Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices dropped sharply at the start of the week on news of a fresh Baltic Sea cargo deal, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 27.A steel producer in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 26,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $242 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $252 per tonne cfr.This compares with previous Baltic Sea deals done at $255-256...Read More

Spain has extended its lockdown for the third time to combat the spread of Covid-19, which means the local steel industry will continue running at reduced rates, sources told Fastmarkets on April 27.On Friday April 24, Spain's Council of Ministers agreed to extend the country's lockdown to midnight May 10 to fight the pandemic, discarding the original end date of April 26.The Spanish steel in...Read More

Turkish domestic scrap prices have increased over the past week amid limited supply, especially in the Marmara region, sources said on Monday April 27.At least two steel mills in the Marmara region have increased their buy prices for auto bundle scrap by 70-80 lira ($10-12) per tonne over the past week to be able to secure more material.Long and flat steel mill ??olakoglu increased its buy price f...Read More

Seaborne hard coking coal prices plummeted on Monday April 27, as transaction prices reflected a weak market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $115.53 per tonne, down $3.89 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $121.06 per tonne, down $5.53 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $102.01 per tonne, down $6 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $109.44 per tonne, dow...Read More

Most seaborne iron ore prices showed marginal falls on Monday April 27, with cargoes available on the market but only high-quality Brazil fines seeing a rise in prices.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.48 per tonne, down by $0.87 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.50 per tonne, down by $0.59 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $72.47 p...Read More

Metals prices were for the most part stronger this morning, Monday April 27, as were Asian-Pacific equity indices, while gold prices were slightly weaker and US treasury yields were firmer - all suggesting a broad risk-on mood.Market participants seem to be focused on and optimistic about the plans for the gradual reopening of economies while countries get a handle on the Covid-19 pandemic. * Pre-...Read More

Ferrous scrap imports to Vietnam rose by 64.8% year on year over the first three months of 2020, statistics from the country's customs bureau show.Total scrap imports reached 1.39 million tonnes in January-March 2020, up from 843,666 tonnes in the corresponding period of last year.Scrap imports from Japan saw the largest rise of any major seller to the country, soaring by 110.3% over the period to...Read More

China's ferrous scrap prices moved higher in the week to Friday April 24 due to restocking by mills and lower supply in the market, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China, was 2,330-2,490 yuan ($329-352) per tonne including value-added on Friday, up by 130 yuan per tonne from 2,200-2,360 a week earlier.Steel mills received...Read More

The price of steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was unchanged week on week, while buying remained slow due to the Covid-19 restrictions, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 27.The demand from the key rebar end-use...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures advanced 29 points in pre-opening trade. Facebook added $4.23 to $194.38 after Stifel Nicolaus increased its target price from $200 to $230. MasterCard gained $3.84 to $262.60 after Wedbush raised its target price from $250 to $300.Visa advanced $1.68 to $169.00 after Wedbush increased its target price from $170 to $200. Ameri...Read More

A summary of London Metal Exchange ring dealer Marex Spectron's results for the first quarter of 2020 and the year ending December 31, 2019.In brief:Marex announced a strong start to 2020 due to high levels of volatility in commodities market, achieving unaudited net revenues of $142.2 million in the first quarter of this year - up 41% from the same period last year. Marex said it has also continu...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices gained some strength on Monday April 27 despite losses in the futures market. Some optimism has also emerged among exporters with buyers in Pakistan starting to buy from China again.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,300-3,310 yuan ($466-467) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): 3,240 yuan per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneTrading activ...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices were unchanged on Monday April 27 amid steady demand, although the futures market experienced a decline. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,420-3,450 yuan ($483-487) per tonne, unchanged Buyers raised their procurement rates during the day to stock up ahead of the May 1-5 Labor Day break in the country.The steady demand kept sellers from lowering prices despite...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month tin price increased during morning trading on Monday April 27, following a fresh cancellation of 285 tonnes, while strong buying in zinc futures pushed the metal to breach nearby resistance levels. LME tin's outright price was recently at $15,335 per tonne, a 3.3% incline from Friday's closing price of $14,890 per tonne, while turnover was high at more than 20...Read More

Cobalt sulfate prices have managed to take a pause from the persistent downturn since mid-February despite lingering weak demand from electric vehicles (EVs), the major downstream consumer, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China price was assessed at 43,000-45,000 yuan ($6,074-6,357) per tonne on Friday 24, unchanged for the fifth pricing session in a ro...Read More

The team from Commerzbank clinched the top spot on the base metals leaderboard for the first-quarter 2020 base metals predictions with 97.98% accuracy while Glyn Lawcock of UBS took the top spot for precious metals predictions over the period with a 93.58% accuracy rating. For steel raw materials, Chris LaFemina of Jefferies topped the leaderboard with a 98.86% accuracy score. Click on the image b...Read More

The Yunnan provincial government has called for leading enterprises to stockpile non-ferrous metals to support the economy in an announcement published on Sunday April 26. Yunnan businesses are being encouraged to stockpile a combined total of 800,000 tonnes of copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, tin, germanium and indium over a one-year period. Companies can pledge their products to secure bank loans...Read More

The price spread for Europe-origin high-carbon ferro-chrome widened to $0.15 per lb in the week ended Friday April 24 with deals reported at higher prices after the rebound in the ferro-chrome and charge chrome benchmark price for shipments in the second quarter of the year.The gap between the highest and lowest reported deal prices was almost $0.20 per lb, with signs of firmer fundamentals encour...Read More

The low-grade seaborne manganese ore price in China rocketed by 32.1% week on week on Friday April 24 after some buyers accepted the first offer made since South Africa went into lockdown on March 26. Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin soared by $1.65 to $6.79 per per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, hitting a new high since November 23, 2018, when the index was $6.84...Read More

Arconic has resumed operations at its Massena, New York facility in the United States since Monday April 20 and expects to ramp back up operations at its Tennessee facility this week, the company said. It had previously temporarily idled the Tennessee facilities from Monday April 6 and its New York operations from Tuesday April 7 due to weaker automotive demand for aluminium products stemming from...Read More