Workers of Tata Steel's Dutch operations have planned another strike during the night shift, which will affect the hot zone, the trade union FNV Metaal said on Thursday June 18.At 22:00 local time on June 18, the workers of Tata Steel IJmiuden's hot area will stop working, according to FNV's release."This action has a major impact on blast furnaces and the steel melting shop," FNV said.The unions...Read More

Markets were mixed again this morning, Thursday June 18; equity indices were weighing up the possible impact of second waves of Covid-19 against the supportive measures governments continue to provide and pledge. * Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly weaker this morning, as were pre-market major western equity index futures; the exception was China’s CSI 300 Index. * Developing Asian cou...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have reached the "bottom", sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 18, with steelmakers expected to announce price rises soon.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?392.14 ($441.08) per tonne on Thursday June 18, up by ?,?2.14 per tonne from ?,?390 per tonne on Wednesday June 17.The index wa...Read More

Turkish domestic long steel prices continued to increase over the past week in line with firm demand, but they may now have reached a peak because scrap prices are expected to fall soon, sources said on Thursday June 18."The general thinking in the market is that the increase in scrap prices has stopped [and] this put on the brake in local [long steel] prices," a senior official at a maj...Read More

The price of steel billet in Turkey continued to increase over the past week in line with firming domestic prices for long steel products, sources said on Thursday June 18.Export offers for billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased over the weekend, although mills were in no hurry to sell volumes, sources said.CIS-based suppliers raised their offers to Turkey to $395-400 p...Read More

Turkish rebar and wire rod export prices remained steady over the past week amid a lack of demand, sources said on Thursday June 18.Turkish steel mills continued to offer rebar for export at $425-430 per tonne fob on actual weight basis, while bids for the material were no higher than $410 per tonne, Fastmarkets heard."Mills continued...Read More

Demand for imported steel billet in Egypt remained limited in the week to Thursday June 18, despite billet import prices decreasing because of lower bids, sources told Fastmarkets.No improvement in demand was anticipated any time soon, sources told Fastmarkets, because construction activity has all but halted across the country since a presidential decree in late May.The cessation o...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus the June Philly Fed Index was -23.0 versus -43.1 in May. Actual was +27.5.Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 1.3 million versus 1,566 last week. Actual was 1.508 million.The Bank of E...Read More

Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Germany have increased by about ?,?5-10 per tonne month on month in June, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 18.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap No E3 (old thick steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill, Germany was ?,?235-245 ($264-275) per tonne on June 18, up by ?,?5 per tonne month on month from?,?230-240 per tonne in mid-May....Read More

Turkish steel mills booked no deep-sea cargoes on Thursday June 18, with a growing number of market participants now believing that prices have reached a peak, sources told Fastmarkets.News of a US deal from the beginning of the week was, however, heard on Thursday.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo, comprising 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $265 per tonne and 15,000 tonnes of...Read More

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will increase domestic prices by 10.5% on July 1, it told distribution clients this week, sources with knowledge of the move told Fastmarkets.Rising iron ore prices and a steep discount to domestic steel over imports support the action CSN has taken, the sources added. The company had already considered an increase in June but weakening de...Read More

Bangladeshi mills are unwilling to pay current offer prices for bulk cargoes and will wait for price decreases before placing any orders, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 18. US West Coast sellers have had success in selling bulk cargoes at higher prices to South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam in the last week, but will not find business so fruitful in Bangladesh, market participants...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Thursday June 18 after Vale announced the gradual resumption of operations at its Itabira complex in southern Brazil. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $102.40 per tonne, down $1.69 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $105.17 per tonne, down $1.26 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $92.78 per...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More

Export prices for steel scrap from Japan remained largely unchanged in the week to Wednesday June 17, but market participants expecting to see lower prices in the next bookings.Japan's export scrap prices for H2 heavy scrap have been on a consistent upward trend since early April, but the high prices have put off many buyers over the past week, with key consumers in Taiwan concentrating...Read More

Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices were pushed up slightly on Thursday June 18 by recent transactions of premium mid-volatility hard coking coal sealed at higher levels. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $109.22 per tonne, up $1.04 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $118.19 per tonne, up $0.85 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $89.41 per tonne, unchan...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices gained upward momentum on Thursday June 18 after the Chinese government announced financial support for small companies.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,690-3,700 yuan ($521-522) per tonne, up by 40 yuan per tonneThe State Council signaled on Wednesday that it would lower the amount of reserves that banks are required hold to spur lending. The Chinese gov...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices edged up on Thursday June 18 amid rising futures following news about the Chinese government's plan to ease its monetary policy.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,560-3,590 yuan ($502-506) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneThe Chinese government intends to ease its monetary policy in the second half of this year to stimulate the country's economy, Premier Li Keqiang...Read More

Strong demand for seaborne iron ore and uncertainties over Brazilian supply of the steelmaking raw material continue to prop up spot prices despite Vale's resumption of operations at its Itabira mining complex."Even though the Itabira complex is good to resume, market participants still don't expect Vale to hit its target of 310 million tonnes this year, and low iron ore inventories at Chinese por...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...Read More