Silicon prices fell for a second consecutive week in the United States, with some domestic buyers saying the global price rally had ended after prices retreated from early November's all-time high.But prices in China, where the rally originated, have begun to move in the opposite direction, posting gains in the week to Friday November 19."The panic is over, prices have come down and I have ze...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed, but largely up at the 5pm close on Friday November 19, after a week of choppy trading."We seem to be following a similar pattern to last week," Marex LME desk analyst Alastair Munro said."Macro-inspired weakness during the first part of the week has given way to a bout of short-covering [activity] into the weekend," he added.The three-mon...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption fell by 5.95% in October, from the same month in 2020, largely influenced by lower domestic shipments of flat steel from mills, according to data published by the steelmakers' association, Instituto A??o Brasil, on Friday November 19.Apparent consumption totaled 1.96 million tonnes during the month, down from 2.09 million tonnes a year before, A??o Brasil said....Read More
The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt hydroxide p...Read More
The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday November 18 that are worth another look.Swedish steelmaker SSAB has announced a further two partnerships involving its fossil-fuel-free steel, to commence in 2026, the company said in separate announcements this week.Production of key battery raw materials cobalt...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into Pakistan and India moved down after both markets weakened in the seven days to Friday November 19, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $560.18 per tonne on Friday, compared with $564.21 per tonne a week earlier.Deals were heard at $563-565 per tonne this we...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday November 19.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued their descent on Friday November 19, closing in on $88 per hundredweight ($1,760 per short ton) amid slowing demand while the end of the year approaches.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $88.42 per cwt ($1,768.40 per ton) on Friday, down by 1.82% from $90.06 per cwt on Thursday November 18 and down by...Read More
No trading activity was reported in the export pig iron market from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the week ended Thursday November 18, although the market was firm amid bullish suppliers.Fastmarkets' price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $530-540 per tonne on November 18, narrowing upward from $520-540 per tonne a week before."Suppl...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and the latest price moves.Janie Davies, Dalila Ouerghi,...Read More
China's biggest steelmaker, Baowu, has set up a global alliance with some of the world's major steel producers and miners, to develop and promote a low-carbon steel industry.Announcing the establishment of the Global Low Carbon Metallurgical Innovation Alliance (GLCMIA) at its expo center in Shanghai on Thursday November 18, Baowu said the alliance would work together to accelerate and promote the...Read More
China's Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) is conducting a public consultation on its proposed standards of the lithium-ion battery industry. The proposed standards - released on Thursday November 18 - detail the requirements for battery energy density and specific capacity.In the proposal, the energy density for consumer electronics batteries need to stay above 260 watt hour (Wh...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices increased slightly on Friday November 19 following futures' gains due to heightened market expectations that banks will loosen loans to housing companies.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,670-4,710 yuan ($732-738) per tonne, up by 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,440-4,480 yuan per tonne, down by 80-120 yuan per tonneMarket participa...Read More
Deliverable stocks of most base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell in the week to Friday November 19.Copper stocks fell by 3,119 tonnes week on week to 34,918 tonnes. Although in percentage terms the week-on-week drop was smaller than those of nickel and tin, copper inventories have fallen by 57.6% from 82,342 tonnes...Read More
Yunnan Aluminium Co has suspended operations at its aluminium smelter in Wenshan city, Yunnan province, following an explosion late on Thursday November 18, sources told Fastmarkets.The company has not yet disclosed when it expects to resume production at the facility, which has capacity of about 330,000 tonnes per year, according to sources.Yunnan Aluminium had not responded to Fastmarkets' reque...Read More
Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China continued to edge lower on Friday November 19, while futures prices rose sharply in the last trading hour before the closing bell.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,630-4,680 yuan ($725-733) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) weekly assessment: 4,600-4,650 yuan per tonne, down by 280-300 yuan per tonneSpot HRC prices in east...Read More
The price of secondary steel billet in the Indian domestic market fell by 1,500 rupees ($20) per tonne over the week ended Friday November 19, with demand for semi-finished materials slowing down in line with a sharp fall in demand and prices for finished steel products.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel billet, domestic, exw India, at 41,700-41,900 rupees ($562-565) per tonne on November 19...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
The risks that the Chinese government will introduce export duties on steel products will increase if export volumes surge when prices stabilize again after the recent decline, market sources told Fastmarkets over the week to Friday November 19."A sharp rebound in export volumes will draw attention from the central authorities," a Shanghai-based trader said.Fears have emerged that the Chinese gove...Read More