The daily news bulletin for the informed wire & cable executive. Reaching a regular audience of 7733 readers in 101 countries. Wire & Cable Industry news Subscribe here for your automatic email   RESOURCES... - Exchange Rates - Info Links - Forex TV - Publication Policy - Email the Editor - Advertising November 20th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwan’s wire rod exports in October up by 12pct MoM Yieh reports that Taiwan exported 17,800 tonnes of wire rod in October 2009, up by 12% MoM while down by 12% YoY. For the wire rod which diameter is below 14mm, Taiwan achieved an average exported price of TWD 20,090 per tonne in October 2009, up by TWD 150 per tonne on September. As for the wire rod which diameter is over 14mm, Taiwan achieved an average exported price of TWD 20,180 per tonne, up by TWD 90 per tonne. The main reason why the average exported price enjoyed a pick up is because the exported price to Malaysia and Thailand increased. November 19th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Market eyes weak demand, with LME copper stocks up again Copper fell on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar recovered and investors saw a rise to 13-1/2 month highs in the previous session as overdone given continuing stockpile gains. Benchmark copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $6,795 (U.S.) a tonne at 1026 GMT, after surging 5.1 per cent to close at $6,855 on Monday, a level not seen since late September 2008. “Yesterday's jump was a little bit overdone, there are still wider economic concerns. We've seen builds in (copper) stocks since the middle of the year but it's had no impact on price,” said David Wilson, analyst at Societe Generale. “The market is picking and choosing what it decides to take notice of, it's entirely sentiment driven,” he added. The U.S. dollar inched off 15-month lows on Tuesday, making dollar-priced metals more expensive for non-U.S. investors. Also weighing on copper, equities, seen as a proxy for economic growth retreated from 13-month highs in Europe. But overall sentiment remained upbeat, with funds who have helped drive copper up more than 120 per cent this year still pinning their hopes on a revival in demand for raw materials next year. See Extended Story.. November 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - EU average stainless steel prices to continue downward slope according to Meps Meps forecasts little change from last month. Transaction values for all products are expected to continue on their downward path in the short term. Distributors are unlikely to rebuild their inventories during the remainder of 2009 due to poor sales and year end financial constraints. A reduction in both alloy surcharges and basis numbers is anticipated over this period. The rising threat from imports will, almost certainly, force local mills to cut prices as they fight to retain market share. EU steelmakers may also decrease production in a bid to rebalance supply and demand. See Extended Story.. October 30th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - MEPS sees EU average steel price down by 2 pct in October MEPS said that an ongoing lack of end user demand is creating negative price pressure in the EU market. Restocking by the distributors caused a brief, temporary upturn in mill sales during the third quarter. This has now come to an end. Moreover, market players are concerned that the current level of consumption is not high enough to justify restarting so much previously idled capacity. Basis values have already weakened in several countries and buyers are anticipating further discounts in period one 2010. It added that "Despite reports by politicians and the media to the contrary, German steel market players can see no real improvement in the economic situation. The mills were talking of higher prices for the final trimester but, in fact, some spot values are softening. Customers are not ordering large quantities of third country imports because they are not confident about market developments in the intervening three months it takes for delivery." See Extended Story.. October 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Geneva, Switzerland - A devastating fourth quarter in 2008 but signs of improvement WTO yesterday published the latest annual compilation of international trade statistics The 2009 edition of the WTO’s International Trade Statistics, gives a comprehensive overview of world trade up to 2008, was published in electronic format on 28 October 2009 and will be available in print in November. The reports notes that: Up until the third quarter of 2008, exports of all product categories continued to experience the high growth that started back in 2003. In the fourth quarter of 2008, however, practically all product categories registered abrupt declines, which worsened in the early months of 2009. World exports of non-ferrous metals, automotive products and integrated circuits were hardest hit. However, initial data indicate a bottoming-out of the crisis in the second quarter of 2009. Despite the sudden and sharp downturn in the fourth quarter of 2008, the year still ended with an annual average growth of 33 per cent for exports of fuels and mining products (compared with 15.1 per cent in 2007), growth of 18.9 per cent for agriculture (19.8 per cent in 2007), and a relatively low growth rate (9.9 per cent) for manufactures (15.3 per cent in 2007). Severe price adjustments have taken place during the recession Primary commodities Overall, exports of primary commodities went up by 28.8 per cent in value terms in 2008, far exceeding the 2007 increase (16.5 per cent). This gain came as a result of record increases in the prices of fuels and food in the fi rst three quarters of 2008 – products which jointly accounted for 82 per cent of world trade in primary commodities. During the fourth quarter of 2008, the economic slowdown led to a decline in the export value of primary commodities. This decline increased in the first quarter of 2009. To read the report use use this link October 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - No relief in sight for European and North American Steel makers Steelmakers have been swimming in red ink for the past year and there is little indication that many of the producers in the developed world will be back in the black soon, analysts say. The world's largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal is expected to post a fourth consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday, days after U.S. Steel posted a third straight quarterly loss and Japan's JFE Holdings said the market was too fragile to update its own earnings outlook. In contrast, steelmakers in India and China are booming as industrial activity in the developing world has surged back after the economic downturn last year dried up demand. In Europe, North America and the developed economies of Japan and Korea, steelmakers are only slowly increasing production that some of them cut by more than half a year ago. Although they are finally selling some steel again, it is mostly to replenish stockpiles of service centers -- middlemen who process the metal for specific customer needs. Dan DiMicco, chief executive of Nucor Corp, which posted a third consecutive quarterly loss last week, was blunt. "There has been no meaningful real improvement in end-use demand." Eurofer President Wolfgang Eder also struck a downbeat note, with fears China could damage the delicate stabilization in the market by ramping up exports as domestic demand slows. Eurofer's report said weak activity in Europe's steel sector had brought a slump in demand as consumption fell 45 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 and by almost 32 percent in the third quarter. "Overall it is on very, very thin ice. We fear that there will be huge exports out of China in the first half of the year," Eder said. October 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Boston Massachusetts - Copper to continue to dominate the structured cabling systems market For some time, it has been expected that fiber cabling would displace or at least make inroads on copper for the structured cabling systems market. It has been anticipated that fiber cabling’s superior performance (bandwidth) would be needed in place of copper cabling’s limited performance. Every time, the market has increased its requirements, from 1 Mbps, to 10 Mbps, to 100 Mbps, to 1 Gbps and now to 10 Gbps, it was expected that fiber cabling would be needed. But every time, copper cabling has increased its performance to satisfy the higher bandwidth requirements. At the same time, fiber cabling has not only increased its performance levels, but has also decreased its price, with new technology innovations, such as less costly VCSELs. At one time, fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD) was the holy grail of fiber cabling. This also has been a false start, as FTTD has evolved to a niche application not required in most of the enterprises’ networks. The question is what happens next? Copper cabling, presumably, has reached its limit, at support of 10 Gbps over 100 meters. At the same time, fiber cabling has continued to increase its performance, with OM 3 fibers supporting 10 Gbps for 300 meters and with newer technology OM 4 fibers promising even higher performance for support of future 40 and 100 Gbps over extended distances. See Extended Story.. October 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Prices rise, inventory decreases in China’s longs market Given the strong rise observed in the steel futures market, China's domestic long product prices began to rebound in the past week. Meanwhile, end-side buyers accelerated their purchasing activities, leading to an obvious increase in the overall trading volume, with market inventory registering a remarkable decrease at the same time.Following the price ascension in eastern China, a certain release was observed in market demand during the past week, contributing to the relatively active trading performance on the whole. Coming up to the end of the week, the long products market gradually became stable, while a weakening was seen in levels of commercial activity as many players adopted a wait-and-see stance. As regards inventory levels, rebar inventory in the Shanghai market totaled 277,600 mt, down 16,570 mt week on week, while wire rod inventory amounted to 98,870 mt, a decline of 7,040 mt compared with the previous week. See Extended Story.. October 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - World steel output nearly back to pre crisis levels World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 107 million metric tons (mmt) in September. This is -0.6% lower than September 2008. World total crude steel production month-on-month has continued to show a steady increase since April 2009. China’s crude steel production for September 2009 was 50.7 mmt, 28.7% higher than September 2008. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.3 mmt of crude steel in September 2009, down by -18% compared to the same month last year. South Korea showed a decline of -2.4% from September 2008, producing 4.4 mmt of crude steel in September 2009. See Extended Story.. October 26th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - September.stainless steel production from China's major steel mills totaled 522,670 tons. Stainless steel production from major steel mills national wide totaled 522,670 tons in September. The major steel mills national wide include TISCO, Tianjin Stainless Tube, Baosteel, Baoxin Steel, POSCO in Zhang Jiagang, Lianzhong Stainless Steel in Guangzhou, JISCO, SKS, Taishan Steel. The production from domestic steel mills with large steelmaking capacity stood at 515,670 tons, of which 400 series accounted for 198,210 tons, 300 series 242,580 tons and 74,880 tons for 200 series. October 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japanese September copper cable shipments down 17% y/y Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell by over 17 percent in September from a year earlier, extending a year-on-year decline into the 12th straight month due to a lack of strong demand from the construction sector. The country's demand for copper, used in areas such as electronics and automobiles, tumbled from late last year due to the economic downturn. Shipments amounted to an estimated 57,800 tonnes last month, down 17.4 percent from a year earlier, although they were up 14 percent from August, data from the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association showed on Friday. See Extended Story.. October 24th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - 24 Base metals surge, copper gains 3% at $6660.25 on demand from speculators. LME inventory rise as industrial demand slow Copper price surged this past week reaching a 13- month high Tuesday earning gains of more than 3% from its previous session, as weakening trend on the green back and major economic news from Australia, provided substantial support on major traded base metals. The copper reached a high of $6665 highest since September 25th 2008 and settled at $6660.25 an increase of more than $250 from its previous session. The steps taken by BHP Billiton to declare ‘Force Majeure’ on Australia’s Olympic Dam which was crippled by a runaway skip that took out its Clark Shaft operation, the largest in the country. Copper supply may be reduced as the operations came to a complete halt affecting the supply to about 70,000 tons. The prices rose also due to weakening US currency, as the greenback fell again at a month-low. Also providing support were the stockpiles at LME warehouses showing an increase of 360,000 tons as on OCT.21, higher by 50% since mid-July. Zinc touched $2,184 a tonne on the LME, its highest level since late May last year. See Extended Story.. October 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Turkish wire rod exports in September up by 109 percent YoY According to the statistics released by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters Association, in September Turkey's total wire rod exports amounted to 124,500 tonnes increasing by 109.16% YoY and up 20.35% over August 2009. Meanwhile, the revenue generated by these exports totaled USD 60.57 million down 11.34% compared to the same month of the previous year and up 27.93% MoM. In September, the average export price of Turkish wire rod amounted to USD 486.46 per tonne up USD 28.8 per tonne or 6.3% from August levels but indicating a decrease of USD 661 per tonne or 57.61% from USD 1,148 per tonne in September 2008. On the other hand in the January and September period of the current year, Turkey's wire rod exports surged 13.94% YoY to 792,200 tonne totaling a value of USD 362.68 million down 41.86% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. October 14th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - The World Steel Association forecasts improved short range outlook. The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is forecasting that apparent steel use will contract worldwide by -8.6% to 1,104 mmt in 2009 after declining by -1.4% in 2008. This is an improved figure over the spring forecast issued in April 2009 which predicted a decrease of -14.1%. The improvement is largely due to the exceptionally strong growth in steel demand in China. With signs, from the beginning of the second half of 2009, of a recovery across the world now apparent, global steel demand in 2010 is forecast to grow by 9.2% to 1,206 mmt which is a recovery to the level of 2008. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwan's wire rod market remained sluggish last week. There were only very few deals and the price continuously slid. Even though Quintain Steel Co., Ltd. and Yieh Hsing Enterprise kept the same price level in October, the wire rod market was nevertheless sluggish last week due to rather weak demand. If scrap and rebar prices are keeping on downward, it will be harmful to the future wire rod market. In addition, China's wire rod price will also have an impact on the whole market after the National Holiday. Although the domestic material is very limited, Taiwanese wire rod market is not optimistic this week due to lower demand. October 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London, New York - Markets - Stockpiles Shrink, Dollar Sinks, Copper Soars Copper shoots higher with the help of a weak greenback and a decline in available inventories. Copper for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division ended up 4.55 cents (U.S.), or 1.7 per cent, at $2.7270 a pound, after dealing in a session range from $2.6530 to $2.7370. