Bulk freight rates for key steel products have receded over recent weeks amid shrinking port congestion in China and improved vessel availability, sources have told Fastmarkets.A slowdown in Chinese commodity imports, coming at a time of crashing steel prices in the country, has allowed congestion at the country's ports to unwind in recent weeks, markets participants said.Freight rates first dropp...Read More
Handan city, a major steelmaking hub in northern China's Hebei province, has issued production curbs on key sectors for the rest of 2021 to fight against air pollution during the smog-prone winter heating season. From Thursday November 18 until the end of the year, steel mills in the city are required to cut their blast furnace (BF) production by up to 100%, depending on the grades assigned to the...Read More
Eastern China's rebar prices increased slightly on Friday November 19 following futures' gains due to heightened market expectations that banks will loosen loans to housing companies.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,670-4,710 yuan ($732-738) per tonne, up by 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing) weekly assessment: 4,440-4,480 yuan per tonne, down by 80-120 yuan per tonneMarket participa...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 Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More
Although sentiment in the US carbon steel plate market has grown less decidedly bullish in recent weeks, the price has held steady at its all-time high - surpassing hot-rolled coil for the first time in more than a year.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US held at $90 per hundredweight ($1,800 per short ton) on Friday November 19, unchanged for two...Read More
The price of stainless steel in the European domestic market remained unchanged this week, but ongoing tightness could see prices move up before the end of the year, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday November 19.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 base price domestic, delivered Northern Europe was unchanged week on week at ?,?1,850-1,900 ($2,09...Read More
Brazilian aluminium maker Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) expects demand for extrusion billet, its most important primary product, to remain steady - at least - during 2022, after significant growth was reported in 2021, head of primary aluminium division Alexandre Vianna said on Friday November 19.A surge in the country's billet consumption came alongside heated construction market, which...Read More
Most base metals futures prices continued to rise in early trading on the London Metal Exchange on Friday November 19, following a strong performance at the close on Thursday."A weaker [United States] dollar and constructive US macro data provided some support [to base metal prices]," ED&F Man commodity research head Edward Meir said.The three-month aluminium price led the complex, increasing by 2...Read More
Mining and metals companies say they're serious about transitioning to a sustainable economy, but whether they can afford to is another matter.Achieving decarbonization throughout the supply chain is going to require a huge amount of investment in technology to reimagine production processes and redesign existing sites.Last week, the International Aluminium Institute estimated that to decarbonize...Read More
Weaker demand combined with lower offers from all origins, spearheaded by recent Chinese price falls, put further downward pressure on South American flat-rolled steel import prices in the week ended Friday November 19.Despite offers from China continuing to drop - in what was widely considered by market participants to be short-selling from traders - buyers remained hesitant about booking new car...Read More
Deliverable stocks of most base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses fell in the week to Friday November 19.Copper stocks fell by 3,119 tonnes week on week to 34,918 tonnes. Although in percentage terms the week-on-week drop was smaller than those of nickel and tin, copper inventories have fallen by 57.6% from 82,342 tonnes...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums were steady across the globe on Friday November 19, remaining close to all-time highs.EuropeEuropean billet premiums are unchanged this week at record highs but liquidity is low, with most buyers covered until the end of the year.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,450-1,500 per tonne on November 19, unch...Read More
The risks that the Chinese government will introduce export duties on steel products will increase if export volumes surge when prices stabilize again after the recent decline, market sources told Fastmarkets over the week to Friday November 19."A sharp rebound in export volumes will draw attention from the central authorities," a Shanghai-based trader said.Fears have emerged that the Chinese gove...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) indices edged down slightly in the week to Friday November 19. Spot activity was thin, with the market still focusing on 2022 contract negotiations; no number for benchmark charges has...Read More
Sellers of physical copper are holding out for a higher premium for 2022 contracts in the United States.No major deals were reported by the end of the American Copper Council (ACC) fall meeting in Miami, Florida this past week, although there was talk of a US copper premium in the 10-cents-per-lb range.In the US, Fastmarkets assessed the copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9 cents...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into Pakistan and India moved down after both markets weakened in the seven days to Friday November 19, sources told Fastmarkets.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan at $560.18 per tonne on Friday, compared with $564.21 per tonne a week earlier.Deals were heard at $563-565 per tonne this we...Read More
The price of secondary steel billet in the Indian domestic market fell by 1,500 rupees ($20) per tonne over the week ended Friday November 19, with demand for semi-finished materials slowing down in line with a sharp fall in demand and prices for finished steel products.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel billet, domestic, exw India, at 41,700-41,900 rupees ($562-565) per tonne on November 19...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday November 19.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Production of key battery raw materials cobalt and nickel will remain tight and will pose challenges to the electrification of transport, panelists said on Monday November 15 during Fastmarkets' International Ferro-alloys Conference in Prague."This year was really the first year that we saw a step change in nickel demand caused by demand from the electric vehicles (EV) sector and we saw nickel con...Read More
Base metal futures prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely up at the 5pm close on Thursday November 18, with tin reaching a new all-time high.The three-month tin price closed at $38,453 per tonne, a rise of 1.2% from $37,975 per tonne at the 5pm close on Wednesday. This marks a new all-time high for the soldering metals three-month price, with the previous record being $38,330 on October...Read More