Rebounds were under way in the base metals complex in London this morning, Friday June 18, while in Shanghai the base metals mostly reflected the weakness seen on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday.The more hawkish stance from the United States Federal Reserve on Wednesday lifted the dollar but has weighed on sentiment......as has China's decision to release state reserves of copper, aluminium...Read More

China has started cautioning state-owned enterprises (SOEs) regarding overdependence on imported commodities and overexposure in commodity-based financial derivatives, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.In the past few days, there had been rampant market chatter the country's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission (Sasac) asking SOEs to report their positions in commodit...Read More

Rebounds were under way in the base metals complex in London this morning, Friday June 18, while in Shanghai the base metals mostly reflected the weakness seen on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday.* The more hawkish stance from the United States Federal Reserve on Wednesday lifted the dollar but has weighed on sentiment...* ...as has China’s decision to release state reserves of copper, a...Read More

Indian steel mills kept their domestic hot rolled coil offers unchanged on Friday June 18, despite local traders continuing to undercut their prices by as much as 3,500 rupees ($47) per tonne, Fastmarkets understands.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel HRC, domestic ex-warehouse India has remained at 68,500-70,500 rupees ($925-952) per tonne since June 4.HRC was being sold by traders at 6...Read More

Market activity remained slow in Europe's hot-rolled coil market on Friday June 18, with buyers holding back from deals and awaiting a final decision in the European safeguard case, sources told Fastmarkets.On June 11, the European Commission released a draft proposal to member states, suggesting a three-year extension to the existing safeguard measures on 26 steel products imported into the Europ...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices decreased in the Turkish domestic and export markets during the week to Friday June 18, while cold-rolled coil prices were stable, sources told Fastmarkets."Demand in the domestic market, especially the manufacturing sector is still strong. But lower import prices and the lack of clarity over China's export taxes resulted in uncertainty," one market participant said.Cautious...Read More

Hot-dipped galvanized coil prices were stable in Turkey during the week to Friday June 18 due to uncertainty over export taxes from China, sources said.HDG export prices from China also narrowed during the week on low demand after the European Union began its anti-dumping investigation into Turkish HDG, sources said.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HDG...Read More

The EU member states have voted in favor of the proposed extension of the safeguard measures on imports of steel products, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 18.The vote was supported by 17 member states, the sources said.The European Commission had not released an official statement at the time of publication.On June 11, the Commission sent a draft proposal to the World Trade Organiza...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 30 points in pre-opening trade.Volume on U.S. equity, futures and options exchanges is expected to surge. Today is "quadruple witching day" when June equity and index options and futures expire. Adobe added $10.54 to $561.90 after reporting higher than consensus second quarter revenues and earnings. Target on the stoc...Read More

The United States' pig iron import prices softened during the week to Friday June 18, with buyers having predominantly restocked while material for near-term shipment remained available in the market. Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, was at $650-665 per tonne on Friday, down by 2.16% from $672 per tonne a week earlier."We have bought enough and do not nee...Read More

Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan have risen on active purchasing that tailed off toward the end of the week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday June 18.Fastmarkets' steel scrap shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, was $533.93 per tonne on June 18, up from $516.47 per tonne on June 11.Offers heard this week were in the range of $520-540 per tonne cfr, whi...Read More

The price range for inter-merchant light iron scrap in the United Kingdom hit an 11-year high on June 18 with suppliers increasing their offer prices in the domestic market due to relatively tight supplies and firm demand from major scrap processors, sources told Fastmarkets.Light iron scrap prices were up by ?5-10 ($ 6.98-13.95) per tonne in the week to June 18 as processors looked to secure fee...Read More

The market for pig iron exports from Brazil was quiet during the week to Friday June 18 on long lead times, sources said.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $620 per tonne on Friday, stable week on week.Suppliers from the south of Brazil were inactive in the market, but their price idea was indicated at $620-625 per...Read More

Turkish steel mills ended the working week in silence on Friday June 18, having not booked any deep-sea scrap cargoes since Tuesday.Just two cargoes were heard booked during this week, leading to a decline in the indices. The two United States cargoes were heard on Tuesday. A mill in the Marmara region bought the two US cargoes...Read More

Import prices in Vietnam rose during the week to Friday June 18 despite weak demand from end users, sources told Fastmarkets. Higher offers forJapanese bulk cargoes after the recent Kanto Tetsugen auction supported higherimport prices, sources said. A transaction for a bulk Japanese H2 was concludedat $500 per tonne cfr Vietnam in the week to June 18, against offersat $500-510 per t...Read More

Iron ore prices went down slightly on Friday June 18 on news of state monitoring of the commodities markets, new operational restrictions in Tangshan and market rumors about capacity reductions.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $218.90 per tonne, down by $1.92 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $220.24 per tonne, down by $1.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More

The October rebar futures contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose in the morning and dropped in the afternoon of Friday June 18 due to conflicting trends in the rebar market.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,970-5,000 yuan ($771-776) per tonne, up by 50-60 yuan per tonne.  Northern China (Beijing): 4,930-4,970 yuan per tonne, down by 140-150 yuan per tonne The National Developmen...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices inched up in the cfr market on Friday June 18 amid supply tightness for both domestic and imported cargoes, while the fob market surged on tight supply. Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) remained largely stable in the cfr market in the week to June 18 amid firm offer levels and limited buying activities from end-users for Russian PCI. The fob market in...Read More

A correction has been issued for this article. The...Read More

The United States Commerce Department has made a final determination to apply anti-dumping duty at 12.27% on silicon metal imports from Malaysia, a much-anticipated decision in a case that has helped to push the price of silicon in the US toward a 10-year high.The rate, announced on Thursday June 17, falls far short of the 50%-plus duty that domestic US producers recently told Fastmarkets they wer...Read More