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper for three-months delivery rose $41 to finish at $5,920 a tonne. In after-hours trade, the metal used in power and construction crossed the psychological $6,000 level after U.S. stocks added to their session gains, sending the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 1 per cent. The price of copper, used in power and construction, has surged more than 90 per cent since the start of the year, driven by Chinese restocking, speculative interest and improved macroeconomic data signalling a recovery from recession. September 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese domestic rebar prices have more room for adjustment Although Chinese steel market usually starts its busy season in September Chinese steel manufacturers faced opposite market conditions his time, wherein the prices continued to decline primarily due to the high inventories. Large steel enterprises in China recently lowered their EXworks price for rebars. For example, Hebei Iron & Steel Group reduced the rebar price by 10%. Specifically, rebars in 16mm to 25mm are now priced at CNY 3550 per tonne. At the same time, the wire rod price fell by CNY 350 per tonne and price of high speed wire rod 6.5mm is now quoted at CNY 3400 per tonne. But, these are not the lowest levels in 2009 as rebar price in Shanghai dropped to about CNY 3150 per tonne in the first week of April Thus hypothetically there is room for further reduction by about CNY 400 per tonne or say USD 60 per tonne. See Extended Story.. September 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - International rebar and wire rod demand is weak and prices remains low in all markets International debar markets are sluggish and prices remain low. However, the price of scrap and other input raw material is still strong, squeezing margins significantly. Turkey's steelmills have had to reduce both production and prices, in the past two weeks. Mills say export prices have been maintained at US$500-510 per ton (CFR), but the deals are few, there are few shipments to Dubai, Latin America and Africa. Recently, Turkey tried to raise the offer and the latest quotation of debar for October shipment to Persian Gulf was US$520 per ton (CFR), but quotes were rejected. The main reason is that local debar inventory is still higher, and it is expected that the dealers' stockpiles will take three or four weeks to clear off, after that, they will return to market to supplementary the stock. See Extended Story.. September 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Steel imports decline in August preliminary figures show The American Iron and Steel institute reported that US total steel imports were 855000 tonnes. This includes 786,000 tonnes of finished steel (down 14% and 12% respectively versus July data). These are the lowest monthly import figures in 2009 and down 51% and 44% respectively versus August 2008 For full report use this link September 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Speculators and weak dollar continue to drive copper upwards despite rising inventories and slow industrial demand The dollar's return to one-year lows saw copper futures rallying as much as 3 percent on Tuesday, before worries over high inventories of the base metal led the market to settle off the session's highs. Copper for December delivery HGZ9 ended up 2 percent, or 5.90 cents, at $2.8645 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. The intraday peak was $2.8920, up 3 percent from Monday's close. Copper for three month delivery MCU3 on the London Metal Exchange ended at $6,270 a tonne from $6,190 at the close on Monday. In the previous session, the metal, used in power and construction, hit a 2-1/2 week low at $6,050. See Extended Story.. September 21st, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Steel wire rod prices move sideways Steel wire rod prices has firmed up of late in North America but demand for low carbon grades is described as "lackluster" at best and buyers are far from interested in boosting sales prices much above the $531 price average in August. In fact, some buyers say the market price were closer to $525 this past week. "It's out there, but it's wavering a little bit," a rod buyer told the Steel Business Briefing online newsletter in regards to the pricing moves. Apparently, the shutdown of rod mills in New Jersey and South Carolina has triggered the attempted price hike by Gerdau Ameristeel, Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel and Charter Steel, among others. However, the market is weak and imports are increasing: After averaging 45,000 tons/month of low-carbon and high-carbon rod in the first seven months of this year, they came in around 75,000 tons in August, based on import license applications. Steel Business Briefing suggests that "a similar level is expected this month and falling home market prices in China could prompt an even bigger increase of imports later in this year. See Extended Story.. September 18th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan’s August copper cable shipments down 17.7 percent yr/yr Japanese copper wire and cable shipments totalled an estimated 50,100 tonnes in August, down 17.7 percent from a year earlier, an industry body said on Thursday. That was also down from 58,032 tonnes in July, data provided by the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association showed. Japan's demand for copper, used in a variety of areas including construction and automobiles, tumbled from late last year due to the economic downturn. Demand is improving but consumption has remained slumped below year-earlier levels, underscoring that the recovery is not yet solid. See Extended Story.. September 18th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - U.S. brass mill imports, exports decline in July U.S. imports and exports of brass mill products declined in July from the same month in 2008, with imports down 40.2 percent and exports off 25.9 percent, an industry group reported late Tuesday. Imports of all brass mill products dropped slipped to 36,068,643 lbs, compared with 60,315,647 lbs in July 2008, the Copper and Brass Fabricators Council said in its monthly report. Exports slowed to 18,596,288 lbs in July from 25,092,634 lbs in the corresponding 2008 period, it added. See Extended Story.. September 17th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper rebounds on weak dollar, but demand woes likely to cap gains A struggling U.S. dollar helped copper rebound on Tuesday, after touching two-week lows in the previous session, although recurring concerns about slack demand capped gains. The euro hovered near 2009 highs against the greenback, supported by talk Asian central banks were bidding the single currency and moving away from U.S. dollars. This and better than expected data released by the US census bureau Tuessday supported and pushed copper to new heights Wednesday. See Extended Story.. September 9th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel wire rod and rebar feel downward pressure Chinese rebar and wire rod export price dropped once again this week as domestic prices fall further. Major domestic mills are offering rebar at USD 550 per tonne to USD 560 per tonne FOB but there is said to be offers as low as USD 530 per tonne to USD 540 per tonne fob mainly offered by traders. The prevailing offers for wire rod is USD 520 per tonne to USD 550 per tonne. See Extended Story.. September 8th, 2009  - Market Stats Singapore - Asian aluminium premiums up, Copper also ticks up; buying sporadic Base metals premiums rose slightly in Asia this week on general expectations of a pick up in demand and worries about supply, especially of aluminium later this year.Although aluminium stocks stand at a record above 4.6 million tonnes, at least one Japanese buyer has agreed to pay a premium of $115 per tonne for some of the primary aluminium ingots it will buy in the fourth quarter the highest premium in 14 years and 50 percent up on the third quarter. At the same time Japanese port stocks have fallen to their lowest since records began in 1995, the same year that premiums last rose above $100, according to Reuters. See Extended Story.. September 8th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - China Steel raises prices for third time this year Taipei Times reports that growing demand has led steelmakers to restart plants they had idled during the recession and analysts expect demand to keep increasing next year China Steel Corp, Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, will raise domestic prices for the third time this year as demand increases. Prices will rise by an average of 8.61 percent in October and November, the Kaohsiung-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The company had earlier raised domestic prices for orders in July, last month and this month. Recovering demand from manufacturers and builders is prompting steelmakers to raise prices and restart mills idled during the global recession. Steel prices in the US rose 10 percent last month. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, China’s largest steelmaker, said last month it’s running at full capacity. See Extended Story.. September 5th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Yieh Hsing to raise 304 stainless steel wire rod price Taiwan's Yieh Hsing Enterprise has decided to lift TWD 2,000 per tonne for 304 stainless steel wire rod price for September. It increased its price by TWD 10,000 per tonne in the second half of August. Meanwhile, Walsin Lihwa also raises TWD 12,000 per tonne for domestic price. The reasons of increase are average nickel price of August remained high and other alloy materials consecutively go up. Besides, the additive alloy price of 316 wire rod, especially for copper, soars as well, hence, they have to increase the price of 316 wire rod and will lift further afterwards. September 5th, 2009  - Market Stats Kiev Ukraine - UGMK steel product import to Ukraine decline According to Mr Ruslan Mazhinsky marketing director of UGMK, quantity of steel products imported to Ukraine during 7 months of 2009 decreased by 65% in comparison with the same period of 2008 and made 383,600 tonnes. It is noticed in the report that the most significant decrease was noticed for flat rolled products for hot rolled down by 88.8%, for cold rolled down by 71% as well as for long products angle down by 83.4%, channel down by 82.7%, beam down by 71.8%. Decrease for steel bar products was not so dramatic rebar and wire down by 23% round bar down by 26.5%. Mr Ruslan Mazhinsky said the reasons for steel imports decrease merely in 3 times is deprivation of financial and economic situation in the country as well as instability of local currency. UGMK said in 2009 the main imports is tube industry which expanded its share from 27.3% to 40.5% while steel trading companies narrowed from 34.4% to 24.1%. September 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Manufacturers’ shipments inventories and orders. New orders for manufactured goods in July, up five of the last six months, increased $4.6 billion or 1.3 percent to $355.5 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported yesterday. This followed a 0.9 percent June increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.7 percent. Shipments, down eleven of the last twelve months, decreased $0.2 billion to $359.7 billion. This followed a 1.8 percent June increase. Unfilled orders, down ten consecutive months, decreased $0.1 billion to $740.6 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992. This followed a 0.8 percent June decrease. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 5.95, down from 6.00 in June. Inventories, down eleven consecutive months, decreased $3.6 billion or 0.7 percent to $503.1 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since March 2003-January 2004 and followed a 1.1 percent June decrease. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.40, down from 1.41 in June. See Extended Story.. September 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Steel inventory in China climbing after 4 month decline Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently announced that China's steel inventory started rebound after MoM decline for four straight months. By the end of July, the inventory of five main steel varieties in 26 major cities has risen 5.4% or 480,000 tonnes from the previous month to 9.44 million tonnes with wire rod posted the biggest growth. The data reveals that one reason behind the dramatic steel price stumble is the hiking inventory. Steel price slumped since mid August stamping the blooming bubble from previous price and output rockets. Mr Zhu Hongren spokesperson of MIIT said demand and supply relationship should be responsible for the dramatic fluctuation of steel prices, among many factors including anticipation and inventory adjustment. September 2nd, 2009  - Market Stats Hanoi Viet Nam - Steel prices in Vietnam market on the rise The Vietnam Steel Corp. released the new price list, for all kinds of steel In general prices are adjusted up by VND 300,000 per ton from VND 100,000 per ton. Among them, the wire rod price is lifted by VND 300,000 per ton, to VND 11.47mln-11.62mln per ton; the debar price is hiked by VND 100,000-300,000 per ton, hitting VND 11.72mln-11.97mln per ton. It is the second time that the company increased the selling prices of steel products in August. So far, the steel price has climbed by VND 450,000 per ton than the end of July. The reason why the steel price picked up is that the square billet price jumped to US$510 per ton from US$480 per ton. August 28th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Dollar forces pressure on Base Metals Base metals ended on a mixed note on the LME Wednesday as a strong dollar exerted pressure on prices. Also, positive US economic data failed to provide inspiration. The overall rally in prices has been too fast and prices are also reacting Lead prices managed to trade above the $2,000 mark yesterday, gaining 1% on the LME. The metal retreated from its highest in almost 13 months as profit-booking throughout the complex reflected the trend in the broader markets. On the macroeconomic front, US durable goods orders gained 4.9% in July, marking its biggest rise in two years but durable orders excluding transportation only rose 0.8 percent. US new home sales rose for the fourth straight month in July, this time by 9.6 percent, the sharpest increase since February 2005, to a ten-month high of 433,000. The Dollar Index gained yesterday and touched a high of 78.83 as strong US data failed to boost risk appetite in the financial markets, which currently looks exhausted. See Extended Story.. August 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Rio de Janerio Brazil - Brazil’s Gerdau steel operating at less than 80% Brazilian long steel giant Gerdau (GGB) is working at less than 80% of installed capacity, Chairman Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter told the local Estado news agency Wednesday. The economic slowdown has crimped global and domestic demand for steel products, and Brazil's steel industry reflected the impact, Johannpeter said. Gerdau CEO Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said earlier this month that the company was operating at between 60% and 70% of capacity. With signals that demand is increasing, the CEO said that capacity utilization should climb in the second half of 2009. See Extended Story.. August 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel market runs out of steam As of August 21st 2009, the average price in the major markets in China, for 25mm rebar was CNY 3943 per tonne, down CNY 296 per tonne since last Friday. The average price of high speed 6,5 mm wire rod was CNY 3882 per tonne, down CNY 304 per tonne. This in accordance with information provided by the Chinese steel spot trading platform, Xiben New Line, The reduction in prices during the last 15 days has already wiped out more than half of the price increase since late March. The fall is attributed to several factors including increased inventory and less demand. According to some traders, the demand is low and that the end users demand for steel will be low. See Extended Story.. August 26th, 2009  - Market Stats Dublin Ireland - Research and Markets publish Italy Metals Report Q3 2009 The Italian metallurgical industry is facing a deep crisis that showed no signs of ending in H109, due to a collapse in the credit market and its impact on the key automotive and construction markets. The Italy Metals Report forecasts steel output falling by more than a third in 2009. In the first five months of 2009, Italy's crude steel output fell 43% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 8.09mn tonnes. Monthly output averaged around 1.62mn tonnes. There was very little sign of recovery in demand with any increases related to buyers restocking inventories. See Extended Story.. August 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Moscow Russia - CIS mills lift up rebar, wire rod price It's reported that due to strong demand from East Asia, CIS's export price of rebar and wire rod for September delivery went up this week by around US$50/ton separately, to the level of US$460/ton. However currently, CIS's prices, though increased, still US$20/ton lower than Turkey's offer which stays at US$480/ton, which is more attractive to buyers from North Africa and Lebanon. August 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japanese copper cable shipments' decline slows in July Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell 20.5 percent in July from a year earlier, but the pace of a decline slowed for a second straight month as demand improved in some sectors, industry data showed on Monday. July shipments were an estimated 58,200 tonnes, after falling 25.2 percent from a year earlier in June and 31.3 percent in May, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association data showed. From the previous month, shipments rose 9 percent from 53,452 tonnes in June, the second month in a row of gains. Copper demand has been showing signs of improvement since shipments hit a 34-year low in May, helped by buying from the semiconductor and automobile sectors, raising hopes that the worst of the slump may be over. But the latest data also showed shipments to the construction sector, which accounts for about 40 percent of the total, fell 22.1 percent in July from a year earlier. That was faster than a 18.5 percent year-on-year decline in June, reflecting a prolonged slump in corporate spending and housing starts. See Extended Story.. August 25th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Steel outlook better than earlier estimates Preliminary analysis by MEPS (International) Limited suggests that the crude steel out turn for 2009 could reach 1190 million tonnes if the July improvement continues. This equates to a year on year reduction of approximately 10%, a figure substantially above the popular forecast of a decline of 14% to 15% by most pundits. The MEPS previous forecast in World Steel Outlook - Quarter two was 1165 million tonnes, down by 12%. The July outturn was boosted by strong levels of output in China may not be sustainable over the full year. However, inventory rebuilding has commenced in most of the industrialized nations of the world. The global economic outlook is improving with several countries moving out of recession. August 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Shanghai copper chasing LME gains Shanghai copper rose by its 5 percent daily limit Monday, chasing sharp gains in London which traded around its strongest in more than a week, fanned by comments by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on economic recovery. London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months rose more than six percent since Shanghai closed on Friday, lifted by Bernanke, who gave his clearest signal yet that a recovery is at hand and the biggest rise in sales of previously owned U.S. homes in July in nearly two years added to the bullish feeling. Dealers and end users seems to agree there is no correlation between demand and supply, and from the volatility it's fairly obvious the market is being played by speculators. See Extended Story.. August 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Moscow Russia - Copper exports from Russia up in H1 According to the statistics from Russian customs, Russia exported refined copper of 212,500 tons in the first half of this year, reaching US$ 783.2 million in volume and enjoying a pick-up of 160 percent. Russia exported copper to CIS of 600 tons with a volume of US$ 2.2 million while to other countries 211,900 tons with a volume of US$781 million. During the same period, Russia’s nickel exports totaled 106,200 tons, down by 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Russia exported nickel of 200 tons to CIS with a volume of US$2.2 million while to other countries 106,000 tons with a volume of US$1,185 million. August 15th, 2009  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Tycons to raise wire rod prices. Tycons has announced to hike its wire rod price by NT$1,000/ton on August 12. The company’s wire rod Al-killed wire rod price is around NT$25,000/ton. Tycons’s new price is higher comparing to