Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States slipped for this first time this month on an import glut and as lead times have stretched into the typically slower summer months.American Metal Market's hot-rolled coil index stands at $44.05 per hundredweight ($881 per ton), down 0.5% from $44.26 per cwt ($885.20 per ton) previously.Lead times range between four and 10 weeks and average approximately f...Read More
Steady demand, tight supply and reduced imports in the United States have kept domestic and import beam prices firm compared with a month ago, market participants said. American Metal Market's assessment of domestic W8- x 8-inch beams was at $42 per hundredweight fob mill on Thursday May 24, in line with mill list prices, while import medium sections were steady at $7...Read More
Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Physical iron ore prices softened on Friday May 25 amid declining futures and despite gains in the steel market. They reached their lowest level since April 16, when prices were $63.93 per tonne.Chinese demand for iron ore is expected to be stable this year, with steel producers prioritizing capacity cu...Read More
Industrial action by workers at Megasa's merchant bar-producing steel mill in Zaragoza, in north-eastern Spain, has resumed after a breakdown this week in talks intended to resolve a pay dispute, prolonging the disruption to production and deliveries."It's a still partial strike of two hours per day so, of course, deliveries and production will be affected," a market source told Metal Bulletin...Read More
Indian steelmaker JSW Steel plans to restart operations at newly acquired Italian steelmaker Acciaierie e Ferriere di Piombino (Aferpi) in the first half of June this year, according to Italian trade unions Fiom-Cgil and Uilm.JSW Steel has also presented an industrial plan for the Italian company's Piombino site. This includes restarts of the rolling mills for rail, steel bars and wire rod this ye...Read More
Some of the coated coil prices in Turkey decreased this week, with demand remaining poor in both the local and export markets, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 25.Domestic prices One Northern Turkish producer was offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $745-760 per tonne ex-works this week, while a second producer offered similar product at $770-780 per tonne ex-works. A deal...Read More
Key data form the pricing session in the week ending Friday May 25. China China domestic ferro-chrome prices were stable week on week with thin deals in the spot market while market participants waited for the release of June tender prices to provide market direction. Some small ferro-chrome plants in...Read More
The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday May 25:Noble alloys Molybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $11.10-11.25 per lb from $11.00-11.30 Molybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib $11.40-11.70 per Ib from $11.70-11.90 Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $27.50-28.00 per kg from $27.60-28.00 Ferro-molybdenum US 65...Read More
Representatives from Chinese manganese alloy smelters held another meeting on Thursday May 24 to discuss manganese ore prices, according to market sources. It was the third such meeting since early March, when smelters agreed not to pay more than $8 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu), on a cif basis, for low-grade manganese ore, sparking a protracted decline in prices. During the discussions on Thur...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Monday May 28. After that, because of the UK's Spring bank holiday, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Wednesday May 30.Read More
Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India were flat this week with buyers stepping back from the market as offer prices drop, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 25.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India was $382.90 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on May 25, little changed from $382.31 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on May 18. Market...Read More
Global direct-reduced iron (DRI) output increased 14.86% year on year in April 2018, according to new statistics published by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) on Friday April 25.Total output was 7.11 million tonnes in April 2018 compared with 6.19 million tonnes a year previously, an increase of 920,000 tonnes. Production was...Read More
The UK inter-merchant price for austenitic alloy steel scrap was unchanged over the past week, with nickel costs remaining high, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 25.Metal Bulletin's weekly price assessment for inter-merchant 18/8 scrap solids in the UK was ?1,000-1,040 ($1,338-1,391) per tonne delivered on Friday."There is more material available at the current higher price," one UK trad...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap for June on Friday May 25, and the mills managed to get lower prices from Baltic Sea and UK suppliers.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 16,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $338 per tonne cfr and 4,000 tonnes of bonus scrap at $348 per tonne.This compares with the previous Baltic Sea...Read More
Physical iron ore prices softened on Friday May 25 amid declining futures despite gains in the steel market.Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $63.94 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $2.44 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $52.72 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.33 per tonneMetal Bulletin 65% Fe Iron Ore Index: $83.40 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.60 per tonneMetal Bulletin 62% F...Read More
Sellers in the seaborne coking coal market are taking their time to liquidate their existing cargoes, keeping prices for the steelmaking raw material flat."We are not in a hurry because prices at [the Port of Jingtang in Hebei province's Tangshan] are still strong. If buyers are unwilling to pay $193-195 per tonne cfr China [in the seaborne market], we would rather make a 'landing sale,'" a...Read More
Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday May 25*Copper -$94.62 (-605.72 yuan) Aluminium -$503.04 (-3,220.24 yuan) Zinc $10.94 (70.10 yuan) Nickel -$474.02 (-3,034.47 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME three-month prices at 3pm Shanghai time, taking account of VAT and import duti...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker on the morning of Friday May 25, down between 0.2% and 0.6%, with copper down by 0.6% at $6,872 per tonne. Zinc was the single exception, up by a marginal 0.1%.Volume on the LME has been average, with 6,612 lots traded as of 7.34 am London time. This follows a general day of firmness on Thursday, when all the...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Friday May 25:Minor metals Antimony MB free market regulus, $/tonne: $8,200-8,500 per tonne from $8,100-8,400 Antimony MMTA standard grade II, $/tonne: $8,150-8,450 per tonne from $8,100-8,300 Bismuth MB free market, $/lb: $4.50-5.00 per lb from $4.70-5.10 Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 65,000-66,500...Read More