67.81 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.67 per tonne.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $66.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.67 per tonne.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Low Alum...Read More
Following a one-month consultation period, Metal Bulletin launched two low-vol pulverized coal injection (PCI) indices on a cfr China and fob Australia basis on Monday September 10. The specifications are as follows: Metal Bulletin Low-Vol PCI Indices Location: cfr China and fob Australia Timing: Daily Currency: US$ per tonne Payment Terms: LC on sight Volatile Matter: 13% Ash: 9% Sulphur: 0....Read More
Metal Bulletin launched two daily low-vol pulverized coal injection (PCI) indices on Monday September 10 in response to market feedback on the need for references tracking this segment of the coking coal market.Metal Bulletin's cfr China Low-vol PCI Index stood at $141.05 per tonne during the day, while the fob Australia index was at $129.89 per tonne."There is appetite in China for mid-vol PCI th...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday September 10*Copper $19.76 (135.86 yuan) Aluminium -$813.21 (-5,591.7 yuan) Zinc $489.66 (3,366.97 yuan) Nickel $392.06 (2,695.88 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month...Read More
China's hot-rolled coil prices were largely stable on Monday September 10 despite gains in the futures market, with demand remaining weak.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,400-4,420 yuan ($643-646) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tianjin): 4,300-4,310 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneHRC prices were largely unchanged amid "extremely thin" trading during the day, a Shanghai-based trader sa...Read More
The spot price for grade-553 silicon in the United States has continued to tumble, falling for a sixth consecutive month in American Metal Market's latest assessment, due to scrap metal-derived silicon supply piling up and buyers remaining disinterested in spot volumes.The grade-553 silicon price plunged to $1.27-1.29 per lb on Monday September 10, down 5 cents from $1.32-1.34 per lb in August. Th...Read More
Benchmark low-grade cobalt prices rose for the first time since April last week when consumers working with reduced stock levels came back to the spot market. Metal Bulletin assessed the low-grade cobalt price at $33.35-33.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday September 7, up 0.7% from the midweek assessment."The real floor has been established. It all got a bit tense around $33-33.50," a producer sa...Read More