China Steel Corp's wire rod price (NT$23,000/ton), said a market participant. Tycons’s manager said that they have confident due to shortage of raw material. August 15th, 2009  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - We are encountering a roller-coaster of opinions on copper market Aurubis says. The views that applied in spring are not valid now. If we had economic shock scenarios clouding the picture then, we now mainly have restrained optimism. The growth forecasts for the German economy have just been raised. The leading indicators are rising, more orders are being received, industry increases production and the German export economy is slowly stabilising. But this is all happening from a very low basis and the recovery must still prove to be sustainable. Nevertheless, a great deal seems meanwhile to speak in favour of a V scenario for the economic trend. What is occurring in Germany economically can also be observed more or less intensively in other industrial nations – it generates hope. And the copper market? Analysts painted just as black a picture of it as for the economic situation. Based on the key factors of a continuing economic crisis, massively falling copper demand, sharply rising exchange inventories and a significant surplus in the global copper balance, a year of low copper prices was expected after they plummeted to US$ 2,770/t on 24 December 2008. However, the LME cash price averaged at US$ 4,229 over the first seven months of 2009 and copper was traded at US$ 6,100/t in the last few days. Copper has therefore shown strength in recovery that far exceeds the other exchange metals. The underlying market conditions are also better. Overall demand on the copper market has shown a friendlier trend than expected in a short period. While China was a driver right from the beginning, the first signs of momentum are now coming from Western Europe. For full August newsletter use this link. August 10th, 2009  - Market Stats Hanoi Vietnam - Steel prices in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam rose VND 150,000 per ton According to reports from steel agents, and steel traders in Ho Chi Minh City Steel prices continued to rise up by VND 150,000 from August 3rd . The retail price of steel products following to hike, currently, the wire rod price is VND 12.65 million per ton, the debar price for VND 12.95million per ton. It is learned that in this round of adjustment, the steel mills only increased wire rod price, but the market price of debar has also picked up. August 10th, 2009  - Market Stats Berlin Germany - German industry orders gain on foreign demand surge German manufacturing orders rose at their fastest pace in two years in June on strong foreign demand, particularly for capital goods, in a sign the industrial sector in Europe's largest economy is staging a recovery. Adjusted for seasonal swings, orders rose by 4.5 percent on the month, the biggest gain since June 2007 and the fourth consecutive monthly rise, the Economy Ministry said on Thursday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.8 percent rise. "This is a further sign of stabilization. But we are still a long way off a self-supporting recovery," said Deutsche Bank analyst Stefan Bielmeier. "Domestic demand is also very weak and should remain so given the expected increase in unemployment. "What is pleasing is that demand for capital goods has increased. It is questionable how sustainable that is," he said. See Extended Story.. August 8th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese construction steel price sets single day record leap As we reported August 6 Shagang, one of the largest rebar producers in China raised construction steel prices notably at the month start for August delivery helping boost up spot prices by over CNY 300 per tonne recently the highest daily rise this year. As China’s biggest private steel mill, Shagang raised prices by CNY 500 per tonne for common wire rod, CNY 600 per tonne for rebar and CNY 700 per tonne for hot and cold rolled products for August 01st to 10th on the basis of late July price tags beating market forecasts. According to official Xinhua News Agency, construction steel price shot up in the past week especially in Beijing and Xi’an where prices roared almost CNY 100 per tonne per day in the past five days. See Extended Story.. August 6th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Steel wire rod imports seems to have bottomed out in May The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary June steel imports were $0.9 billion (0.8 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary May totals of $1.1 billion (0.9 million metric tons). The June change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected a decrease primarily in oil country goods; galvanized hot dipped sheets, and strip; hot rolled sheets; and plates in coils. An increase occurred primarily in blooms, billets, and slabs. Monthly decreases occurred primarily with China and Korea. The year to date final statistics through May 2009 showed steel imports of 7.0 million metric tons compared to 12.0 million metric tons through May 2008. The largest commodity decrease was in blooms, billets, and slabs. The largest country decrease was with Canada presumably a result of US Steel Idling the Stelco Lake Eire plant. Wire rod Imports in June 2009 totaled 34,185 tonne down from 108,943 tonne in June 2008 but up from 25,999 in May 2009 Imports of OCG pipe in June was 25,999 tonne down sharply from 240,171 in June 2008 and down from 136,266 tonne in May of 2009. June Drawn wire imports was 33,823 tonne down from sharply 61,673 tonne imported in June 2008 but up slightly from 32,167 tonne in May 2009. For full press release use this link July 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Dubai U.A.E. - Stability in steel prices to continue in the short term Steel prices in the Middle East continues to remain stable amid minor fluctuations with rebar priced between $460 (Dh1,689) and $480 per tonne. Flat products on the other hand has been on a sharp upward trend with prices increasing by $100 during the past four weeks. Rebar in the UAE was priced at $470 per tonne last Thursday and analysts told Emirates Business that the prices would continue to remain on the same level during the next few weeks. Karel Costenoble, Manager at Mesteel, told said: "Prices of rebar, which is the most imported product in the UAE, has been stable for some time now. I don't think the prices are going to increase for the time being. On the other hand, it might weaken." See Extended Story.. July 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Hanoi Vietnam - Vietnam Steel Association expects steel production to rise 3-5% Year on Year According to the forecast of Vietnam Steel Association, from now to year-end, the domestic market has no lack of construction steel, the domestic steel mills can satisfy the 60% or more demand of the wire rod and billet steel. Ruan Jinyi, vice chairman of Vietnam Steel Corp. said that from now to year-end, a few of billet and construction steel mills in Vietnam are put into production and operation steadily, to supply products to market. The total production of billet is 4.5 million -4.7 million tons per year, the construction steel reaching 7 million tons per year, the wire rod amounting to 2 million tons per year. It is estimated that the total output and sales volume of steel products increased 3% - 5% over 2008. The prices of steel products may go up slightly, but no sudden change. It is reported that, the steel production and sales volume of Vietnam's domestic steel plants in the first half year pick up dramatically, up 94% than the steel output of the same period of 2008, rising 103% in the sales volume. The billet output in the first half year was 1 million tons, the monthly average for 165,000 tons. July 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - American advertising migrates from TV and radio to the Internet It comes as little or no surprise that the choice of advertising media is shifting, but now there are statistics to confirm what we all knew was taking place. The majority (92%) of advertisers are using Internet advertising in their media campaigns followed by print advertising at 88 percent, according to a new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll. At the same time, less than half are using radio advertising (46%), television advertising (46%) and mobile advertising (39%). The Harris poll found there is a regional difference as advertisers in the South are more likely to use radio advertising (57%) and television advertising (56%) while those in the West are least likely to use both (39% each). See Extended Story.. July 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese steel prices rose in June as demand increases China's steel prices enjoyed moderate growth in June, with the domestic aggregate price index having climbed two consecutive months to 101.98, up 3.91 per cent from May. According to the statistics from China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), prices of wire, hot rolled coils, cold rolled sheets and galvanized plates forcefully pushed their ways up. However, those of deformed steel bars, medium plates and hot rolled sheets made moderate advancements, while seamless steel tubes averted a fall to rise 2.14 per cent on month. The steel market managed to fire back up in June, which analysts have attributed to the growth of domestic demand, boosted by supportive policies. See Extended Story.. July 18th, 2009  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - Aurubis gives upbeat outlook in its monthly newsletter Copper mail Companies in Germany are receiving orders again, industry has increased production and the German export economy is slowly stabilizing. But this is all starting from a very low level and recovery could take its time. For copper, there is potential in this development. The copper stocks in the warehouses of the LME have dropped to 261,000 t and are thus 80,000 t down on the level at the beginning of the year and significantly lower than the year’s high of 548,000 t on 25 February 2009. A further 10,000 t are scheduled for removal. About 66,000 t of the LME copper stocks are stored spread over Western Europe, and are only able to cover the copper demand there for one week, if they were available without limitations and at reasonable freight. Since, contrary to Asia, it is not permitted for large copper quantities to be available in European bonded warehouses and we are currently at a low in the inventory cycle of the processing industry, copper cathodes could be in short supply after the summer break if the order intake picks up further. Developments in China are the second main criteria determining the course the copper market will take in the second half of 2009. Chinese imports of wrought copper and copper products rose significantly again in June for the fourth month in succession and total 475,999 t, i.e. 13 % up on the prior month and 175 % up on the prior year. About 380,000 t of this quantity is believed to be refined copper. this link July 17th, 2009  - Market Stats Santiago Chile - Chile copper export revenue falls 37 pct in June The value of Chile's copper exports amounted to $1.979 billion in June, down 37 percent compared with $3.151 billion in the same month a year ago, central bank figures showed Wednesday. The value of Chile's copper exports came to $1.889 billion in May this year, the central bank reported last month. Chile is the world's top copper producer, mining about a third of global supply. A sharp drop in copper prices from record highs last year due to the global economic crisis has curtailed the South American country's revenue intake. Although the government expects copper prices to stabilize at around $2 per lb this year, recovering from lows reported earlier after the red metal plunged from record highs of $4 in 2008. July 17th, 2009  - Market Stats Moscow Russia - CIS raises rebar, wire rod export prices CIS's rebar manufacturers have increased their export price to US$470 / ton for August shipments due to hiking of raw material price even though the demand from end users drops. Buyers have almost ceased to purchase, they are adopting a wait-and-see attitude for the time being because of lower demand. In addition, CIS's export wire rod price also goes up in line with increase of raw material cost. Most of wire producers have increased the export price to US$70 / ton for August but few deals concluded. July 16th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper firms on China purchases as dollar and LME inventories falls Copper hit a one-month high on Wednesday as the dollar dipped and upbeat U.S. corporate and economic numbers spurred hopes the global economy had passed the worst of its downturn. Copper for three-months delivery on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,263 a tonne from $5,045 at the close on Tuesday. The dollar fell across the board on Wednesday, making dollar-priced metals cheaper for non-U.S investors. A strong recovery is already priced into commodities market observers said. Prices of the metal used in power and construction rose as much as 4.7 percent to a session high of $5,284, the biggest one-day percentage rise since June 4. Analysts warn the economic recovery may yet be protracted, and that the trend of falling copper stocks is set to stall as markets enter a traditionally quiet trading season. Copper stocks in LME warehouses rose 4,200 tonnes to 261,100 tonnes, but are still way below 500,000 tonnes in late February. Copper has risen around 65 percent this year, mostly due to Chinese buying, as the world's biggest copper consumer imported 1.8 million tonnes of refined copper in the first half. But analysts say Chinese buying will wane this quarter. July 15th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - MEPS sees world steel output in 2009 to drop by 12pct YoY while Eurofer gives much bleaker outlook for EU UK based steel analyst MEPS is forecasting total world steel manufacturing in 2009 at 1165 million tonnes, down by 12% YoY. MEPS said that “There are a number of positive signs in the market. Steel stock levels at both the distributors and mills are extremely low. The savage cuts in steel output over the past 9 months have partly rebalanced supply and demand by eliminating overblown inventories in the supply chain. Moreover, steel consumers, including OEM's, building and construction companies and distributors were also carrying substantial stocks of their goods and raw materials in the boom market conditions.” See Extended Story.. July 9th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Reports say steel wire rod prices are on the rise There are reports from various markets that wire rod prices are on the rise and several suppliers like Bao Shan in China, ArcelorMittal in Europe has informed customers of price increases. YIEH.corp reports that Taiwan wire rod manufactures expect to increase output since price rise has been accepted by buyers and demand is strengthening. ArcelorMittal has called off a month-long shutdown of its Quebec iron ore mine as markets improve in developing economies such as China. The Mont-Wright open pit mine in northeastern Quebec, one of the largest in North America, was to close temporarily July 26. But last week, the global steel giant decided to change course, said Martin Simard, spokesperson for ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. "We can feel that demand is picking up in China and Brazil and in emerging economies," Simard said. The iron ore concentrate from Mont-Wright is sent to Port-Cartier, Que., on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, where it is processed into pellets or shipped to countries around the world. See Extended Story.. July 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Copper surged on Wednesday but closed lower again on Thursday as US and European data suggests economic recovery distant, Copper surged on Wednesday to its loftiest level in more than two weeks, driven by extended losses in the dollar and upbeat manufacturing surveys in the United States, Europe and China that reinforced economic recovery hopes. These encouraging predictions in the surveys were however squashed Thursday as the dollar strengthened and grim U.S. and European data underlined concerns that global economic recovery could actually be a long way off. Data released Thursday that US unemployment rate rose to 9.5% in June from 9.4% in May was enough to see the stock markets collapse and gamblers run for cover. Copper for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division settled down 2.50 cents at $2.3055 per lb. Copper for three month delivery on the London Metal Exchange sank $55 to close at $5,035 a tonne. See Extended Story.. June 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Boston Massachusetts - Economic recession expected to have minor impact on the structured cabling systems market. FTM Consulting announced in its latest study of the SCS market that the current U.S. economic recession, which started in the fourth quarter of 2007 and continues into 2009, was not impacted until the fourth quarter of 2008, when UTP (unshielded twisted-pair ) cable volumes declined significantly. Frank Murawski, President of FTM Consulting, Inc. said, “For the last 10 years that we tracked quarterly UTP cable shipment growths, we have not seen the severity of the decrease that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008, when shipments fell off the cliff. Until that point in time, the market had behaved consistently since 2001, basically being flat market with minor annual growth increases or decreases of no significance occurring. With this dramatic decrease, we believed it was time that we further analyzed this radical departure of the market to ascertain what was occurring. We undertook a comprehensive bottoms up approach in analyzing the market’s performance during the past several years from 2006 through 2009.” See Extended Story.. June 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan’s May shipments of copper wire and cable lowest since February 1975 Japanese copper wire and cable shipments amounted to an estimated 44,700 tonnes in May, down 31.4 percent from a year earlier and the lowest level since February 1975, Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association said on Wednesday. Shipments were down 14.7 percent from April, (see wirenews May 23rd, 2009 Tokyo ,Japan - April copper cable shipments down 26.3 percent yr/yr) Demand from the construction industry hit the lowest level in 26 years. Shipments fell 25.7 percent to an estimated 18,900 tonnes in May from a year earlier, the lowest level since May 1983, when shipments stood at 18,870 tonnes. Demand for copper has fallen across all industrial sectors, including construction and automobiles, as Japan struggles to lift itself from its worst downturn in half a century. The association's members account for about 60 percent of Japan's copper use. June 19th, 2009  - Market Stats China - May refined, alloy copper imports at 354,567 T China's imports of refined and alloy copper rose to 354,567 tonnes in May, official Customs data showed on Thursday. That was up 139 percent from a year-ago period, according to Reuters calculation. Imports in the first five months rose 104.6 percent to 1.48 million tonnes, official figures showed. The following table below - on extended news - shows China's major metal trade figures for January to May. A detailed breakdown will be issued late in the month. See Extended Story.. June 17th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford, Ontario - Construction Materials Costs Edge Up Climbing out of an economic drought, prices of construction materials increased 0.5 percent in May, according to the Producer Price Index report by the U.S. Labor Department. However, prices are still down by 5.3 percent on a year-over-year basis. Construction materials trending higher include fabricated ferrous wire, up 0.5 percent, marking the first increase since October of last year. On a year-over-year basis, prices are up 0.1 percent. Prices for prepared asphalt and tar roofing are 1.3 percent higher from April, and up 40.4 percent from a year ago. Plumbing fixtures and fittings prices were unchanged on a monthly basis and are up 0.6 percent from May 2008. In contrast, prices for fabricated structural metal products continue to decrease, down 0.7 percent from April and down 2 percent on a year-over-year basis. Softwood lumber prices dropped 2.1 percent from April and are down 18.4 percent on a year-over-year basis. See Extended Story.. June 16th, 2009  - Market Stats New York - Copper Falls as Rising Dollar Curbs Demand for Inflation Hedge Copper prices fell the most in eight weeks in New York and London as a stronger dollar curbed demand from investors seeking a hedge against inflation. