Slab export prices from Brazil edged down as buyers continued struggling to get better-priced deals and competition among steelmakers to book orders to the United States was stiff. Metal Bulletin's weekly assessment of Brazil export slab was $570-585 per tonne fob on Friday June 29, down from $580-595 per tonne in the previous week. Offers from Brazilian mills were heard slightly below...Read More

Price trends for cold-rolled and coated flat-rolled steel in the United States are mixed on divergent market outlooks.While some industry sources think prices for value-added products will shoot higher with hot-rolled coil tags, others said gains could be less pronounced because there is more import competition on the cold-rolled and galvanized fronts than in the hot band arena.American Metal Mark...Read More

US hot-rolled coil prices resumed their upward march on a supply squeeze that could intensify as materially normally sourced from mills in Canada and Mexico leaves the domestic market, industry sources said.American Metal Market's hot-rolled coil index stands at $45.78 per hundredweight ($915.60 per ton), up 0.6% from $45.52 per cwt previously and up 4% from $44.03 per cwt at the beginning of the...Read More

Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories that have affected the steel market over the past week.Raw materials A cargo of premium hard coking coal fetched a significantly higher price on Thursday, though market participants have dismissed the transaction as one-off.China's coke prices have peaked, sources said this week, with downside concerns arising over the decline in export activity and th...Read More

Coated coil prices in Turkey increased in the week ended Friday June 29 but demand was moderate in the local market. Domestic prices One northern producer in Turkey increased its coated coil prices by $10-15 per tonne effective from Monday June 25. The producer is now offering 0.50mm hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) at $775 per tonne ex-works, up from $760 per tonne ex-works last week. Another nor...Read More

Domestic beam prices have risen in the United States after early June price hikes from Nucor and Gerdau, while import prices remain flat on a lack of market activity following the implementation of Section 232 tariffs against steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.Prices for domestic W8-x8-inch beams are now $43.50 per hundredweight fob mill ($870 per ton), up 3.6% from...Read More

Export prices for CIS-origin billet remain under pressure from slow trading conditions in the country's key markets of Turkey and the wider Middle East, sources told Metal Bulletin, although bids are steady for now.Metal Bulletin's CIS billet export index was $519 per tonne fob Black Sea on Friday June 29 compared with $518 per tonne fob Black Sea on the...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin noble alloys, bulk alloys and ores prices changed on Friday June 29:Noble alloys Molybdenum Europe drummed molybdic oxide, $/lb: $10.60-10.70 per lb from $10.80-10.90 Molybdenum US canned molybdic oxide, $/Ib $10.90-11.00 per Ib from $11.20-11.40 Ferro-molybdenum basis 65% min, in-warehouse Rotterdam, $/kg Mo: $26.40-26.50 per kg from $26.60-26.90 Ferro-molybdenum US 6...Read More

China's domestic spot battery-grade lithium hydroxide prices fell further on Thursday June 28 on a negative short-term outlook due to sporadic buying and while carbonate prices were unchanged this week, they were still under pressure with downstream buyers starting to receive lower offers. Lithium hydroxide prices continue to fall on negative sentiment.  Lithium carbonate prices still under d...Read More

Governments around the world are keen to prove their green credentials by announcing target dates for the end of sales of vehicles powered by internal combustion engine vehicles and their total replacement by electric ones.The actual demands of different governments vary. Norway, at the forefront of EV take-up, originally believed it could phase out its subsidies by 2015: now, the target has moved...Read More

The pig iron market in the United States has quieted again after several bookings were heard a week earlier.In the week ended Friday June 29 no new bookings were heard. Metal Bulletin's price for US pig iron imports was $410-415 per tonne cfr on Friday June 29, softening from $415-420 per tonne cfr a week ago after word came of bookings below offer levels....Read More

Pig iron exporters from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have resumed sales after market silence over four weeks, although activity was slow on moderate demand. "United States buyers purchased a lot last month, this is why they won't buy a lot in July," one supplier told Metal Bulletin. "Meanwhile, Italy is still not ready to pay the same as the US price," he added. Metal Bulletin's ex...Read More

Global prices moved down in the week ended Friday June 29, with Turkish scrap import prices falling following cargoes booked at lower prices, Indian prices dipping while demand falters and US scrap prices slipping. Taiwanese scrap prices remained flat but demand was also down.Turkey importsThe Turkish deep-sea scrap market began the week quiet following continued uncertainty after general election...Read More

Prices for containerized shredded scrap imports into India slipped this week following a halt in buying, market sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday June 29.Metal Bulletin's weekly index for containerized imports of shredded scrap into India slipped $0.61 per tonne to $381.38 cfr Nhava Sheva on June 29, from $381.99 per tonne cfr Nhava Sheva on June 22.There were no deals heard this week, but off...Read More

Turkish steel mills skipped Friday June 29, with no deep-sea scrap bookings leaving prices unchanged at the end of the week.Most mills have finished their bookings for July deliveries and are expected to resume scrap buying for August soon, sources said."Turkish mills ended their July bookings and probably...Read More

Russia will restrict scrap exports from its Far East region by banning shipments from main ports from late July to January 2019, according to an order from the government.From July 21, scrap exports will only be allowed through nine small ports in its Far East region. Shipments from Vladivostok, Nakhodka and Vanino, key ports for bulk cargo shipments from the region, will be forbidden. The order w...Read More

Join us tomorrow (Saturday) on Radio CKNW at 9:00 AM EDT Vancouver time (Noon Toronto Time) at https://globalnews.ca/radio/cknw/player/?gref=cknw&cmpid=subnav-radio#/ StockTwits Released Yesterday @EquityClockTech action by S&P stocks to 10:00: Bearish. Breakouts: $MKC $ACN. Breakdowns: $WBA $CAH $CI $MCK $VAR $FDX $KSU $TEL $TSS $EMN $URI $A $BLKMore S&P 500 stocks break intermed...Read More

The seaborne iron ore market remained rangebound on Friday June 29, with demand still concentrated on high-grade fines and lump. Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $65.02 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.58 per tonne Metal Bulletin 62% Fe Pilbara Blend fines: $63.95 per tonne cfr Qingdao, up $0.55 per tonneMetal Bulletin 58% Fe Premium Index: $51.50 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.52 per tonne...Read More

The persistent widening backwardation on the July/August spread has pushed aluminium premiums in Rotterdam to their lowest this year, with bearish sentiment sweeping the market.The benchmark Rotterdam duty-unpaid P1020 aluminium in-warehouse premium has fallen to $85-95 per tonne on Friday June 29 from $90-100 per tonne assessed on June 19, which held for 10 assessments. This is over 40% lower tha...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market remained quiet on Friday June 29 on subdued demand and sustained bearish sentiment. "Despite the lack of trades, premium materials should still be assessed at around $195-200 per tonne fob Australia. It would be challenging to get a premium cargo below this range," an Indian trader said. "There are too many uncertainties at the moment. The looming China-US trade war...Read More