Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remain near an all-time high, with mills rapidly boosting what they charge customers in tight market conditions. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $68.57 per hundredweight ($1,371.40 per short ton) on Friday April 16, down by 0.23% from $68.73 per cwt on Thursday April 15 but up by 2.04% from $67.20 per cwt one...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States climbed after market participants reported that mills, enjoying lengthy backlogs, increased their offers during the week to Friday April 16. Hot-dipped galvanized prices resumed their upward march on Thursday April 15 after a 34-week streak of increases was broken a week earlier. While some mills appear to be catching up on tar...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil continued to rise in Europe on Friday April 16 due to a shortage of material amid continuing strong demand, sources told Fastmrkets.Thursday's announcement of yet another offer price increase by ArcelorMittal gave additional support to the uptrend.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?926.25...Read More
Billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States selling material from the Black Sea basin continued to look for support outside nearer markets because buying activity there was limited by unfavorable market conditions. "Turkish customers practically give no bids," one trading source said, adding that softening scrap prices led to the negative sentiment in Turkish market. Fastmarkets' da...Read More
Hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) and pre-painted galvanized iron, or color coated coil, prices in Turkey nudged up in the week to Friday April 16, with demand still strong in both the domestic and export markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Despite strong demand, price changes were moderate this week after the very sharp increases in the previous weeks.Prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) - the base product f...Read More
Supply of prime ferrous scrap grades and acceptable substitutes is expected to come under pressure due to additional electric-arc furnace (EAF)-based steelmaking capacity in the United States, according to Philip Gibbs, director of metals equity research for KeyBanc Capital Markets.The proliferation of new mills over the next several quarters is going to structurally change the market for prime sc...Read More
Huntsman Set to Expand Nickel Sulphide Discovery at CanegrassSPONSOREDhuntsman explorationThe company has agreements for its iron ore and nickel operations in Brazil from 2022, for its copper operations in Chile from 2021 and has now signed an agreement with Engie Energia Peru to provide renewable energy for its Quellaveco copper mine in Moquegua, which is expected to begin production in 2022."Cop...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part stronger this morning, Friday April 16, supported by robust economic data, while the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating after yesterday’s strength, which followed strong US data.* China’s gross domestic product (GDP) climbed by 18.3% year on year in Q1* US treasury yields dropped, lifting...Read More
The pig iron export market in the Commonwealth of Independent States was strong during the week to Thursday April 15 amid demand in neighboring outlets - though the import market in the United States was quiet.Fastmarkets' price assessment for high-manganese pig iron, export, fob main port Black Sea, CIS was $535-550 per tonne on Thursday, widening upward from $535-542 per tonne one week earlier....Read More
The price for UK-origin light iron scrap was steady in the week to Friday April 16 after narrowing upward in the previous week, with tight availability of material prompting major shredders to compete strongly for feedstock to keep their machines running cost-effectively, sources told Fastmarkets.British business conditions were expected to remain difficult through the current quarter at least and...Read More
Utilities SPDRs (XLU) moved above $66.86 extending an intermediate uptrend. Palladium ETN (PALL) moved above $257.91 extending an intermediate uptrend.Pre-opening Comments for Friday April 16thU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 8 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the March U.S. Housing Start report a...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan were largely steady on Friday April 16 with the market mulling a possible downward trend, sources told Fastmarkets. India Fastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India at $457.22 per tonne on Friday, compared with $456.38 per tonne one week previous. Deals were heard at $455, $457 and $4...Read More
Premium hard coking coal prices were largely stable in the cfr and fob markets on Friday April 16 amid limited trading activity, market sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $112.81 per tonne, down by $0.13 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $220.49 per tonne, up by $0.42 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.12 per tonne, down by $0.5...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were largely unchanged due to a lack of liquidity in the market on Friday April 16, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $178.43 per tonne, up $0.02 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $178.56 per tonne, down $0.12 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $153.58 per tonne, up $0.73 per tonne65% Fe Brazi...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were stable on Friday April 16, though they remain close to their highest in 12 years.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,480-5,510 yuan ($840-844) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Tangshan) - weekly assessment: 5,430-5,470 yuan per tonne, down 60-70 yuan per tonneSeveral sources told Fastmarkets that spot sellers were offering HRC at 5,480-5,490 yuan per...Read More
Nickel and lead futures prices on the London Metal Exchange pushed up on the morning of Friday April 16, while most other metals consolidated after a Thursday session that saw copper pulling along most of the other base metals. Nickel's three-month price was the only one in the complex to not close higher on Thursday - drifting down some $14 from Wednesday close to $16,364 per tonne...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were for the most part stronger this morning, Friday April 16, supported by robust economic data, while the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating after yesterday's strength, which followed strong US data. China's gross domestic product (GDP) climbed by 18.3% year on year in Q1US treasury yields dropped, lifting gold and equi...Read More
With the latest trade case against silicon imports expected to conclude in domestic producers' favor, the price of silicon metal in the United States has reached its highest point in more than a decade - surpassing the highs reached at the time of the last trade case in 2018.Fastmarkets assessed the price for silicon, ddp US at $1.43-1.50 per lb on Thursday April 15, up from $1.41-1.48 per lb on A...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey and Michael Greenfield in...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda...Read More