European steel H-beam prices remained stable on Wednesday June 30, with mill-led price increases slowing ahead of the summer break, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,030-1,050 ($1,226-1,250) per tonne on June 30, unchanged week on week.This is the second week of price stability after a period of consistent w...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were slightly lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 4 points in pre-opening trade.The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at US80.76 cents following release of Canada's April GDP report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 0.8% versus a gain of 1.1% in March. Actual was a drop of 0.3%.Constellation Brands added $0.52 to $231.50 after announcing a $500 m...Read More

A Turkish mill has secured ferrous scrap from the United States for $2 per tonne more than the last-reported US sale, but falling dock prices and a lack of significant upward momentum in US export prices has led some to question what direction domestic prices will take in July's ferrous scrap trade."It is an interesting turn of events. Somehow mills are getting comfortable. My agent told me export...Read More

Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases, but at a slow pace dictated by limited long steel demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $501 per tonne, along with shredded and bonus scrap at $521 per tonne cfr late on Tuesday June 29, the seller told Fastmarkets.But some mar...Read More

German steel maker Thyssenkrupp is to replace its four blast furnaces and switch to a system based on direct-reduction of raw material using hydrogen by 2025, the company announced on Tuesday June 29, following a visit by federal government ministers.The company confirmed that it will gradually replace the blast furnaces with direct-reduction plants fueled by green hydrogen, each able to melt soli...Read More

As my readers know, I don't like to get into politics in my analyses; I cover economics and capital markets. That said, there are times when politics are so focused and powerful that we have to pay attention because the impact on markets will be enormous.This could be one of those times. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, has written an open letter calling on Congress to investiga...Read More

Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is to commission a new blast furnace (BF) to produce additional pig iron volumes to be used in its own steelmaking operations, the company told Fastmarkets this week.No pig iron sales are planned.The project, at MMK's steelmaking complex at Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, is expected to start in July 2021, with the start-up of the fu...Read More

We have a fine-sounding word for running with the herd: momentum. When the herd is running, those who buy what the herd is buying and sell what the herd is selling are trading momentum, which sounds so much more professional and high-brow than the noisy, dusty image of large mammals (and their trading machines) mindlessly running with the herd.We also have a fine-sounding phrase for anticipating w...Read More

Iron ore prices rose on Wednesday June 30 when concerns were raised about China's overall crude steel output for 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $214.08 per tonne, up by $1.75 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $217.85 per tonne, up by $2.91 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $180.95 per tonne, up by $1.33 per t...Read More

A shipment of 4,000 tonnes of imported scrap booked by major Chinese steelmaker Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS) cleared customs checks at Jingtang port in Tangshan, Hebei in early June, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30. This is their second cargo of Japanese heavy scrap (HS) since China officially eased restrictions on scrap imports in January 2021. Their first cargo of 2,092 tonnes cleared...Read More

BHP announced in 2018 that the depletion of its 80-million-tonnes-per-year Yandi mine in its Western Australia iron ore operations would begin from the second half of 2021. Fastmarkets explores how the low-grade fines landscape will adapt to the loss of this key brand. 1. How will the market move forward? Some traders believe the depletion of the Yandi mine will most likely prompt market participa...Read More

- U.S. Gold Corp. drilled 4,440 feet (approx. 1,353 meters) in 2 holes- Drilling successfully identified targeted structure, host stratigraphy and Carlin-style alteration at similar depths to current mining operations along the Carlin Gold Belt- Strength of alteration and anomalous geochemistry warrants additional explorationELKO, Nev., June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Gold Corp. (NASDAQ: USAU...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices remained flat on Wednesday June 30 on weak demand while the futures price gained.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,860-4,880 yuan ($752-755) per tonne, unchanged day on dayThe purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the steel industry was 45.1 points in June, down by 1 point from May, according to the China Federation...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices across China's domestic market moved higher on Wednesday June 30, supported by futures prices that are underpinned by expectations of lower production for the rest of this year. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,420-5,460 yuan ($839-845) per tonne, up by 10-30 yuan per tonne from 5,390-5,450 yuan. The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange resumed its r...Read More

Prices were largely unchanged on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Wednesday June 30, with the exception of lead which continued its steady rise, reaching a new year-to-date high of $2,340 per tonne during early trading."Today is the last trading day in June," Malcom Freeman, director at Kingdom Futures Limited, said. "So the question is will the funds and speculative players who appear...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday June 30.Key drivers Trading activity is in stasis, with market participants considering the potential impact of the recently announced export duties on ferro-alloys from Russia, which are effective from August 1 until the end of the year. A few small deals were reported for both alloy and scrap within the current price ranges. Ferro...Read More

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

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

The Cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, % payable of Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt hydroxide p...Read More

The Cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China, yuan/tonne trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets...Read More