The United States' formerly robust reinforcing bar import market is showing signs of revival, market participants said, with at least one US importer booking some 30,000 tonnes of Turkish rebar recently.After President Donald Trump levied hard 25% Section 232 tariffs against steel imported from North American free Trade Agreement countries and the European Union, Turkish mills firmed up...Read More
Domestic reinforcing bar prices in the United States remain steady as market participants await the impact of the Trump administration's decision to impose Section 232 tariffs of 25% on imported steel products from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.American Metal Market's latest price assessment on June 6 for domestic rebar was $35-36 per hundredweight ($700-720 per short ton), uncha...Read More
Imported steel billet prices narrowed but domestic rebar prices were unchanged in Egypt this week because of limited demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 7.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Egypt on June 7 was unchanged at E ?12,525-12,528 ($699-700) per tonne ex-works.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel,...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States was silent on Thursday June 7 because only a few producers have small tonnages from July production available and key consumers restocked in the second part of May.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS region was unchanged on June 7 at $385-390 per tonne fob Black Sea."The price...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for July deliveries on Thursday June 7, with prices increasing slightly.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a US cargo, comprising 34,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $347 per tonne and 8,000 tonnes of shredded at $355 per tonne cfr.Another steel mill in the Izmir region booked a Baltic Sea cargo,...Read More
Trading activity in the physical iron ore market slowed down amid rangebound prices on Thursday June 7, in spite of increases in the downstream steel segment.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $66.84 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.28 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $54.06 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up by $0.51 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $87.60 per tonne cfr Qingda...Read More
Imported steel billet prices narrowed but domestic rebar prices were unchanged in Egypt this week because of limited demand, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday June 7.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Egypt on June 7 was unchanged at E ?12,525-12,528 ($699-700) per tonne ex-works.The country's rebar biggest producer, Ezz Steel,...Read More
Sentiment in the CIS billet export market improved on Thursday June 7 after the resumption in scrap and rebar trading between Turkey and the United States earlier in the week.Some market participants said the improvement had yet to be backed up by deals at higher prices, but Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index has pushed up by $8 per tonne since Tuesday to reach $506 per t...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Thursday June 7, with support coming from the billet and futures markets.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,060-4,090 yuan ($635-640) per tonne, up 80-90 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,930-3,970 yuan per tonne, up 30-40 yuan per tonne Buyers procured at a slower pace during the day in comparison with Wednesday due to the...Read More
The European ferro-vanadium market surged earlier this week, amid a flurry of spot purchasing interest and renewed supply concerns.Spot prices for European ferro-vanadium increased to $69-71.20 per kg on June 6, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up 4.82% from $66.25-67.50 per kg on June 1, according to Metal Bulletin's mid-week assessment.Spot market buying interest picked up considerably this week f...Read More
Prices for stainless steel in East Asia, particularly those for hot-rolled products, rose further over the past week amid low inventory levels in China and the sustained upward momentum in the nickel market.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil was $2,260-2,350 per tonne cif East Asian ports for the week ended Wednesday June 6, up $30 per tonne...Read More
The Brazilian steel industry spent 2017 trying to recover from its worst crisis ever in 2016, when several mills cut production levels to adapt themselves to weak market demand. Last year's crude steel output, local sales and apparent consumption figures improved, but on a poor basis of comparison. Consumption in Brazil, for instance, increased by 5.30% year on year in 2017, to 19.18 million tonne...Read More
The European Union (EU) and Canada have requested dispute consultations with the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding US duties on certain imported steel and aluminium products, the WTO said late on June 6.The US interpretation of Section 232 of its 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which allows for the US president or the US commerce secretary to impose import duties or similar m...Read More
Metal Bulletin's Top Steelmakers 2018 list shows ArcelorMittal retaining the crown as the world's largest steel producer, but the mills of China, Japan, South Korea and India occupy positions 2-10. Nucor in the United States, with an output of over 21 million tonnes in 2017, is the highest-ranking steelmaker from outside the region, in 12th spot. Since China has about half of the world's global st...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States was silent on Thursday June 7 because only a few producers have small tonnages from July production available and key consumers restocked in the second part of May.Metal Bulletin's export price assessment for high-manganese pig iron from the CIS region was unchanged on June 7 at $385-390 per tonne fob Black Sea."The price...Read More
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange continued to lead the base metals complex higher at the close of trading on Thursday June 7, climbing 1.5% over the day to finish above $7,300 per tonne for the first time since January 2014.The red metal's price has risen more than 7% in June, with increased uncertainty surrounding labor negotiations at BHP Billiton's Escondida mine in Chile, the world's...Read More
Assertions that cobalt could soon be eliminated altogether from electric vehicles (EVs) are simply wrong, according to the chief executive officer of First Cobalt. Trent Mell, who heads the North American pure play cobalt company, said that while the EV sector is moving toward an era of lower cobalt content per vehicle, this nonetheless has positive implications for cobalt producers. "It lowers th...Read More
The European ferro-vanadium market surged earlier this week, amid a flurry of spot purchasing interest and renewed supply concerns.Spot prices for European ferro-vanadium increased to $69-71.20 per kg on June 6, delivered duty-paid in Europe, up 4.82% from $66.25-67.50 per kg on June 1, according to Metal Bulletin's mid-week assessment.Spot market buying interest picked up considerably this week f...Read More
The latest metal markets news and price moves to start the North American day on Thursday June 7.Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange surged to a fresh 2018 high during morning trading on Thursday June 7, leading the complex after supply-side disruptions pushed prices up."The upswing is continuing this morning, especially in the case of copper. It has climbed to nearly $7,300 per tonne in Lo...Read More
Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday June 6.Base metals prices were on divergent paths during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with copper prices leading on the upside, while nickel was the weakest of the complex following its recent run of strength. Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report here.LME snapshot at 3am L...Read More