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the greenback’s value against six major currencies, climbed as much as 1.5 percent. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities dropped as much as 2.7 percent, falling for a second session. Raw materials often move in the opposite direction of the dollar as traders use metals, grains and energy as alternative assets. “Commodities are down across the board today as traders continue to take their cue from the dollar,” said Matthew Zeman, a LaSalle Futures Group trader in Chicago. “One of the big things to look out for now is whether we’re going to see the inflation that people had been worried about.” Copper futures for July delivery fell 8.85 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $2.285 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. That marks the biggest decline for the contract since April 20. Copper for September delivery slid 3.6 percent to $2.2965 a pound. The metal also fell as swelling stockpiles in China and declines in U.S. manufacturing signaled easing demand. See Extended Story.. June 15th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford, Ontario - Copper Boosted by Chinese Imports Ulf’s comment CRU at the copper conference in Chile Earlier this year said that the price industrial use warrant is between 3000 and 2000 US$ per ton $ 2000/ton is a floor price for the most efficient mines. What we see now driving the price is sheer speculation as some analysts question fundamentals of recent base metals rally. Copper climbed to its highest level since mid-October as rising import levels into top consumer China bolstered sentiment, but analysts questioned the sustainability of this week's stunning rally. Catherine Virga, senior base metals analyst with CPM Group in New York, questioned the fundamental strength of the rally that has driven prices of the metal used by many investors as a bellwether of economic strength up over 7 per cent this week and more than 10 per cent so far in June. “The import figures are definitely something to look at for this short-term rally, but exports are still down, the arbitrage opportunities are gone, and cancelled warrants are trending downward, so I don't know how much of this is a trend story or how much of it is an investor story,” she said. See Extended Story.. June 13th, 2009  - Market Stats Mumbai, India - Rise in Tin, Nickel and Lead on Renewed Demand Prices of tin, nickel and lead firmed up further in a mixed non-ferrous metal market on renewed industrial demand coupled with higher advices from London Metal Exchange (LME). Copper and brass markets have eased due to lack of industrial support. Tin rose by Rs 17 per kilo to Rs 862 from the previous closing level of Rs 845 and nickel moved up by Rs 3 per kilo to Rs 760 as against Rs 757 previously. Lead and copper utensils scrap also ended slighty higher by a rupee per kilo each to Rs 90 and Rs 257 respectively. Copper scrap heavy, copper armiture, brass utensils scrap and brass sheets cutting ended slightly lower by a rupee per kilo each to Rs 273, Rs 271, Rs 200 and Rs 205 respectively. See Extended Story.. June 11th, 2009  - Market Stats Brussels, Belgium - 2009 First Quarter Stainless Production Lowest Since 2000 The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) has released preliminary stainless steel production figures which show that 4.8 million metric tons (mmt) of stainless was produced worldwide in the first quarter of 2009. This is the lowest level of first quarter production since 2000. However production in China and the Americas increased in this quarter when compared to the already depressed fourth quarter of 2008. The relatively good performance of the Chinese stainless industry may be partly explained by the government’s economic stimulus package which seems to have created some additional demand for stainless in the country. The increase in the Americas region is on a very small volume of just 411,000 metric tons. All other regions showed decreases in production See Extended Story.. June 6th, 2009  - Market Stats Monterey Mexico - Mexican rebar and wire rod prices on downward trends SteelGuru reports that the prices of rebar and wire rod remained going down on the Mexican market in the recent weeks due to the domestic slack demand and unacceptable price by the customers.As per report, the rebar price went down all the way since the beginning of May 2009 and fell to USD 552 to USD 583 per ton, which was believed the bottom price probably. As for the wire rod, the domestic low carbon wire rod is quoted at USD 552 to USD 567 per tonne, down by USD 15 per tonne as compared to weeks ago. Although the stock has been on a low level, the market price will probably go down further with the dearth of demand. May 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Cairo Egypt - Turkey Steel mill's Middle East rebar prices weakens Middle East long products market begin show signs of oversupply i.e. bad news. Different sources reported that Turkish companies forcing rebar sales to Egypt caused overfilling of the local market. (Supplies volume in January-April reached 1.8 mln tons comparing with less than 60 thousand in the similar period of last year). According to traders Egyptian distributors’ stocks are full, and new vessels are waiting for discharge in the ports. As analysts forecasted, Egyptian market is “out of the game” at least till the beginning of June or even for longer period. Without Egypt the situation in the region looks negative. As per some estimations, by July rebar price in ME market can reduce to about $400 per ton FOB Turkey. During several days Turkish rebar fell by $30-40 per ton as if confirming the forecasts. See Extended Story.. May 26th, 2009  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - EU Steel Market demand almost halved in first half 2009 Eurofer has published its Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2009-2010 While data of the first quarter of 2009 confirm that the economic downturn in the EU is gathering pace, it is clear that particularly EU industry is hit hard by falling exports and tight credit supply. Domestic and international export demand for manufactured goods has continued to fall sharply. Companies are struggling to survive under extremely difficult business conditions, cutting investment and reducing operational stocks to the bare minimum as long as the slump in confidence and tight credit availability continues. Consequently, the outlook for the steel using industries in 2009-2010 is very grim with all sectors seeing strongly reduced output levels, particularly in the 1st half of this year. See Extended Story.. May 26th, 2009  - Market Stats Mumbai India - Aluminum output to grow by 10.7% in 2010 India's aluminum production is expected to grow by 10.7 per cent this fiscal, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its monthly review. "Aluminum production is expected to grow by 10.7 per cent in FY10 on the back of the completion of various projects and healthy demand from the electrical power equipment and construction sectors," the CMIE report said. Prior to December 2008, the primary aluminum industry was facing capacity constraint which was reflected in the less than five per cent monthly production growth. With the completion of Vendanta Aluminum's 2.5-lakh tonnes smelter in Orissa, production grew by over 13 per cent in each month during December-March last fiscal. This significantly boosted primary aluminum production in FY09 as it grew by 9.1 per cent to 13.48 lakh tonnes in line with CMIE estimates. See Extended Story.. May 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Hong Kong - China copper imports at new high, aluminum surges China's imports of refined copper rose to a third straight record in April while aluminum inflows more than quadrupled to a new high, data that may stoke concerns that the world's top consumer is overbought. Flood of imported metal boosted China's month-on-month apparent demand by 9.8 percent on copper, the third consecutive gain to a monthly figure some 50 percent more than last year's average. Aluminum demand climbed 17.5 percent from March. But implied zinc consumption calculated as the sum of net imports and domestic production, minus the change in reported exchange inventories inched down 0.1 percent on the month due to April's fall from March's record imports, while lead fell 2.9 percent after a 10 percent domestic output drop. See Extended Story.. May 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - SSINA releases market data for February 2009 The Specialty Steel Industry of North America has released statistical data on imports, U.S. consumption, and import penetration for February 2009. The data represents U.S. consumption, imports, and import penetration for YTD February 2009 compared to the same 2008 two month period. The following data is presented by specialty steel product line, total stainless steel, and total specialty steel: Stainless steel bar: Imports in YTD February 2009 were 14,380 tons, a 25.8% decrease as compared to YTD February 2008; US consumption was 28,693 tons, a 31.8% decrease two month import penetration was 50.1%, a 4.1 percentage point increase from 2008. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD February 2009 were 2,019 tons, a 54.9% decrease compared to YTD February 2008; US consumption was 4,820 tons, a 52.7% decrease; two month import penetration was 41.9%, a 2.1 percentage point decrease from 2008. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD February 2009 were 5,023 tons, a 25.5% decrease compared to YTD February 2008; US consumption was 6,687 tons, a 45.3% decrease; two month import penetration was 75.1%, a 19.9 percentage point increase from 2008. Imports of total stainless steel YTD February 2009 were 63,391 tons, a 51.3% decrease compared to YTD February 2008; US consumption was 211,496 tons, a 39.5% decrease; two month import penetration was 30.0%, a 7.2 percentage point decrease from 2008. Full press release use this link May 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo ,Japan - April copper cable shipments down 26.3 percent yr/yr Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell 26.3 percent in April from a year earlier to an estimated 52,200 tonnes, an industry body said on Thursday. That was also down 18.8 percent from 53,198 tonnes in March, data provided by the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association showed. Japan's consumption of copper, which has wide industrial applications in the power, electronics and auto industries, has plunged as the world's second-largest economy grapples with its worst downturn in half a century. Exports to China, however, have been on the rise in recent months. See Extended Story.. May 22nd, 2009  - Market Stats Minsk Belarus - Belarus steel production update for Q1 of 2009 According to the data released by Belarus~{!/~} National Statistical Committee in the first four months of 2009 the country registered a 1.9% increase in its crude steel production, a 5.7% rise in its finished steel product output but a 48.3% decrease in its steel pipe output year on year. The respective figures in metric tons were 906,000, 864,300 and 30,800. During the period in question, Belarus~{!/~} output of wire rod went down by 6.8 percent to 27,900 tonnes while its steel cord production decreased by 2.9% to 31,000 tonnes both compared with January to April 2008. (Sourced from SteelOrbis via SteelGuru) May 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Peoria Illinois - Long product, rod hike sparks buyer debate The first attempt in months to boost prices on long products sparked mixed reactions in the supply chain, with three major mills poised to hike wire rod by $35 per ton on June 1 and one company raising some other long products by $40 per ton. In wire rod, distributors welcomed the $35-per-ton increase, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were negative on the move and wire drawers stood somewhere in the middle. A half-dozen customers of the three mills hiking tags, Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel and Keystone Steel & Wire Co. confirmed they received letters with the new prices, effective June 1, with all saying they believe the increases will stick. "I am sure they will flow through because scrap is up," a rod distributor in the upper Great Lakes region said. "We are planning accordingly (to raise prices to customers)." The owner of a service center in the Midwest said the exact same thing about raising his own prices, adding that "the probability that the (wire rod) price will stick is greater than it not sticking." May 5th, 2009  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - Eurofer sees EU steel demand to be almost halved Eurofer said that Europe's demand for steel will be halved in the first 6 months of 2009 as the global economic slump hurts key sectors such as car builders and construction. It added that European Union industry has been hit hard by falling exports and tight credit supply. Eurofer said that "The outlook for the steel using industries in 2009-2010 is very grim, all sectors will be seeing strongly reduced output levels, particularly in the first half of this year." See Extended Story.. May 5th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - World Steel Association's projections for apparent steel use The World Steel Association (worldsteel) forecasts that worldwide apparent steel use is expected to decline by -14.9% to 1,018.6 million metric tons (mmt) in 2009 after declining by -1.4% (1,197 mmt) in 2008. However, steel demand is expected to stabilize in the latter part of 2009 leading to a mild recovery in 2010. The worldsteel Board reviewed the forecast for 2009 at its meeting in London on 26 April. Commenting, Daniel Novegil, Chairman of the worldsteel Economics Committee said: "The progression of the US financial crisis into a global economic crisis brought about a massive and regionally synchronized global decline of steel demand in late 2008. See Extended Story.. May 4th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Analysts and traders divided Copper prices may have hit bottom, but trends unclear Copper prices fell steep in the final months of 2008 with the December spot price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at $ 3000 a tonne, as compared with the 2008 peak of $ 8668 a tonne which was hit in April. But in the first three months of 2009, the LME spot copper price averaged $ 3410 a tonne. CRU basing its forecast on mining, tube and cable producers said early April that they could see copper prices around US$ 2000 a ton. This was before China had started to stockpile and before gamblers pushed the three month price to $4590 per tonne (its close Friday). A panel of eight nonferrous metals analysts has revised downward to an average $1.53/lb the 2009 consensus price forecast for copper cathode, a 51% decline from the $3.15 average of 2008. The analysts aren't agreed, however, on whether the copper price bottom already has occurred or not. See Extended Story.. May 1st, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - EU steel market in disarray as cutbacks fail to stabilize prices Meps reports that a great number of market players are strongly critical of the size of the current EU mill production cuts. They consider that they are insufficient to bring order back into the marketplace. Producers have failed to announce new prices for second quarter deliveries. It seems that the traditional mode of monthly or quarterly pricing no longer exists. Customers continue to purchase the absolute minimum and, wherever possible, from local or imported stocks. Therefore, selling values continue to head downwards with buyers becoming increasingly nervous about where they will bottom out. Meanwhile, finance problems are an additional worry for customers and suppliers alike, as insurers are cutting cover and making a sluggish business environment even slower. See Extended Story.. April 29th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K - 29 Is the recent copper price increase sustainable? Copper prices have increased 44% since December but Richard Adkerson, CEO of Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold remains cautious about the short-term copper market. And that~{!/~}s why the firm~{!/~}s higher-cost North American operations have continued to cut back on production of copper and byproduct molybdenum. The London Metal Exchange copper price has risen to a month-to-date $2/lb average in April from a recent low average of $1.39 in December. But it~{!/~}s still far below the $3.94 monthly average cyclical high in April of 2008. Bloomberg News reports that analyst David Barclay at Standard Chartered Bank in London thinks copper could be trading as high as $2.57 by the end of May. See Extended Story.. April 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan's copper cable shipments down an estimated 25% on year Japan's March copper cable shipments fell an estimated 25% on year, but rose an estimated 8.3% on month, preliminary data from the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association reports Shipments were estimated at 53,400 metric tons in March compared with confirmed shipments of 49,313 tons in February, which fell 32.7% on year. Official March results will be released in late May. April 25th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper drops as speculators get cold feet. Copper headed for its first weekly decline since March as casino gamblers realize that industrial demand is still weakening. Lead dropped after inventories jumped 13 percent. Japan~{!