Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained supported by lean supply and robust demand, with Fastmarkets' daily HRC index once again inching closer to the $81-per-hundredweight ($1,620-per-short-ton) mark.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $80.63 per cwt ($1,612.60 per ton) on Wednesday June 2, up by 0.69% from $80.08 per cwt on Tuesday June 1 bu...Read More

Turkish prices for flat steel products increased during May 2021, but the direction of price movements in June will depend on global price trends, especially in China, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 2.Market participants did not expect any price decreases, though. Steel prices in China did decrease from April until May 27, but they then started to rise again.Hot-rolled coil export pric...Read More

Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe rose on Wednesday June 2 after a rise in demand led to mills struggling to keep up, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,320-1340 ($1,614-1,638) per tonne on June 2, up from ?,?1,250-1,320 per tonne on May 26.Hollow section producers had less material to offer cust...Read More

European steel H-beam prices moved up again on Wednesday June 2, with producers achieving continuous price increases with little resistance from customers, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?940-970 ($1,149-1,186) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?900-920 per tonne one week earlier. Some mills have steppe...Read More

Iranian billet producers turned quiet in the week to Wednesday June 2, waiting for a clearer trend after the recovery of billet and rebar prices in the domestic market in China - one of the key destinations for semi-finished steel from Iran.Last week, domestic billet prices in China dropped to 4,780 yuan ($749.36) per tonne on Friday, down by 140 yuan ($21.95) per tonne since the start of last wee...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe two companies have enjoyed a fractious relationship in recent years with differing opinions on the strategy to advance Cascabel.Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe company reported an intercept of 28.7m of continuous mineralisation grading 2.05% copper equivalent in both the massive sulphide lens and the underlying copper stockwork zone (CSZ).Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed this morning, Wednesday June 2 - zinc and tin prices were up on both exchanges and were looking robust, while the others have lost recent upward momentum.* Brent crude oil is back above $70 per barrel, the highest it has been for two years. * Tuesday’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) d...Read More

A Bangladeshi mill has returned to the United States deep-sea ferrous scrap market to secure two cargoes from separate shippers at a $70-per-tonne increase compared with the last-reported sale to the region.A West Coast exporter sold a cargo to Bangladesh comprising 7,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap priced at $535 per tonne cfr and 25,000 tonnes of shredded scrap pric...Read More

Turkish steel mills remained largely silent in the deep-sea scrap import markets due to continued sluggish finished steel demand in both domestic and export outlets, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 2. Turkish steelmakers have been focusing on finished steel sales in the recent weeks in lieu of demand in Asia, while customers in the domestic market have been struggling with h...Read More

A large gap between bids and offers ensured that only limited business took place in the Japan steel scrap export market over the past week, sources said on Wednesday June 2.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap H2, export, fob main port Japan, was ?46,000-48,000 ($420-438) per tonne on Wednesday, down from ?47,000-48,500 per tonne one week earlier.Japanese H2 was heard sold to a South K...Read More

Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationWhile the bill enjoyed widespread support among opposition parties, senator Isabel Allende of the Socialist party voted against its implementation along with two other opposition senators on theRead More

Iron ore physical prices rose on Wednesday June 2, while low-grade fines increased on buying interest from Chinese steel mills, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $209.19 per tonne, up $0.52 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $211.50 per tonne, up $0.46 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $182.30 per tonne, up $1.30 per tonne65% Fe B...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices in the cfr and fob markets diverged on Wednesday June 2, with the high price for premium hard coking coal in cfr market discouraging mills from purchasing, according to sources.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.84 per tonne, up by $1.40 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $283.79 per tonne, down by $0.56 per tonneHard...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade. Zoom Video advanced $6.68 to $334.00 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter revenues and earnings. Deutsche Bank raised its target price from $360 to $375. IMAX dropped $0.34 to $21.93 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to SellFedEx added $1.26 to $312.11 after JP Morga...Read More

Import prices for steel scrap inched up amid slightly firmer prices for finished steel products on Wednesday June 2.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel scrap, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr China, which takes into account prices at ports in eastern China, was $500-515 per tonne on Wednesday, widening upward by $5 from $500-10 per tonne on Tuesday.The most-traded rebar and hot-rolled...Read More

As competition in the global steel markets remains fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in May 2021.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing cases this year,...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market traded in a smaller range on Wednesday June 2, following the volatility in Tuesday's session driven by uncertainty over production curbs in Tangshan.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,480-5,570 yuan ($858-872) per tonne, narrowing the range by 30-50 yuan per tonne.Prices edged lower on Wednesday after trading at 5,480-5,600 yuan per tonne on Tuesd...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices on Wednesday June 2 recovered most of the losses from a day earlier amid costlier raw materials such as iron ore and coke. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,000-5,020 yuan ($784-787) per tonne, up by 100 yuan per tonne Rising prices for steelmaking raw materials are making rebar mills lose money, an industry analyst said.Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 62% Fe fines,...Read More

The three-month zinc price traded higher during the morning session on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday June 2, while the rest of the base metals complex consolidated gains following a strong end to May.Zinc's three-month price rose as high as $3,098 per tonne in morning trading, up from Tuesday's closing price of $3,064 per tonne. The contract's reading of $3,060 per tonne at the close on M...Read More