Copper stocks in Shanghai bonded warehouses rose to a 23-month high in the month of June as a result of a closed arbitrage window between London and Shanghai.During the same period, aluminium and zinc stocks in the bonded zone fell, while the stock level for nickel edged slightly higher.Copper inventories at 23-month highThe rise in Shanghai bonded copper stocks came despite a pick-up in spot acti...Read More

Premiums for delivered copper cathodes fell in Europe while those for seaborne cargoes firmed this week, with the market digesting how a tariff on Russian exports would affect the continent's balance of trade. The Russian government has approved temporary export duties on 340 steel and non-ferrous metals sold outside the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), effective from August 1 through December 31....Read More

Zinc premiums continued to increase in Antwerp and Rotterdam on Tuesday June 29 due to low supply but sources expect a downturn in August during the seasonally weaker period, while markets elsewhere were either stable or down during the week.Northern Europe zinc premiums set 40-month high on persisting supply tightnessLead, zinc premiums steady in US despite low availabilityContango, faltering dem...Read More

The United States remains the strongest market for copper cathodes, with the premium remaining at elevated levels in the week to Tuesday June 29, while premiums for imported cathodes in China are showing signs of recovery after sinking steadily for the past few months. US cathode premium holds at eight-year high.  European market digests news of Russia export tax.  China market firms mi...Read More

Los Azules is a porphyry copper project with indicated resources of 962 million tonnes grading 0.48% copper, 1.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.06g/t gold, containing 10.Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose above $86 per hundredweight ($1,720 per short ton) for the first time on Wednesday June 30, surpassing the previous all-time high that was reached just a day before.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $86.53 per hundredweight ($1,730.60 per short ton) on Wednesday, an increase of 0.64% from $85.98  per...Read More

Turkey imported 829,929 tonnes of flat steel in May 2021, up by 79.67% from 461,928 tonnes in the corresponding month of 2020, the Turkish Statistical Institute (T?oeIK) said on Wednesday June 30.Strong demand for flat steel in Turkey in February and March, when orders were placed for May delivery, was cited as the main reason for the sharp increase.Steel prices jumped in February a...Read More

Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained flat on Wednesday June 30, with mills continuing to struggle to obtain feedstock material, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?1,370-1,420 ($1,631-1,690) per tonne on June 30, unchanged week on week.Hot rolled coil, the feedstock for hollow sections,...Read More

Steel rebar prices in the north of Europe have remained firm at a high level over the past week, supported by strong demand, low stocks at buyers and limited imports, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 30.Producers in the region were reported to have no spare volumes for July, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern...Read More

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