/~}s copper wire and cable shipments dropped to a 33- year low in the 12 months to March 31, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association said yesterday. Copper for delivery in three months rose $23, or 0.5 percent, to $4,365 a metric ton at 1:48 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. The metal has dropped 9 percent this week, paring its gain this year to 42 percent. Lead fell $43, or 3 percent, to $1,417 a ton. Inventories in warehouses monitored by the LME climbed 8,075 tons to 71,725 tons. The 13 percent advance was the most since June 17, 2008. April 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Official China copper import data for March now released Imports of refined copper rose 9.6 percent from the previous month to 296,843 tonnes, up 137.6 percent on the year, Customs figures showed on Wednesday. This is the second consecutive month of record imports, although the figure was short of expectations for around 320,000 tonnes. "Price gaps in March were high, attracting arbitrage imports," said Zhu Yanzhong, an analyst at Jinrui Futures, a subsidiary of top Chinese producer Jiangxi Copper, referring to the gap between domestic and imported prices. He added the State Reserves Bureau (SRB) had also imported copper for a reserve-building plan and merchants had built stocks in expectation of higher prices. "Orders have fallen in April (from March). If imports continue strong, the domestic market will be oversupplied," a copper sales manager at a large trading house said. See Extended Story.. April 20th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Steel recyclers inventory seems cleared and prices on the rise also for rod A report from Tunis suggests that Turkish wire rod producers have passed higher scrap prices on to buyers in north Africa and the Middle East. The latest wire rod export sales were closed at $470 to $480 per tonne f.o.b. for May production, up from $450 to $460 last week. Ferrous scrap prices have risen over the past few weeks as stocks dwindled and steelmakers were forced to re-enter the market. Mills last booked an 80-20 mix of No. 1 heavy melting steel scrap at $240 per tonne c.f.r. to Turkish ports from European and U.S. sources, up from $230 a week earlier. CIS rebar sees USD 50 per tonne hike. See Extended Story.. April 17th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Speculators are driving nickel prices while copper rise on China stockpiling The benchmark three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange MNI3 bumped along near its lowest in almost six years until finally surging this week as more base metals followed copper's steady gains. Prices have jumped 13 percent this week to $12,500 a tonne, but still well below a record high of $51,800 in 2007. Copper is also on a surge. LME three-month metal in the last two weeks jumped another $475 per tonne, or 10.0 per cent, as of its Wednesday close at $ 4769. It was the fifth straight weekly rise, bringing the year-to-date increase to a staggering 60% percent. See Extended Story.. April 16th, 2009  - Market Stats Pittsburg Pennsylvania - U.S. wire rod prices maintain continuous decline MetalBiz reported that due to the weak demand and declining shredded scrap price, U.S. domestic wire rod price continued falling. Market participants said that the price will further decline in May and June. As for the imports, Turkey offered US$474-496 per ton for wire rod, dropped US$22 per ton compared with last week and some buyers said the spot price was US$441 per ton. Although the official price remained stable, the low-carbon wire rod ex-work price stood at US$551-573 per ton; actually, the real domestic price has fallen to a low level. It is said that the price maybe continued sinking while the demand probably has reached the bottom. Note: As wirenews reported yesterday rod prices are quoted as low as US$ 390 - US$ 400 in some areas, this could however be liquidation of inventory April 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - MEPS says average steel prices continued to slide in all regions . Mill outages continue in the US, with operating levels now under 50 percent. There is still negative pressure on transaction prices as sales fail to recover. All the major steel consuming sectors are affected by the financial and economic crisis - from construction through to manufacturing and particularly the auto industry. Moreover, distributors are buying very little as they wait to see some pick up in consumption. Although holes are appearing in inventories, they are not being filled. See Extended Story.. April 7th, 2009  - Market Stats Yanchao, Kaohsiung Taiwan - Yieh Hsing cuts stainless steel wire rod prices YIEH.corp reported that Taiwan~{!/~}s Yieh Hsing has announced to cut its stainless steel wire rod prices by NT$3,000/ton for April. The company has remained its price on carbon steel wire rod unchanged. Prices will be depending on different steel grade and order quantity. Domestic stainless steel wire rod market remained sluggish, which is the main reason for the price drop. Besides, import prices are being offered at a lower level. In February, the stainless steel imports totaled 991 tons. Japan was the biggest exporter of stainless steel wire rod to Taiwan, at 498 tons. April 6th, 2009  - Market Stats Dubai United Arab Emirates - Gulf states demand for medium and high voltage cables is 270 000 km. ArabianOilandGas.com reports that After enduring the effects of wildly fluctuating raw materials prices over the past few years, those in the cabling sector must now brace themselves for the global economic downturn. As construction projects are cancelled and postponed, firms must adapt to ensure their survival and the overall quality of installations in the long-term. But can a healthy utilities sector in the region helping to counteract any negative effects from the building market? Most industries have now seen some effects of the current worldwide recession. However in the Middle East at least one sector seems to be not only maintaining a healthy status, but is actually growing - that of utilities infrastructure. In January the Government of Dubai announced a AED 37.7 billion public sector spending plan as part of its 2009 budget; this included significant expenditure in infrastructure projects including electricity networks. See Extended Story.. April 2nd, 2009  - Market Stats Santiago Chile - Is Copper Heading For a Fall? - CRU thinks so With CESCO week upon us and CRU’s World Copper conference about to start, the world could not be more different to that of twelve months ago. Here CRU has looked at some of the key themes in the copper industry during this time of extraordinary global financial turmoil. There are still (relative) winners in the mining sector of our industry and, for those that can survive, the boom times will return. Not, however, before the shattering of the fragile price “recovery” witnessed in the opening months of 2009. See Extended Story.. April 1st, 2009  - Market Stats Cairo Egypt - Middle East wire rod prices crash Middle East Steel Prices has fallen sharply in last week especially long products It is reported that a major WRC producer in this region has come upstream offering equivalent to USD 460 per tonne ex works as against import offers of USD 430 per tonne CNF basis Middle Eastern ports. The sudden spurt in supply has led to the plummet in domestic price levels as buyers prefer domestic sourcing over imports due short lead time and customized delivery in small lots. Moreover the ghost of “old inventory” continues to haunt the market. On the flip side, there is a remarkable improvement in import offers as billets are earlier being offered USD 370 per tonne to USD 380 per tonne and rebars at USD 430 per tonne to USD 440 per tonne CNF Middle Eastern port levels respectively, but no bookings are reported as buyers have already piled inventory at much lesser levels earlier. The potential for these prices to hold on seems bleak. On the other hand, Turkish steel mills, which are the major supplier to MEA, increased their FOB offer levels for long products. Flat prices have remained stable but longs seem to be heading downhill. Long product prices have shown quantum decline 3% for Rebars up to 24% for wire rods and 7% in plates in Saudi Arab. March 30th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Chinese rebar and wire rod export price update It is reported that Chinese rebar and wire rod prices saw evident rebound this week. In Shanghai, HRB335 20mm rebar goes at 3170 per tonne to 3180 per tonne; HRB400 grade material is posted at CNY 3230 per tonne to CNY 3270 per tonne up by CNY 60 per tonne to CNY 70 per tonne and CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 60 per tonne respectively from last Friday. Prices for commercial wire rod go down by CNY 40 per tonne to CNY 3180 per tonne to CNY 3190 per tonne. Hi-speed material prices remain fell by CNY 40 per tonne to CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 3210 per tonne to CNY 230 per tonne. Source Steel Guru www.steelguru.com See Extended Story.. March 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington, D.C. - Steel Imports decline 33% in February Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 1,553,000 net tons (NT) of steel in February 2009, including 1,443,000 NT of finished steel (down 34% and 33%, respectively, vs. January final data). Total and finished steel imports on an annualized basis are down 26 and 17 percent, respectively, vs. 2008. Annualized total imports of steel in 2009 would be 21.6 million MT. Finished steel import market share is an estimated 29 percent in February, just below the 32 percent average in the 4th quarter of 2008.Key products with increases in February 2009 compared to January include Electrical Sheet and Strip (up 42%), Cold finished Bars (up 22%), Plates in Coils (up 14%) and Hot Rolled Sheets (up 9%). Wire rods were down 50.1% to 42,571 ton from 85,314 ton while drawn wire dropped 16.2% to 32,931 ton from 39,280 ton. March 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japanese March copper cable shipments expected to drop to 34 year low Japanese copper wire and cable shipments in the year to March 2010 are expected to fall to a 34-year low, Japan’s Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association said on Thursday. Shipments are estimated to reach 705,000 tonnes, down 7.9 percent from the current year, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association saidwhen releasing February figures. Demand for copper wire and cable, has plunged as the economic crisis forces automakers and other manufacturers to curb production the association said Editors note: We will follow up with actual figures as soon as they are made available to us by the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association March 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Alger Algeria - Turkish steel exports to Arab countries surge by 37% YoY Arab Steel reported that Arab imports of the Turkish iron and steel products amounted to more than 1.972 million tonnes during March and February 2009 compared to 1.441 million tonnes during the same period in 2008, with an increase of 36.8%. The report said that Egypt ranked first among the Arab countries importing from Turkey with a total quantity of 687413 tonnes within two months compared to 12860 tonnes in the same period in 2008 of which 610680 tonnes are rebars. The United Arab Emirates retreated to the second rank as its imports in the same period of 2009 amounted to 246485 tonnes compared to 936680 tonnes at the beginning of October 2008. The decline amounted to 73.69%. The imported finished products amounted to 1.7 million tonnes of which 1.532 million tonnes are rebars, 112.600 tonnes sections, 47.700 tonnes wire rods and 8080 tonnes of hot rolled coils, while the imports of the same period in 2008 of the finished products amounted to 1.175 million tonnes with an increase of 44.62% of finished products. The rest of imports were distributed over the other products. The billets imports amounted to 130835 tonnes, pipes 127557 tonnes, coated sheets 11915 tonnes and cold rolled sheets 1660 tonnes. March 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Hong Kong - Stainless steel production drops by 6.9% worldwide in 2008 The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) said that global stainless steel production in 2008 has dropped by 6.9 percent compared with 2007, down from 27.84 million tons to 25.91 million tons. This is the second year in a row after a decrease of 2 percent in 2007. ISSF added that the first half of 2008 was in sound and positive position, but, because of the financial and economic crisis, it followed by an “extremely depressed” second half. Stainless steel production in China reduced by 3.6 percent to 6.9 million tons in 2008, and in other Asia countries reduced by 10.3 percent to 8.1 million tons. Production in the Western Europe-Africa region dropped by 4.8 percent to 8.3 million tons, the Americas dropped by 11.1 percent to 2.3 million tons, and the Central and Eastern Europe region dropped by 8.6 percent to 333,000 tons For full media release use this link March 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US wire rod prices continues to slide and follow scrap downward trend As US scrap price slide wire rod prices decline with it. Last week US domestic wire rod price slid by USD 22 per tonne as compared the first week in March. The low carbon wire rod factory prices are now quoted around US$ 600 per tonne but there is downward pressure on prices but scrap prices seems to be the price guide. Turkish mills are still offering low prices in the import market, prices as low as USD 535 to USD 557 per tonne has been reported March 18th, 2009  - Market Stats Kampala Uganda - IMF forecasts that Uganda's economy will continue to grow Uganda 's economy will continue to be one of Africa's fastest growing despite the worldwide economic downturn and tighter global credit conditions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast in February. In its annual review of Uganda's economy, the IMF projected economic growth to stay in the 7% range before climbing to about 8% in the 2011/2012 and 2012/13 fiscal years. The optimistic forecast is largely due to recent discovery of significant oil reserves in Uganda which has boosted investor interest, the report stated. The IMF commended the Government of Uganda on its sound macroeconomic policies and its commitment to scaling up investment in infrastructure such as the current building of an optical fiber cable backbone. It has recommended that the government provide some fiscal stimulus to offset tougher global conditions, including increasing tax revenues by 1% of gross domestic product annually. See Extended Story.. March 12th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo ,Japan - Japan's core machinery orders fall 3.2% in January Japanese core machinery orders registered the longest on-month declining streak on record in January due to evaporating demand amid a global economic downturn, the latest sign that Japan's recession may get worse. The orders fell a seasonally adjusted 3.2% on month, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday. The result marked the fourth straight month of decline, which is the longest run since April 1987, when the government began to take the data in a comparable method. The finding, which is seen as a reliable gauge of future capital investment, is better than the 4.7% drop expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones and The Nikkei. March 12th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - China hit by massive drop in exports Chinese exports slumped 25.7 per cent in February shrinking its trade surplus to $7.5 billion, from $61 billion in January, as the collapse in global demand caught up with the country's exporters and overshadowed a sharp rise in domestic investment. China~{!