Chile's state-owned copper producer Codelco has removed the threat of strike action by signing a final labor deal with the unions representing employees at its El Teniente division.The new terms of the labor agreement will be in place until the end of 2024, the company said on Tuesday August 31.Codelco had reached an agreement with the El Teniente and Caletones unions on August 28, but the deal no...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rose marginally day on day, while some market sources reported that coil prices were plateauing after a year of weekly gains.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $96.25 per hundredweight ($1,925 per short ton) on Wednesday September 1, up by 0.08% from $96.17 per cwt on Tuesday August 31 and by 0.99% from $95.31 p...Read More

Turkey exported 526,606 tonnes of flat steel products in July 2021, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), up by 3.02% year-on-year from 511,188 tonnes exported in July 2020.The main reason for the moderate increase was strong demand for flat steel in the country's local market, especially in March, when orders for material to be delivered in July were received.In addition, the Eur...Read More

The export slab price from Iran decreased in the week to Wednesday September 1 after a fresh booking was heard at a lower level.Khouzestan steel, one of the country's largest slab exporters, finalized a tender for 40,000 tonnes of material to be shipped in mid-September at $680 per tonne fob southern ports, sources told Fastmarkets.Read More

Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe remained steady on Wednesday September 1, and trading remained thin ahead of a possible downward trend, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,400-1,430 ($1,654-1,690) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.With market participants returning after the sum...Read More

The company extended a credit facility with senior project lender KfW IPEX-Bank to September 30 and is in discussions regarding a longer-term extension into 2023.Read More

Following a one-month consultation, Fastmarkets is updating the wording of its Metals & Mining assessment methodologies to provide greater clarity around how its prices are determined. The wording refinements do not materially alter the way Fastmarkets Metals & Mining assesses prices and as such are not anticipated to result in any noticeable changes in Fastmarkets' assessment price levels or beha...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally weaker on the morning of Wednesday September 1, in the face of further evidence of a slowdown in manufacturing activity.* Chicago’s manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 66.8 in August from 73.4 in July* China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI also showed contraction with a fall to 49.2...Read More

Brazilian iron ore export volumes increased by 11.68% year on year in August, according to figures released by the country's economy ministry on Wednesday September 1.Volumes exported came to 34.84 million tonnes last month, compared with 31.19 million tonnes a year earlier. Brazil-based mining company Vale has been...Read More

Lackluster finished steel demand has reportedly put a halt to Turkish deep-sea ferrous scrap purchases, with no deals heard from the United States East Coast to the region since August 20.But the recent emergence of a lower-priced Baltic Sea cargo sale to a mill in the Iskenderun region suggests that there is further downside due for US ferrous scrap export prices if they follow the ongoing global...Read More

Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade does not see any grounds for the extension of export duties for steel and non-ferrous metals into 2022, according to the deputy minister Viktor Evtukhov."I do not forecast any export duties for the next year. I do not see any grounds for that because prices started to decline and markets are cooling down, Evtukhov said on the sidelines of a panel discussion...Read More

Turkish steel producers remained out of the deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday September 1, booking no new cargoes, market participants said.No new cargoes were heard booked on the market, which was described as "quiet." Mills were said to be trying to bid at prices that were lower by as much as $10 per tonne from the previous transaction...Read More

Turkish steel producers made no new scrap bookings on Tuesday August 31, however a deal from the previous Friday came to light, which lowered prices, market participants said.The European-origin cargo was heard late on August 27, after the closing of the daily indices, and was followed by a public holiday in both Turkey and the United Kingdom on August 30.The cargo was booked by a steel mill in th...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 16 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the August ADP Non-farm Employment report at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase to 500,000 from 330,000 in July. Actual was an increase of 374,000.WTI crude oil added $0.16 to $68.66 per barrel after OPEC increased its foreca...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its daily indices for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, and steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey, which were published incorrectly on Tuesday August 31 due to a calculation error.Fastmarkets' calculation of the index for MB-STE-0416 steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was published on Tuesda...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were up in both the cfr and fob markets on Wednesday September 1, although sources at two major mills in China said they did not want to buy at such high prices.Domestic first-tier coking coal prices in China, meanwhile, increased in fourth-quarter long-term contracts and coke prices increased for the eighth round since the start of August, sources said. Fastmarket...Read More

Shanghai bonded aluminium stocks rose significantly in August after numerous cargoes were sent to China during the month amid expectations that China's arbitrage window will reopen soon.Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai bonded aluminium stocks at 105,000-106,000 tonnes on Tuesday August 31, a 63.6% increase from 64,000-65,000 tonnes on July 30 and more than 13 times higher than the year-ago stock leve...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices plunged on Wednesday September 1 amid more expectations for crude steel production curbs for the remainder of 2021, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $143.43 per tonne, down $10.24 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $144.23 per tonne, down $10.21 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $112.72 per tonne, do...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in China extended their losses on Wednesday September 1 due to persistent concerns over demand and waning cost support.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,650-5,670 yuan ($874-877) per tonne, down by 50-60 yuan per tonneSpot prices dropped along with the extended decline in futures prices. The most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell for a second consec...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices continued on a downward trend on Wednesday September 1, following a weaker performance in the futures market.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,190-5,230 yuan ($803-810) per tonne, down by 30 yuan per tonneThe drop in iron ore futures pushed down ferrous futures more widely during the day, an industry analyst said. The most-traded January iron ore futures contract on...Read More