Brazilian slab export prices declined during the week ended Friday September 3 amid lower deals seen in the last days of August and lower international slab prices.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $870-900 per tonne on Friday, down by $20-50 from $900-920 per tonne the previous week. Companies were mostly analyzing the market before making new offers....Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States have increased at a time when a series of planned maintenance outages at domestic mills are drawing closer.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US climbed by 0.47% to $108 per hundredweight ($2,160 per short ton) on Thursday September 2 from $107.50 per cwt on August 26. The assessment has soared...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday September 3, but overall the picture is one of consolidation ahead of today's employment report from the United States.* China’s Caixin services PMI dropped to 46.7 in August, from 54.9 in July, switching from expansion to contraction* The US Dollar Index continues to retreatBase...Read More

Coated steel coil prices in Turkey continued to decline during the week to Friday September 3 on persistently slow demand and weaker hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets assessed steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey at $950-990 per tonne on Friday, narrowing downward by $10 from $950-1,000 per tonne last week.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for st...Read More

The European steel hot-rolled coil market was quiet and lacking in direction on Friday September 3, with buyers and mills split on the future trend of prices, Fastmarkets heard.Producers in Northern Europe and Italy said they were sold out until the end of 2021, with some even booked for the first quarter of 2022, so are in no rush to reduce prices. In addition, if the European Union and the Unit...Read More

The United States' steel import licenses dropped month on month but soared year on year in August, according to government figures.The US was licensed to import 2.30 million tonnes of steel in August, according to data from the US International Trade Administration's steel import monitoring system collected through Wednesday September 1. That was down by 17.86% from the preliminary US Census impor...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 4 points in pre-opening trade. Equity index futures moved lower following release of the August employment report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for August Non-farm Payrolls was 725,000 versus 943,000 in July. Actual was 235,000. Consensus for the August Unemployment Rate was 5.2% versus 5.4% in August. Actual was 5.2%. Con...Read More

Brazil's pig iron export market weakened during the week to Friday September 3 on sales to China and the United States.Fastmarkets' assessment of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $475-485 per tonne on Friday, down $15-20 from $495-500 per tonne a week earlier and extending the decline from the previous week.A sale of around 100,000 tonnes of pig iron was sold...Read More

The light iron scrap market in the United Kingdom widened in its price range during the week to Friday September 3, with the low end dropping ?5 ($7) per tonne. And quiet trading in European deep-sea export markets weighed on British prices, according to trade sources.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-185...Read More

Poor demand in key import markets in Turkey and Asia continued to pull steel scrap prices downward in the week ended Friday September 3. High freight costs and a lack of container ships also damped spot trading liquidity.Turkish mills book handful of cargoes for requirementsUS sees limited export transactionsChina demand weak amid more production cutsVietnam spot liquidity limited due to holidaysT...Read More

Prices for shredded steel scrap into Pakistan and India remained steady in the week to Friday September 3 after trading activity returned, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $524.96 per tonne on Friday, compared with $525.57 per tonne the previous week.At the start of the week, deals were heard at $51...Read More

Turkish steel producers returned to the deep-sea scrap market to book several cargoes on the last working day of the week, market participants said on Friday September 3.Market sources reported a deal for a Venezuela-origin cargo, which was booked on September 2 by a Turkish mill in the Iskenderun region, comprising 25,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $444 per tonne for Octobe...Read More

Premium hard coking coal fob prices jumped on the latest trade on Friday September 3, indicating a promising outlook for the fob market. And the low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) price in the cfr market soared due to tight supply from Russia, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $441.97 per tonne, down by $1.05 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices rebounded on Friday September 3 following an uptick in China's steel market, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.71 per tonne, up $2.69 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $145.30 per tonne, up $2.71 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $114.54 per tonne, up $2.52 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qi...Read More

Spot prices for hot-rolled coil in China's domestic market rose on Friday September 3 after supply concerns emerged following a series of mill announcements of maintenance plans for September, the traditional high season, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,760-5,800 yuan ($892-898) per tonne, up by 90-110 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,720-5...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices maintained the upward trend on Friday September 3, with demand picking up ahead of the weekend.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,270-5,300 yuan ($816-820) per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 5,140-5,170 yuan per tonne, up by 120-130 yuan per tonneBuyers raised procurement rates for consumption in the coming weekend, pushi...Read More

Base metals prices were mixed during the morning session on the London Metal Exchange on Friday September 3, with aluminium and lead trending downward after holding high levels earlier this week, and copper prices increasing.Three-month aluminium lost $14 from Thursday's closing price to $2,681 per tonne. It reached a year-to-date high of $2,734.50 per tonne on Thursday, but failed to hold those l...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday September 3, but overall the picture is one of consolidation ahead of today's employment report from the United States.China's Caixin services PMI dropped to 46.7 in August, from 54.9 in July, switching from expansion to contractionThe US Dollar Index continues to retreat Base metalsTh...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday September 3.ChinaSpot silico-manganese and ferro-manganese prices surged, with looming supply concerns after Guangxi province ordered production restrictions early in the week. The strong performance of silico-manganese futures increased bullish sentiment.Hebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) set its...Read More

An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Dalila Ouerghi and...Read More