Prices of aluminium scrap in the United States were largely unchanged week on week amid sluggish business activity heading into the long Labor Day holiday weekend.Trade sources reported relatively healthy supply flows of most grades, while demand continues to be hobbled by labor shortages and disruptions to automotive production due to a lingering silicon chip shortage. "Everything is status...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 3.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Chilean copper production in July was close to stability when compared with the corresponding month of 2020, amid increased output from Codelco and a drop reported by Escondida and Collahuasi, the country's copper commission, Cochilco, said on Thursday September 2.Chile produced 465,000 tonnes of copper in July, a slight decrease of 0.02% from 465,100 tonnes a year before but down by 2.58% from 47...Read More
Spot differentials for low-carbon aluminium value-added products (VAP) in Europe moved higher in August, but most market participants remain focused on 2022 deals.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product (VAP), Europe at $15-25 per tonne Friday September 3, up from $10-20 per tonne on August 6. Spot deals were reported at $20 per tonne for aluminium billet and...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate processing charges continued to rise in the week to Friday September 3.Copper smelters were buying a few spot parcels of concentrates, Fastmarkets heard, with transactions for October cargoes heard at $60s per tonne for standard clean concentrates.Miners have put more tonnages onto the spot market for sale. Some Escondida and Toromocho parcels were...Read More
Switzerland-based metals trader MRI Trading has hired Anant Mishra to head its office in South Africa, Fastmarkets heard on Friday September 3.Mishra will join MRI later this month from Vedanta Resources, where he has worked since 2004,...Read More
Deliverable stocks of base metals at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses diverged in the week to Friday September 3, with significant changes in nickel and copper stocks.Overall, nickel stocks reported an increase of 1,495 tonnes week on week, or 33.6%, to a total of 5,950 tonnes. Nickel reported the second-largest stock growth, behind only tin, the SHFE weekly report said.The largest...Read More
South American flat-rolled steel import prices decreased during the week ended Friday September 3, with material from countries other than China dominating the market and ahead of November-shipment negotiations.Hot- and cold-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to be offered to the continent's Atlantic coast, primarily to Brazil and Colombia. No deals were reported dur...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States climbed to an all-time high for a second straight day, with market participants unsure about when the rally will run out of steam.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $97.33 per hundredweight ($1,946.60 per short ton) on Friday September 3, up by 0.26% from $97.08 per cwt on Thursday September 2 and up by 0.28% fr...Read More
Some 53% of union members voted to accept the new contract which included a bonus of 4.5 million pesos (US$5,800) and productivity bonuses despite not including a pay rise.Read More
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