Steelmaker ArcelorMittal is planning to restart blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium by the middle of February this year, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 2.The unit has been idled for maintenance since September 2020.BF B has capacity for 2.30 million tonnes per year of pig iron, according to market sources. The plant is equipped with two BFs with total capacity for...Read More

Demand for flat steel imports in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia was still weak in the week to Tuesday February 2 because buyers expect prices to decrease more and are holding back on placing orders, sources said. Most market participants said they believe prices will keep falling until after the Chinese New Year holiday (February 11-17), and prices from China after the break will...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesReporting monthly production figures, state copper agency Cochilco said Codelco increased its production 1.2% to 1.727Mt with gains at its Chuiquicamata, Salvador and Andina divisions. Collahuasi posted an 11.3% gain to 629,100t, while Antofagasta Minerals' El Tesoro increased output 15% to 93,300t.A number of copper operations experienc...Read More

Buyers of steel rebar and billet market in the United Arab Emirates expected prices to decrease this week, with trading activity being very low, although producers kept their prices unchanged, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 2.Importers of billet and rebar also preferred to wait, because import prices usually follow price changes in domestic rebar, sources added.Domestic rebarThe coun...Read More

Trident aims to fill valuable nicheSPONSOREDtrident royaltiesUnderground development was tracking 11.6km ahead of plan, the miner said.Read More

Export prices for billet originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued moving down on Tuesday February 2, with mills making concessions to win sales.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was calculated at $541 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $546 per tonne on Monday.This week, a 30,000-tonne cargo from Ukraine was sold to Qatar at $580 per...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe moved down day on day on Tuesday February 2, despite attempts by European mills to impose price rises, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?709.00 ($857.51) per tonne on Tuesday, down by ?,?4.33 per tonne from ?,?713.33 per tonne on February 1.The index...Read More

China's rebar market was inactive on Tuesday February 2 due to demand being low amid construction suspensions, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,280-4,300 yuan ($662-666) per tonne, narrowing downward by 10 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said the spot market has been inactive with most construction sites suspending work after many workers have gone back to hometow...Read More

China's hot-rolled prices continued to fall on Tuesday February 2 amid thin trading, with sources pointing to a weakening market for steelmaking raw materials as having a dampening effect on sentiment.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,400-4,430 yuan ($681-686) per tonne, down 30 yuan per tonneSpot prices weakened amid losses in the futures market, sources said.A Tianjin-based trader said market...Read More

Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, albeit with a downside bias, during morning trading on Tuesday February 2, while silver was consolidating below highs but above its recent trading range.Silver prices spiked up to around the $30-per-oz level on Monday, before ending the day around $28.50 per oz – the metal is now looking for directi...Read More

Turkish steelmakers continued to hold back from deep-sea scrap purchases amid falling prices, sources said on Tuesday February 2.The most recent deals were heard nearly a week ago, late on Wednesday January 27, when two US cargoes were booked.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a cargo from the United States, comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $416 per tonne, shredded at $421 per tonne and bon...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices tumbled on Tuesday February 2 amid poor steel demand which weighed further on market sentiment, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $149.80 per tonne, down $7.27 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $150.37 per tonne, down $7.40 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $139.28 per tonne, down $4.67 per t...Read More

Seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) prices in the fob and cfr markets diverged on Tuesday February 2 amid differing market sentiments in a quiet day for trading. Fastmarkets indices Premium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $156.79 per tonne, up $0.25 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.73 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.07 per tonne, unchanged Hard coking c...Read More

A scheme in India to retire and tax older vehicles will increase the supply of scrap to its domestic market, if its implementation goes ahead after years of false starts, market sources told Fastmarkets.On January 25, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, approved a proposal for a green tax on older vehicles and the scrapping of some vehicles, a government document sho...Read More

Salesforce.com (CRM), an S&P 100 stock moved above intermediate resistance at $233,18DexCom (DXCM), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved above $396.98 extending an intermediate uptrend.Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday February 2ndU.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 30 points in pre-opening trade. Pfizer added $0.07 to $35.87 after reporting higher than consensus...Read More

Exports of steel scrap from Japan soared by 22.7% year on year to 9.39 million tonnes in 2020, according to the East Asian country's customs department.The total is the highest recorded since 2010 - Japan exported 9.40 million tonnes of scrap in 2009.Japanese scrap exports were buoyed by growing demand in developing steelmaking nations such as Vietnam and Bangladesh last year, coupled with a sharp...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday February 2 that are worth another look.Steelmaker ArcelorMittal is planning to restart blast furnace (BF) B at its Ghent plant in Belgium by the middle of February this year, the company told Fastmarkets on February 2.Aluminium...Read More

Glencore International has won a public tender to supply South Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) with 1,500 tonnes of London Metal Exchange-registered brands of aluminium ingot.The tender was awarded at a premium of $122 per tonne, cif Incheon port, according to a notice published by the state agency on Tuesday February 2.The premium will be paid on top of the aluminium cash LME Daily Offic...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month tin price reached a new 2021 high and was the sole metal to make gains in morning trading on Tuesday February 2, while the rest of the base metals were constrained by a bullish US dollar index following "productive" Covid-19 stimulus plan discussions in the United States. Tin's forward price reached $23,330 per tonne shortly after 9am, a new year-to-date high...Read More

Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, albeit with a downside bias, during morning trading on Tuesday February 2, while silver was consolidating below highs but above its recent trading range.Silver prices spiked up to around the $30-per-oz level on Monday, before ending the day around $28.50 per oz - the metal is now looking for direction. S...Read More