/~}s exports have decreased since November, but until last month the rate of decline had been much slower than in other Asian countries with large export sectors. Economists said the headline figure for last month, which was already much worse than expected, probably masked an even steeper decline given that there was a shorter number of working days in February 2008 due to new-year holidays. See Extended Story.. March 9th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod prices remain under pressure Steel Guru reports that Chinese rebar and wire rod prices have kept edging down by small amount this week. The sluggish market is expected to sustain for another two weeks at least. In Shanghai, HRB335 20mm rebar goes at 3170 per tonne; HRB400 grade material is posted at CNY 3220 to CNY 3250 down by CNY 80 per tonne and CNY 110 per tonne respectively from last Friday Prices for commercial wire rod and hi-speed material go down by CNY 70 per tonne and CNY 40 per tonne to CNY 3170 per tonne and CNY 3210 per tonne to CNY 3220 per tonne respectively. As forecast, prices are on the decrease. Taking Shanghai price for HRB335 20mm rebar as benchmark, it is going to approach CNY 3100 per tonne to CNY 3000 per tonne as long as it remains below CNY 3300 per tonne. See Extended Story.. March 7th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Prospect good for wire and rod mills Wei Zengmin analyst with mysteel says China steel industry has a major capacity surplus for heavy plate, while steel wire and rod production capacity is in short supply. Therefore China's current elimination plan to wipe out small outdated blast furnaces and converters, mainly used to produce steel wire and rod, may not have the desired effect of reducing the overall industry surplus. It is also expected that in the next couple of years, China's demand for steel wire and rod will continue to expand on the back of its ongoing urbanization, and that excessive elimination of outdated facilities could create a bottleneck for China's future infrastructure construction. March 5th, 2009  - Market Stats Cairo Egypt - Egyptian rebar manufacturers facing price turmoil as Turkey enters market Global steel Web reports that Turkish rebar manufactures have shifted their targets to Egyptian markets due to the fact that demand in their traditional Middle East region is deteriorating. Currently, Turkish rebars are quoted at US$450 per ton to US$460 per ton. It is likely that these prices shall decline even more. Ezz Steel has its Rebar pricing settled at US$606 per ton which is considerably greater than that of Turkish origin. Ezz shall have to reduce its prices in order to make them more competitive or loose market share. March 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Preliminary January U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary January steel imports were $2.9 billion (2.1 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary December totals of $2.7 billion (1.8 million metric tons). The January change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected increases primarily in heavy structural shapes and line pipe greater than 16 inches in diameter. Monthly changes in steel imports reflected increases primarily with Korea and Russia. The year to date final statistics through December 2008 showed steel imports of 29.0 million metric tons compared to 30.2 million metric tons through December 2007. The largest commodity decreases were in reinforcing bars and blooms, billets, and slabs. The largest commodity increase was in oil country goods. The largest country decrease was with Brazil. The largest country increases were with Canada and India. Wire rod imports decreased in January was 78,572 metric tonne down from 94,122 in December. Drawn wire imports was 35,300 tonne up slightly from 34,560 tonne in December. Imports of Line pipes larger than 16”was 120,600 tonne up sharply from 71,355 tonne in December while line pipe smaller than 16” showed a decline to 54,608 down from 67,732 tonne in December. Oil country goods pipe imports increased to 468,152 tonne up frrom 424,478 tonne in December. For details broken up on alloyed steel, stainless and carbon steel products use this link February 28th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - China copper demand draws down LME inventory and provides floor price support China is sucking in thousands of tonnes of copper from across Asia, but rather than representing an explosion in demand, the flow could just be Beijing filling its storehouses with metal at bargain prices. Attractive margins are encouraging Chinese investors and merchants to import refined copper cathode, drawing down stocks at London Metal Exchange warehouses. The State Reserves Bureau (SRB) is believed to have nearly finalized orders to import 300,000 tonnes of refined copper cathode in coming months, taking advantage of a 60 percent fall in prices since the metal hit a record $8,940 in July. Reuters report that SRB placed a 40,000-tonne order to a Chinese copper smelter last week, smelter and trading sources said. Strong import demand from the world's top consumer of copper has reduced the availability of the metal in LME warehouses in South Korea and Singapore, driving up premiums. Traders said premiums for LME copper in Singapore had risen from around $80 last week to $95 this week and may hit triple digits in the near future. See Extended Story.. February 26th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Steel prices in most emerging markets continue to slide Meps the London based steel analysts reported on their web site that purchasing activity in Turkey remains extremely low. Most long and flat product producers conceded further reductions. Trading conditions in the UAE continue to be tough. Dubai-based dealers were able to raise some product prices this month but the market is no nearer recovery. Some producers in the Russian Federation and the Ukraine raised their quotations. Buyers in both countries were unimpressed owing to low purchasing activity. Not all the gains have been maintained. Cheaper semi-finished products are likely to bring about pressure for lower prices. Nothing new has occurred in the South African market. Long product producers continue to be kept busy by state-funded construction and infrastructure developments. Difficult trading conditions persist in the flat products segments. However, transaction values remained unchanged this month. See Extended Story.. February 25th, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Cable shipments continue to fall Japan's Electric Wire and Cable Makers’ Association reports. Japan’s copper wire and cable shipments plunged 21.2 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest monthly drop in more than three decades, according to the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers’ Association. Shipments dropped to 53,100 metric tons from 67,385 tons a year earlier on slumping demand, the group said today in a statement. The drop, according to preliminary data, was the biggest since February 1975, when shipments fell 31 percent. January's Japanese Cable shipments Product Jan '09 Yr/Yr% Dec '08 -Telecommunications 1,700 -9.2 1,428 -Electric Power 6,600 3.1 5,232 -Electrical 10,200 -37.4 12,200 -Automobiles 4,500 -39.3 5,576 -Construction 25,100 -11.2 27,324 -Others 3,600 -30.7 3,910 -Exports 1,400 -28.1 2,015 TOTAL 53,100 -21.2 57,685 See Extended Story.. February 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - Copper Market Norddeutsche Affinerie's Monthly news letter looks at actual trends Anyone currently trying to get an accurate picture of the copper market has taken on a difficult task. He must try to make a sensible whole out of partly contrasting market factors, while at the same time almost only the short term dominates these days. Market participants are still in shock as a result of the continuing financial and economic crisis, which has meanwhile hit the real economy head-on. All the same, the global packages to support the financial systems and boost the economy seem to be spreading optimism and are showing first effects. Leading indicators in the U.S.A., Great Britain, Belgium and France have risen surprisingly in the last few days. Even if it is not yet possible to predict the beginning of an economic upswing, this is a sign that the economic slide could have reached its limit To view full forecast use this link February 19th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Steel prices continue downward path in China Steel Guru reports that China's domestic steel market continues to be sluggish and most steel products witness a price fall after the festival of lanterns. As reported, by February 13, 25mm rebar in ten major cities averaged at CNY 3852 per tonne down by CNY 118 per tonne from last week; 5.5mm HRC went at CNY 3761 per tonne on average, down by CNY 201 per tonne WoW; 1.0 mm HR sheet stood at CNY 4625 per tonne, down by CNY 126 per tonne from previous week. Due to the little transaction caused by soft demand, domestic second or third tier mills reduce their ex works prices for construction grade steel products and flats. On the contrary, large-sized mills like Anshan Steel and Benxi Steel are to raise their March price. Nevertheless, the increase growth will be less than that by Wuhan Steel in last week. In addition, medium and small mills in Hebei, the largest private owned steel production base, have started to cut ex works price since February 11th. Hebei Puyang Steel decreased ex works price for its wire rods by CNY 100 per tonne from February 9th; Hebei Qianjin Steel Group cut the price for its strips by CNY 80 per tonne from February 11th See Extended Story.. February 14th, 2009  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US wire rod prices continue to fall Due to the weak demand, US steel wire rod prices continue to fall. Currently, the U.S. low-carbon wire rod price is at US$639~~683/ton, down by US$22/ton on average. Meantime, Turkish wire mesh import price maintains at US$562~~584/ton as the same as last week, and China~{!/~}s offer was higher than Turkey~{!/~}s. The imports of wire rod in the second half of 2008 totaled 89,905 tons per month and that in first half was 92,035 tons per month February 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Base Metals brake recent rise Friday Base metals ended the week lower on the LME, as an earlier rise turned into a more pronounced decline, with string of US economic releases worst than expected, ending a run of recent encouraging data from China. U.S. copper futures ended lower Thursday after gloomy employment figures and data showing a further deterioration in the manufacturing sector weighed on prices, helping to snap a two-day rally in the metal. Copper for March delivery shed 3.10 cents to close at $1.509 a lb on COMEX division, had gained nearly 7 percent on the week, hitting a one-week high on Wednesday at $1.5695. It dragged down by bearish economic data showing a 26-year high in weekly U.S. jobless claims and a greater-than-expected 3.9 percent drop in factory orders in December. LME warehouse stocks raised 2,650 tones to 502,600 tones. On the production front, Chile's Codelco said its Andina division produced 219,554 tones of copper in 2008, below an earlier forecast for 220,000 tones. The figure was up 0.56 percent from the 218,322 tones produced in 2007. See Extended Story.. February 9th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - China copper import volumes holds up Imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products by China, the world's biggest consumer of the red metal, are expected to remain high in January, and imports of copper cathode near December's all-time high of 211,527 tonnes. But strength in imports should not be seen as a sign of an explosion in real demand for industrial metals in China, analysts say. The cost of imported copper remained lower than prices in the domestic market for much of last month, providing attractive margins for spot imports, even though the Chinese economy is caught in the grip of the global financial slump. The inflow therefore reflects profit opportunities for merchants who buy metal on the international market for sale at home. See Extended Story.. February 7th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - U.S. wire rod prices continue to fall Because of the high stock and bleak demand, the U.S. wire rod prices continued to fall. Currently, the U.S. low-carbon wire rod price hit US$661~~683/ton (ex-work price), which was lower than last week's US$705/ton. As for the import, the situation is also not very optimistic. At present, Turkey~{!/~}s wire rod export price to the US was quoted at US$562~~584/ton. February 6th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel price upturn continues MySteel.net reports that China's steel prices have posted 10 consecutive weeks upturn since mid November last year, with main products like rebar, wire rod, CR/HR and medium plate all posting slight upswings. And the rise continues now. China Securities Journal reported that however, price for HRC in the forward trading market in Shanghai has tumbled. And market analysts believe it was due to the concerns for future price trend after the long-term up-tick, Data shows price for 25mm rebar was offered at CNY 3,868 per tonne yesterday, up by CNY 52 per tonne from the last trading day; 6.5mm high-speed wire rod at CNY 3,853 per tonne up by CNY 41 per tonne; 5.5mm HRC at CNY 4,025 per tonne surging CNY 55 per tonne; 20mm medium plate at CNY 3,962 per tonne rising CNY 57 per tonne and 1mm CRC at CNY 4,727 per tonne up by CNY 60 per tonne. In detail, rebar price rises some CNY 300 per tonne, or 8.3%; HRC up CNY 870 per tonne, or 28.4%; CRC up CNY 709 per tonne or 17.6%; medium plate up by CNY 452 per tonne or 12.8% See Extended Story.. February 2nd, 2009  - Market Stats Helsinki Finland - Latin America best performing region in Nokia Siemens ICT index The five Latin American economies that featured in Nokia-Siemens Networks' (NSN) global ICT index, the Connectivity Scorecard, all came out in the top 40% of emerging markets, director of the study Leonard Waverman told BNamericas. The study of 50 countries 25 emerging markets and 25 developed markets is designed to measure the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies to enhance social and economic prosperity. The Connectivity Scorecard also measures usage and skills, such as literacy, the use of enterprise software and the accessibility to ICT to women. The Latin American economies' rank was, in order of points scored, Chile (6.59), Mexico (5.39), Argentina (5.14), Brazil (5.12) and Colombia (4.08), all above the emerging markets' median of 3.6. "As a region that is the best performance," Waverman said, though he added that the five countries had differing strengths and weaknesses. See Extended Story.. January 29th, 2009  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Copper plummets and LME inventory soars as speculators exit market. A worsening global recession is expected to slash copper prices by 50 percent this year as slowing economic activity hits demand, a Reuters survey of analysts showed. That copper would dropped from its unrealistic high of $8,940 should come as no surprise since the market was totally detached from industrial demand and driven by speculators. This editor does not for a minute believe that the price will fall an additional 50% from its four-year low of $2,825 in late 2008. Instead the market will be allowed to find it's demand/supply equilibrium now when the speculators are temporary out of the market (or are they?). Mine closures will be determined by production costs and supply automatically curtailed to match demand. Demand for copper used for plumbing cannot really fall much more and demand from cable is likely to hold up fairly well. The Joker in the deck in my opinion is the value of the US dollar versus other currencies. See Extended Story.. January 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Chicago Illinois - Midwest US wire rod prices still falling According to a survey conducted by Japan Iron & Steel Federation, domestic market prices of steel products in the USA trended downward in the Middle West as of December 31st 2008. As a result, there is a view that local market prices will take still more time to bottom out. As of December 31st 2008, Midwest market prices of long products fell by USD 37 from a month ago to USD 875 per tonne for structural shapes and by USD 171 to USD 727 per tonne for wire rods. But they rose by USD 48 from a month ago to USD 620 per tonne for rebars, a rebound for the first time in four months. January 27th, 2009  - Market Stats Baoding China - Hebei Steel Group adjusts ex-work prices Hebei Steel Group, including Tangshan Steel, Chengde Steel and Xuhua Steel announced that exworks prices for wire rods, rebar and HR/CR products will increase. Ex-work prices for rebar and wire rods up by CNY 80 per tonne. 6.5mm high speed wire rod stands at CNY 3660 per tonne. 16mm to 25mm HRB335 rebar goes at CNY 3660 per tonne while 28mm to 32mm HRB335 rebar price goes up by CNY 50 per tonne from 2nd grade rebar and HRB 400 rebar and small rebar prices up by CNY 150 per tonne from 2nd grade rebar. Coiled rebar is priced at CNY 3700 per tonne. January 26th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Base Metals lost 65% of their value in one year Base metals once used to be the hottest commodities as the world was witnessing a construction, retail and information technology boom in the last few years. But in the last one year, base metals like nickel, copper, aluminum and zinc have been steadily losing in value that their stockpiles are jumping up and production cuts are increasing. According to an analysis from Commodity Online Research, base metals have lost a massive 65% of their value in 2008. “Bearish trends are burning the base metals especially in the wake of declining US retail sales and slumping housing across the world, including Asia,” said the report. Copper fell to a one-week low in London, dropping for a third consecutive day, as expanding stockpiles of the metal signaled worsening demand. Aluminum rebounded from a five-year low. Inventories of copper in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 1.2 percent to 422,450 metric tons, the highest since January 2004. The economy in China, the largest user of the metal, grew 6.8 percent in the last quarter, the slowest pace in seven years, the statistics bureau said today. See Extended Story.. January 26th, 2009  - Market Stats Riyadh Saudi Arabia - Rebar and wire rod price in Saudi Arab jump up by US$ 40 Steel Guru reports that wire rod and rebar domestic prices in Saudi Arab have surged in last few days. As per market reports, wire rods prices have increased by SAR 150 per tonne to reach SAR 2200 per tonne to SAR 2400 per tonne levels. Rebar prices are reported to have surged by SAR 140 per tonne to SAR 175 per tonne. The latest price indications, after the increase, from the market are as under. 8mm – SAR 2450 per tonne. 12mm – SAR 2110 per tonne. 