CIS export billet prices fell during the week to Friday July 3, pressured by lower bids from customers amid insufficient demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Most mills took a wait-and-see position, preferring to assess the situation in the market, while those who offered indicated prices at around $370 per tonne fob Black Sea or the equivalent. This is down from $370-375 per tonne fob last week."Mill...Read More

Domestic prices for steel rebar in Poland widened in the week to Friday July 3, supported by good demand both domestically and abroad, sources told Fastmarkets.Buying in the Polish rebar market was good in June and is supposed to remain strong until the middle of July at least, they added."The vacation season is here, so even though regular activities have been interrupted by [...Read More

Turkish domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and color-coated coil were unchanged in the week to Friday July 3 on stable hot-rolled coil prices and moderate demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Turkey was $430-440 per tonne on Friday, unchanged since June 26.HRC is the base material for coated coil.Domestic pricesLo...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil remained stable in Turkey during the week ended Friday July 3, with demand weak, sources have told Fastmarkets.Flat steel producers in the country were accepting orders for September.The reason for the poor demand was that buyers had already booked enough material for July and August, and wanted to wait and see if end-user consumption would incre...Read More

Markets were mixed this morning, Friday July 3, with Asian-Pacific equities generally higher and pre-market western equity index futures weaker, while the base metals and precious metals were mixed.* China’s Caixin services purchasing managers index (PMI) climbed to 58.4 in June, from 55 previously. * James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, told the Financial Times t...Read More

of July weekend!Pre-opening Comments for Friday July 3rdThe Canadian equity market is expected to be quiet today, typical when U.S. equity markets are closed. U.S. markets are closed for the Independence Day holiday. U.S. equity index futures were down 0.30% in overnight trade.Other equity markets around the world were mixed overnight. European equity markets were lower by almost 1.0%. Far East eq...Read More

Pig iron exported from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) declined during the week to Thursday July 2 on lower demand from China and lower iron ore and scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $305-310 per tonne on July 2, down from $311-318 per tonne with no new deals...Read More

The Turkish scrap import market moved up on Friday July 3, after a further deep-sea cargo was booked from the United States, sources told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Samsun region booked a US cargo comprising 17,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $260 per tonne and 13,000 tonnes of shredded at $265 per tonne.This compares with a US cargo booked earlier in the week which valued HMS 1&2 (80:20) at...Read More

The price of ferrous scrap in containers imported into India edged downward again over the past week, with demand remaining at low levels, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 3.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $270.18 per tonne on July 3, down from $274.28 per tonne the Friday before.Market sources reported offers of shredded material...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices went up on Friday July 3, crossing the $100 per tonne threshold once more after falling below the mark in late June. A rise in prices in both the Chinese iron ore futures market and the 62% Fe July swaps contract on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) contributed to the increase.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $100.65 per tonne, up $1.18 per tonn...Read More

Prices for steel scrap imported to Bangladesh moved down again over the past week, but sellers will resist any further price drops, market sources told Fastmarkets.At least one bulk cargo was booked from the US West Coast to Bangladesh over the past fortnight, with another sale said to be possible if sellers accept lower prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Reduced prices have been...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices diverged on Friday July 3, with market participants taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the market, Fastmarkets was told.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $114.60 per tonne, up $0.11 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $125.50 per tonne, down $1.27 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $92.83 per tonne, up $0.33 per tonneHard coking c...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Friday July 3 on higher trading activity amid a rising futures market, but the near-term outlook remains bearish. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,510-3,540 yuan ($497-501) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) - weekly assessment: 3,630-3,660 yuan per tonne, unchanged from June 29Traders raised rebar prices slightly following futur...Read More

Market activity in the domestic Chinese alumina market jumped up in the second half of the week to Thursday July 2 after the Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium futures price rose to its highest since January 23. Fastmarkets assessed the alumina metallurgical grade, ddp China price at 2,300-2,330 yuan ($325-330) per tonne on Thursday, up from 2,250-2,280 yuan per tonne the week prior. This is...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil prices rebounded on Friday July 3, with rising futures bolstering sentiment. Some importers have started to worry about the delivery of Indian cargoes amid rising tensions between China and India.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,740-3,760 yuan ($529-532) per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 3,620-3,650 yuan per tonne, up 10-20...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London and Shanghai on Friday July 3.Key drivers- Spot payables edged higher, and were now at levels last seen in March. Activity was still reasonably thin but many suppliers were holding...Read More

The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt alloy...Read More

The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed cobalt...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More

The strength in the Chinese cobalt futures market since mid-week has buoyed domestic cobalt metal prices, despite lackluster spot demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 3.Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, ex-works China rose to 238,000-244,000 yuan ($33,677-34,526) per tonne (equivalent to approx. $13.51-13.86 per lb, minus China VAT) on Friday July 3, up 1.3% from 235,000-...Read More