16mm – SAR 20280 per tonne. The market sources also added that Saudi Arabian steel major has increased the price levels of the wire rods by SAR 150 per tonne, which translates to about US$ 40 per tonne. January 24th, 2009  - Market Stats Shanghai China, - China steel exports up 7 % in December but wire rod exports lag Reuters reports that China's crude steel output rose 7 percent in December for the first time in six months, in contrast to sharp drops in neighbours Japan and South Korea, as a massive government spending plan pushed mills to lift run rates. Production may further increase in the coming months as China is one of the few countries expected to show a small growth in output this year, encouraged by the spending plans, though global output is seen falling by 7-8 percent, analysts said. The recovery in steel production in December comes as China plans to spend nearly $600 billion to spur its slowing economy, fueling a 25 percent rise in steel prices in just two months from a two-year low in late November. Some steel mills, including Baosteel, have raised steel prices in recent months, reflecting improved market conditions in China but at the same time raising concerns the country's improved output and moves to encourage exports may hurt any recovery in global steel prices. China's steel industry utilization is running at around 70 to 80 percent, already up from around 60 percent in early November, and nearly double the 40 percent seen in the United States. Although its massive infrastructure spending is driving the recovery hopes on long products such as rebar, wire rod and sections, cold-rolled steel is under severe pressure due to the global recession. January 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - Norddeutsche Affinerie's Copper Mail this month offers insight to actual trends in the copper market Annual settlements for 2009 have now been reached on the concentrate market between mining companies and smelters. The agreed TC/RCs at US$ 75/t and cents 7.5/lb are significantly up on the prior year figures, recent spot settlements are even much higher. Mines are fearing that the already started production cutbacks will increase during the year. By contrast, the supply of copper scrap has remained very low. The uncertainty here, similar to the copper product business, is still considerable in view of the lack of reliable basic information. The spot business is currently very subdued in both sectors. For full newsletter use this link January 23rd, 2009  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan's December copper cable shipments down 17.7 pct yr/yr Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell 17.7 percent in December from a year earlier to an estimated 57,600 tonnes due to declines in most sectors including automobiles, industry data showed on Thursday. Shipments to the automobile industry, one of the few bright industrial sectors until late last year, dipped 31.4 percent year-on-year to 5,600 tonnes, declining for the third month in a row. Production cuts by automakers has been a major blow to the copper industry, hit by shrinking demand due to the deepening global recession. January 13th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese rebar and wire rod steel export prices show further increase Mysteel.net reports that Chinese rebar and wire rod price continue to edge up this week on sentiment of further investment in construction. While exports market keep slow anyway. In Shanghai, HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 3610 per tonne to CNY 3620 per tonne; HRB400 grade material is posted at CNY 3790 per tonne up by CNY 100 per tonne and CNY 130 per tonne to CNY 140 per tonne respectively week on week. Prices for commercial wire rod and hi-speed material remain rebound by CNY 170 per tonne and CNY 130 per tonne to CNY 3690 per tonne and CNY 3720 per tonne to CNY 3740 per tonne respectively. Taking Shanghai price for HRB335 20mm rebar as benchmark, there would be further increase as long as it remains above CNY 3500 per tonne. Prevailing export offers for alloyed rebar are at USD 560 per tonne to USD 570 per tonne FOB. Quotations for commercial grade are tagged at USD 620 per tonne to USD 630 per tonne FOB and USD 630 per tonne USD 65 per tonne fob for BS grade product. January 9th, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper rally falters Oil rose on Thursday, after diving 12 percent overnight, but demand concerns pushed metals lower and investors will look to key U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday for further guidance on the macroeconomic outlook. Base metal inventory continued to swell in LME warehouses, with copper surging by 6,375 tonnes to 357,700 tonnes. The Dow Jones AIG index is adding weight to copper and some other metals traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division and the re-weighting takes place from Jan. Prices jumped 12 percent in the past three days as commodities gained on optimism that government spending around the world will revive raw materials demand. Rising U.S. unemployment figures pushed industrial metal prices lower in London yesterday on concern slower growth will damp the outlook. Copper was down to $3,210 a tonne, and nickel declined to $11,650 a tonne and lead touched to $1,157 a tonne. January 9th, 2009  - Market Stats Beijing China - Wuhan steel releases latest Exworks prices for February It is reported that Central China's Wuhan Steel has adjusted its EXW prices for some products in this February on the basis of its January prices. Wire Rod will be up CNY 120 per tonnes for common carbon wire rod and up CNY 300 per tonnes for 82B, and CNY 150 per tonnes for others. Source Steel Guru January 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - Oil and gold tumble, but base metals buck trend. Oil and gold prices fell sharply on Friday as commodity markets made a weak start to 2009 following their worst ever losses last year. Industrial metals, by contrast, bucked the trend with Nickel for three months delivery soaring 15.8 percent to a peak of $13,550 a tonne, the highest price since Oct 30, while lead, tin and zinc also rose sharply on fund buying. Nickel was one of the worst performing commodities in 2008, effectively lowering its weighting in commodity indices, and the index funds are expected to buy the metal as they seek to restore the balance to normal levels. Copper, which slumped more than 50 percent in 2008, rose more modestly to $3,120 a tonne from $3,070 a tonne at the close on Wednesday. U.S. light, sweet crude fell $2.82 or 6.3 percent to $41.78 a barrel by 1255 GMT, reversing part of Wednesday's $5.57 a barrel gains. Oil tumbled 54 percent last year. See Extended Story.. January 3rd, 2009  - Market Stats London U.K. - 2008 global consumption of optical fiber predicted to come in at 134 million fiber-km CRU’s Optical Fiber & Fiberoptic Cable Monitor, (a bi-monthly information service, the worldwide optical cable consumption) reports that a totaled 33.5 million fiber-km in Q3, sustaining the strong demand of Q1 and Q2, when 34.1 million and 34.2 million km of cabled fiber were consumed. The three-quarter total exceeds 100 million km of cabled fiber. Optical cable demand in the first three quarters of 2008 has grown 17% relative to the same period of 2007. Using the average seasonal trend of the last four years, worldwide optical demand for 2008 would come in at 134 million fiber-km, representing 13% growth over the 118 million fiber-km total in 2007. See Extended Story.. December 31st, 2008  - Market Stats Chicago Illinois - Buyers of low carbon steel wire rod continued to see lower prices in December. Average transaction prices reported to purchasingdata.com for wide-flange beams dropped 11% from November to about $814 per ton. Hot-rolled plate (Midwest) dropped 8% to $933. And wire rod plummeted 17% to $741. The exception was rebar, which went up about 13% to $647. December 30th, 2008  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan’s copper cable shipments down sharply in November. Japan's copper cable shipments are expected to be down 16% on year and 10% on month in November, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association (JCMA) said Monday. The JCMA confirmed shipments of copper cable totaled 71,168 metric tons in October, down 8.4% on year, and estimated November shipments would total 63,900 tons. Official November results will be released in late January. December 30th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper prices may have leveled off after 65% drop since July 2008 On Tuesday December 23rd the London Metal Exchange, three-month copper closed at $2,870 a tonne, down from $2,960 Monday, when it touched its lowest price since October 2004. New York Comex followed suit and copper for March delivery dropped 6.45 cents, or 4.8 percent, to close at $1.2810 a lb. At 0236 GMT yesterday saw a rebound on the London Metal Exchange, where three-month copper was at $2,899/ton. Prices of the metal used in power and construction have fallen about 65 percent since a record high of $8,940 in July. The world refined copper surplus rose 67 percent to 120,000 tonnes in the first nine months of the year as weak demand in Japan, the European Union and the United States more than offset strong Chinese demand, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said. December 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod exports see no improvement Chinese rebar and wire rod prices were stable this past week and there is also no price change for export markets. 20 millimeters rebar is being quoted at CNY 3460 per tonnes to CNY 3470 per tonnes; HRB400 grade material is posted at CNY 3570 per tonnes to CNY 3630 per tonnes down CNY 50 per tonnes to CNY 60 per tonnes and CNY 60 per tonnes to CNY 80 per tonnes respectively. Offers for export of alloyed rebar are quoted at between USD 550 per tonnes and USD 570 per tonnes fob. Quotations for commercial grade are tagged at USD 610 per tonnes to USD -630 per tonnes fob and USD 630 per tonnes to USD 640 per tonnes fob for BS grade product. Offer for boron added wire rod has risen to USD 540 per tonnes to USD 570 per tonnes fob and that for material without boron are about USD 600 per tonnes to USD 610 per tonnes fob. That for high carbon 82B goes at USD 640 per tonnes to USD 650 per tonnes fob. Transactions remain thin due to a combination of uncompetitive export price and weak demand by overseas end users. A Shanghai based trader said that their construction steel export business to Middle East have almost stopped for two months due to huge stock at the destination and to work off the inventory may takes at least 4 months. It is not possible for Chinese exporters to compete with suppliers in Turkey and CIS in terms of export price. On the other hand, steel mills are not willing to reduce price further considering better domestic market level. Hence there would be no improvement in construction steel exports soon. December 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US steel wire prices seems to have stabilized. US domestic steel wire prices have stabilized at price levels not seen since the mid 1990th. No wire or wire rod is presently imported at these prices. There is no established floor price in the market as rod inventories are being cleared and most users are shutting down their plants until well after New Year. In the case of automotive related wire many parts suppliers are shut down all of January. As earlier reported some mills are stuck with wire rod inventory that are being converted and the wire sold below rod replacement cost. No one can be sure that prices have dropped to the bottom but one thing is clear once current rod inventory is converted and shipped, wire rod prices will have to drop or wire prices go up before anybody is going to make any more steel wire. The market drop-off came very sudden in October and it will take a couple of month for the market to adjust. December 19th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Chinese copper imports may be rising defying market belief The strength of Chinese copper imports in November seems to have defied market expectations, for the second month running. However, the arbitrage between Shanghai and London remained positive for imports last month and that is still the case this month. Moreover, China's continued appetite for refined copper suggests a more complex dynamic than the simplistic "doom and gloom" view of events in the local market. The first snapshot of China's trade figures in November suggested that refined copper imports actually fell month-on-month. The preliminary report aggregates imports of refined metal, alloy, anode and products. November's 217,214 tonnes were 6.0 percent off the pace of October. However, the second, more detailed breakdown of November trade showed that the decline overly reflected a sharp fall in imports of copper products, which fell to 58,618 tonnes in November from 74,900 tonnes in October. Imports of refined metal, alloy and anode were 158,600 tonnes and, assuming that monthly trade in alloy and anode didn't deviate too far from the average rate of the previous 10 months, imports of refined metal alone were probably around 138,000 tonnes. See Extended Story.. December 18th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US raw steel capacity utilization rate drops to 49% in 2nd week of December American Iron & Steel Industries reported that in the week ending December 13th 2008, US's raw steel production was 1.168 million tons while the capability utilization rate was 49%. Production was 2.102 million tons in the week ending December 13th 2008, while the capability utilization then was 88.1%. The current week production represents a 44.5% YoY decrease from the same period in 2007. Production for the week ending December 13th 2008 is down by 1.2% WoW from the previous week ending December 6th 2008 when production was 1.182 million tons and the rate of capability utilization was 49.5%. Adjusted YTD production through December 13th 2008 was 98.297 million tons, at a capability utilization rate of 82.9%. That is a 4.7% YoY decrease from the 103.104 million tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 87%.AISI's estimate is based on reports from companies representing about 75% of the US's raw steel capability and includes revisions for previous months. December 16th, 2008  - Market Stats Dubai UAE - Qatar Steel sees '09 Gulf rebar demand down 30 percent. Demand for reinforcement steel used in construction, or rebar, in the Gulf Arab region is expected to fall by at least 30 percent in 2009, Qatar Steel said on Monday. "It will be a very challenging year," said Ali Hassan al-Muraikhi, manager at the commercial division at Qatar Steel, a unit of Industries Qatar. "The demand will start declining and the decline will be in the range 30 percent for 2009 considering the (global) financial problems and falling oil prices," he told Metal Bulletin's steel and iron ore conference in Dubai. Infrastructure and construction demand had pushed rebar prices to above $1,500 per tonne in July. Falling demand since then has pushed them to around $500 per tonne currently. "The mills in this region have to consider cutting production. They have to consider the worst-case scenario to cut their costs," he said. See Extended Story.. December 15th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Meps reports Europe's steel market deteriorates into outright chaos We are witnessing unprecedented steel market conditions. As mill order books collapsed, the steel makers were left with substantial amounts of part and fully-finished products. Consequently, there have been very few forward orders and most deals in the last two months have been supplied from producers' ex stock material. Producers continue to impose deep output cuts in the face of this extraordinary downturn in real consumption and a massive de-stocking program by customers. It is likely to be some time in the first half of 2009 before these measures bring the market back into balance and put a floor under ever-decreasing prices. The weak sales are tipped to worsen as the traditionally slow Christmas/New Year period fast approaches. Meanwhile, the steelmakers appear to be delaying any price decisions for the first quarter 2009 as long as possible. See Extended Story.. December 11th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Supply response keeps copper behind the curve Reuters reported Tuesday that copper prices have collapsed over the last few months but there is a growing body of opinion that they have not fallen far enough relative to the other LME metals. There is concern that copper producers have not been responding fast enough to plummeting global demand for the red metal, leaving the copper market vulnerable to further price weakness in the coming period. Since the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper contract is commonly viewed as the bellwether of the base metals complex, often determining overall mood and price direction, the implications are equally significant for the rest of the LME pack. See Extended Story.. December 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Feng Hsin reduces wire rod price by 24% for December After Taiwan~{!/~}s China Steel Corp. announced that its wire rod price for Q1 would be lowered by NT$7,000/ton, its competitor, Feng Hsin, also decided to reduce its December shipment price by NT$7,000/ton to ensure the company's market competitiveness. The rate of the price reduction is about 24 percent and will also retroactively apply to November shipments. Feng Hsin's plan will leave their wire rod price at a lower level than CSC's offer, in order to have a better opportunity to obtain new orders from end users. December 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Seoul Korea - Hyundai Steel cuts construction steel prices by 11% Korean Hyundai Steel recently states that they will reduce price by 11 percent for construction materials since 1 December which has almost reached to the lowest price in the global market due to global financial crisis, reduction of scrap & domestic price and appreciation of exchange rate of KRW. The company~{!/~}s rebar and H-beam prices will be down to 821,000 won/ton and 970,000 won/ton. The lowest KS rebar price in Korean market is US$500/ton currently which is similar to the China~{!/~}s current domestic lowest price US$450/ton (exclusive of 17%tax). December 1st, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - U.S. imports of both steel wire and wire rod rose in October During January to October in 2008, American import of steel products stood at 2.477 million tons, down by 5.6 percent compared with the same period last year. However in October, U.S. witnessed the import of wire and wire rods, as well as pipes rise. The amounts imported from China, Japan, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine increased sharply while that from the Mid-south America and EU dropped dramatically. Till November 25, U.S. has imported 1.93 million tons steel products during this month. The import of steel products in this month may be less than last month, but it will definitely surpass the number last year. US Steel wire & Wire rod imports January - September Product 2008 tonne 2008 value US$ 2007 tonne 2007 value US$ Wire Rods 814,164 741,708 1,192,355 735,533 Drawn Wire 523,629 848,704 566,938 761,363 US Steel wire & Wire rod imports October Preliminary Product 2008 tonne 2008 value US$ 2007 tonne 2007 value US$ Wire Rods 107,268 123,404 83,687 96,819 Drawn Wire 58,736 81,718 54,747 75,419 November 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese domestic wire rod prices shows volatility. Chinese steel index surged to 246.7 from 217 in the first half of 2008. However it returned to 111.1 on November 2nd a sharp decrease of 55% from the peak level. Most traders are astonished at such a swift drop which has never happed in 17 years. Rebar and wire rod prices have seen evident rebound on CNY 4 trillion economy simulation programs by state government. However, industry experts mention that it takes time for Chinese steel industry to recover due to weak demand, much less exports. As Chinese economy is highly dependent on exports, the recession in world economy would lead to less Chinese products and steel as well. November 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - China Steel cut production by 10% and slash prices by 23% in 1st Q. Taiwan~{!/~}s largest maker of the metal China Steel, will slash prices by an average 23 percent for domestic customers, its first cut in almost three years as a global recession damps demand. The company said it will lower price for wire rod by NT$7,000 November 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - MENA region still booming see ICF latest news letter Aggressive expansion has been the main characteristic of the cable industry in most parts of the MENA region with few exceptions like Israel and Iran Over the last two years there has been very strong growth in imports of wire and cable into the countries of the Gulf & Arabian Peninsula. Though there has been growth in several countries of this region, by far the strongest contribution to the total has been in imports into the UAE and Saudi Arabia. To access ICF news letter use this linkto the ICF web site. November 22nd, 2008  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan - Japan October copper cable shipments down 7.9 pct yr/yr 2007 for the data to show a decline in shipments from the automobile sector, which until now had been one of the industrial areas where demand has been fairly robust. Exports also fell year-on-year defying the expectations of industry officials, many of whom had anticipated brisk overseas sales to last at least until March 2009. Only the telecommunications and Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell 7.9 percent in October from a year earlier to an estimated 71,600 tonnes, with a decline in most sectors including automobiles, industry data showed on Friday. It was the first time since August the electric power industry showed a year-on-year increase in October November 21st, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - Producer price index declines 2.8% in October The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 2.8 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported yesterday. Nonferrous wire and cable prices dropped 7.7 percent – the largest monthly decline since 1949. The decrease brings the year-over-year change down 5.4 percent from October 2007. Prices for fabricated ferrous wire products increased 2 percent in October following a slight decrease in price the month prior. Still, prices are up an astonishing 30.55 percent from a year ago. The index for hot rolled steel bars, plates, and structural shapes dropped 8.5 percent following a 4.4-percent decrease in September. "One of the big winners in declining materials prices is the federal government," said Basu. "The next stimulus package will likely possess a significant infrastructure component, and with lower materials prices, the federal government will be able to purchase more infrastructure per dollar. This would appear to be an advantageous moment for the nation to begin to build its 21st century infrastructure, since such investment would address both short- and long-term economic considerations." November 19th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Supply demand imbalance sends EU steel prices in free fall UK based consulting group MEPS said that demand for steel in the EU has collapsed. It said that ~{!0~}Current price levels are, however, hard to verify because very few forward orders are being placed. Buyers are afraid to purchase because selling values are dropping on a daily basis. Moreover, customers' orders books have reduced dramatically - leaving OEM's and distributors with excessive inventories.~{!1~} See Extended Story.. November 8th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - Indian metal prices down on weak global demand. Base metals, copper and nickel turned soft this past week in New Delhi largely in tandem with weak global trends and lost up to Rs 20 per kg. Prices of copper super rod and copper wire bar were down by Rs 20 each at Rs 245 and Rs 222 per kg, respectively. Traders said that Indian market followed LME copper and other base metal prices down on expanding stockpiles and global growth concern. November 6th, 2008  - Market Stats Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey - Global steel demand to fall by 5% in 2009 Mr Peter Marcus managing partner at World Steel Dynamics said that global steel demand will fall by 5% in 2009 as the financial crisis tips economies into recession, curbing purchases of the metal. He added that "New orders for steel in all regions of the world have had probably an unprecedented decline. We have gone from a chill to the deep freeze. Buyers have been on strike since July 2008." Mr Marcus said that the global economic downturn is prompting consumers to delay purchases of homes and cars, driving down steel prices and forcing mills including ArcelorMittal to consider production cuts. Prices of iron ore may fall as much as 30% in the coming year and coking coal may drop as much as 50%. He added that “Global apparent steel demand will be down 3% in 2008 and is expected to fall 5% in 2009. The steel industry is facing at least two years of significant oversupply." November 5th, 2008  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Upturn seen in scrap and billet prices Steel Guru reported yesterday that scrap prices and billet prices have recently seen a slight rebound. Scrap offers CIF Turkey are reported at USD 180 per tonne as against previous levels of USD 150 per tonne. Similarly, it is reported that sellers have increased their billet offers by USD 30 per tonne FOB Black Sea. This signals bottoming out of steel prices and if sellers are successful in getting these increases, steel prices would see some upsurge in coming days. November 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - China Steel Corporation output dropped in September by 9.8% YoY Taiwan's largest steel mill China Steel Corporation has produced 750,008 tonnes of steel and steel products in September 2008, down by 9.8% YoY. Sales volume fell by 9% YoY to 773,391 tonnes, while revenue jumped 32.1% YoY TWD 24.4 billion. For August 2008, output was 900,710 tonnes, sales volume was 870,581 tonnes and revenue was TWD 26.5 billion. For January to September 2008 period, production totaled 7.6 million tonnes, sales volume was 7.7 million tonnes and revenue was TWD 201.2 billion as compared with 7.6 million tonnes, 7.7 million tonnes and TWD 152.2 billion, respectively. November 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Import price of wire rod into US continuing to drop as US dollar rise US import price of wire rod is continuing to drop dramatically, the biggest price drop reached as much as US 88 per tonne. Current import prices of wire rod are prevailing at USD 705 to USD 728 per tonne. Some agents are offering even lower prices since China and Turkey have continually reduced their offers. However, buying sentiment remains poor; buyers are only buying for urgent demand as they waiting for rock bottom prices. Domestic mills are receiving some orders for first half of November, and they will be forced to reduce their prices again for the second half of November and for December, to compete with import sources. November 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Tangshan Hebei China - 50% steel mills idled in Tangshan as recession starts to bite According to a survey by local industry analysts, collapsing global steel markets have caused the closure of half of the steel making capacity in Tangshan. Empty trucks line the roadside and most shops have closed their doors. The closures have led to severe job losses and raise more questions about the health of the Chinese economy. Ms Yao Guoying analyst with Steel Bus, a Tangshan industry information service, said that "More than 50% of blast furnace capacity in the Tangshan area is idle and there are no signs of any improvement. Very few are preparing to re start, and those that are very small." Analysts are struggling to understand the panic selling that has swept through Chinese steel mills and traders and caused average steel prices to fall about 40% since July. Prices this week appear to have stabilized at levels below the cost of production for most Chinese mills, particularly those that are still consuming stockpiles of iron ore and coking coal purchased at earlier high prices. Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices drop See Extended Story.. October 31st, 2008  - Market Stats Mumbai India - India's Metal producers turn off manufacturing as prices decline The slowdown in global economy due to the liquidity crisis has affected among all sectors, the metals industry, such as steel plants wire and tube mills an integral part of the metals sector. are currently mulling production cutbacks and price cuts, a reminder of the situation way back in 2000 when the industry faced its worst crisis ever. The impact isn't limited to steel alone. The non-ferrous industry including aluminum and copper has also seen a sharp reduction in prices although this industry hasn't so far indicated any move toward a cut in production. See Extended Story.. October 30th, 2008  - Market Stats Kolkata India - Steel wire prices down by 20 percent Prices of steel wires have fallen by nearly 20 percent in the last six weeks due to a fall in demand, a top official of the Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India said. "The prices have dropped from Rs.55,000-Rs.60,000 (USD 1,100-USD 1,200) per tonne to Rs.45,000-Rs.50,000 (USD 900-USD 1,000) per tonne," said B.L. Jajodia, chairman of Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India. The export of steel wires, dropped last financial year to 73,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes the year before in 2006-07. "This year we expect to export 100,000 tonnes," he said. Talking about the 10 percent exemption of export duty announced by the government on steel wire, Jajodia said government should do away with the duty as this is resulting in price escalation of the product and the exporters are loosing established markets abroad. The total value of the steel wire industry is estimated to be Rs.49 billion (USD 1 billion). The association is hopeful that it will collectively manufacture 1.5 million tonnes of steel wires this fiscal year. There are about 64 manufacturers in this sector. The major players in this sector are Tata Steel, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Ramsarup Group and the Steel Authority of India Limited. October 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Osaka Japan - Japanese electric wire shipment in September up by 1.6% YoY Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers' Association, announced that Japanese electric copper wire shipment increased by 1.6% YoY to 70,400 tonnes in copper volume in September from a year earlier. The shipment improved for almost all applications from August 2008 and the shipment of optical fiber products increased by 2.5% YoY to 2.57 million kilometers core in August 2008 from a year earlier. October 28th, 2008  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - WSA sees steel demand growth above world GDP in 2009 The World Steel Association said that it still expected growth in steel demand in 2009 and for the medium term above the rate of world GDP growth. Mr Ku Taek Lee chairman of World Steel Association and also chairman & CEO of POSCO said that "We are in a period of high economic uncertainty. The impact on steel markets is becoming more apparent as we move into the later part of 2008. However, we continue to expect growth in steel demand in 2009 and for the medium term, above the world GDP growth rate. "The IMF has previously forecast that global growth would slow from 5% in 2007 to around 3% in late 2008 before reaccelerating towards 4% in 2009. October 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - Crude Steel production falls in September. World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 108.4 million metric tons (mmt) in September. This is 3.2% lower than the same month last year. Total world crude steel production was 1,035.8 mmt in the first nine months of 2008, a 4.6% increase over the same period in 2007. In September 2008, the world crude steel production moving annual total (MAT) growth rate further slowed to 4.7% from 5.6% last month. This coincides with a number of new mills coming on stream. See Extended Story.. October 25th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - LME copper heads for 2nd biggest weekly fall London copper futures fell 5 percent on Friday, their fifth straight day of losses, and with prices down almost 20 percent so far this week, the market is set for its second biggest weekly loss on record. Growing worries the world is heading into a recession have caused copper prices to plummet an astonishing 39 percent in October and the metal will likely also see its biggest-ever monthly slide, surpassing the March 1980 fall of just over 24 percent. Last week, prices dropped by just over 20 percent. "There is still more room on the downside for all metals especially copper," said Judy Zhu, commodity analyst at Standard Chartered Bank. London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months fell 5 percent to $3,840 a tonne by 0711 GMT, having touched a three-year low of $3,815 overnight. "Copper prices are just starting to nibble at the top of the cost curve, but we have not heard of any major cutbacks in production," Zhu said. She added prices could dip to $3,500 and even to $3,000, the bottom of Standard Chartered's cost curve estimates. Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper miner, said the high price super cycle was over and it was taking measures to address slumping prices. "The super cycle has come to an abrupt end," Codelco Chief Executive Jose Pablo Arellano said on Thursday. October 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Domestic steel prices fall despite efforts to reduce output As the world financial crisis continues and markets deteriorate, iron and steel enterprises have taken measures to limit production and keep prices steady. Even with these measures, the domestic steel prices index fell for the first time in years. The major steel market specific varieties are: construction steel prices fell sharply, with a price decline of more than 650 Yuan per ton. While construction steel prices fell in general, the high-end products that are in Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Changsha and other similar areas declined most sharply, with a per-ton average price drop of 850 Yuan. There were 51 steel producers and 35 wire manufacturers that have adjusted their prices downwards this week and Guangzhou Iron and Steel and Shaoguan Iron and Steel led the charge with their one-time, high-end, ex-factory price drops of up to 850 Yuan per ton. Shagang cut the price of their construction steel products by 600 Yuan per ton. October 18th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwanese wire rod prices continue to tumble YIEH.com reports that the wire rod price in Taiwanese market is dropping continuously. The reason for this price decline lay in the fact that the demand and the market are very sluggish at this moment. The import wire rod price of killed steel from China has dropped below TWD 22,000 per tonne, but the price still can’t be acceptable for buyers. Taiwan’s China Steel Corporation’s domestic wire rod price of Al killed steel is at TWD 31,000 per tonne and this price is also too high to make out sufficient sales at this moment. Some dealers said that they must decrease the price in order to digest the stocks and to get the cash of flow, therefore some prices have been dropped to TWD 28,000 per tonne even to TWD 27,000 per tonne. October 15th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel market under adjustment amid weak demand MySteel.net reported Sunday that the financial tsunami continues across the world despite the attempted USD 700 billion bailout and dragging down the steel market further in China after the National Day holiday. On October 6th, 4.75mm HRC price plunged CNY 200 per tonne to some CNY 4300 per tonne in Shanghai, while plate, rebar and wire rod also followed down. See Extended Story.. October 14th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel market plunges with price collapses Steel Guru reports that domestic price of major steel products continues dropping and is struggling at its bottom line following October 6th, the first workday after the National Holiday. Market participants are all flurried to future. Shanghai HRC price plunges CNY 200 per tonne to CNY 3930 per tonne closing the deal at the limit down in electronic trade the second time successively. Beijing construction steel price caves with rebar price falls CNY 180 per tonne to CNY 4250 per tonne wire rod price dives CNY 120 per tonne to CNY 4130 per tonne. On the one hand, steel output released simultaneously in advance contributes the crash of HRC price partially, on the other hand, dull housing market also generates the collapse of steel construction price indirectly. October 14th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - India’s metals prices melt on turmoil in global markets. The slide in base metals continued unabated in the national capital on Friday largely in tandem with weak trend on the London Metal Exchange on concerns of a global economic slowdown. A weakening rupee, which dipped to a six-and-a-half-year l ow of 49.26 against the dollar, too, put pressure on prices. Tin also remained under selling pressure and fell sharply to Rs 930 a kg from Rs 1020, while nickel (4x4)melted down to Rs 830-1000 a kg from Rs 994-1141. Traders said weak trends at global markets, reduced off-take by consuming industries and weakening rupee mainly affected base metal prices. Following were today's quotations per kg (in Rs): Tin ingot 930, zinc ingot (Hindustan) 89, nickel plate (4x4) 8 30-1000, antimony (china) 260-300, gun metal scrap 259, bell metal scrap 245, copper wire scrap 290, copper super d rod 310, copper wire bar 307, copper mixed scrap 300, C C rod 308, Utensil scrap 292, Chadripital 249, brass sheet cutting 350, bullet scr ap 245, Bharat scrap 240, accessories scrap 243, brass boring 222-235, brass radiator scrap 195 and huny scrap 227. Lead ingot (Hindustan Zinc) 89, lead imported 90, aluminum ingots 112, sheet cutting 115, aluminum wire scrap 130 and aluminum utensil s scrap 110. October 8th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US wire rod prices soften further American wire rod mills are trying to stabilize the market price although they are once again facing lower import prices due to an escalating dollar exchange rate. As per media reports, most American domestic rod mills reports constantly softening low carbon wire price now, but the deals are still in logjam due to lower demand and lower import prices. Besides, the American wire rod price keeps on falling in-line with the dropping scrap price. Meanwhile, the import prices from both China and Turkey are dipping consecutively. The Turkish price is very competitive recently. However, Chinese steel mills try to decrease the selling price in order to gain the orders. The buyers just wait and see presently, they don’t want to place big orders due to lower demand and instable economy. October 6th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Yieh Hsing to cut stainless steel wire rod prices Yieh Hsing Enterprise Co., Ltd, one of main wire rod producers in Taiwan, has announced to decrease stainless steel wire rod prices by NT$4,000/ton. In the mean time, Walsin Lihwa Corp., is also following suit. Yieh Hsing expects to attract more buyers and gain more sales after prices reducing. Yieh Hsing will also trim its carbon steel wire rod prices by NT$2,000/ton in an effort to reduce current stocks. However, the offers will be different depending on order quantities, according to the company. (source Yieh.com) October 1st, 2008  - Market Stats Teheran Iran - Iran’s rebar prices falling Iran’s rebar prices are still falling; current 12-25mm rebar prices have dropped to around US$1,000/ton compared to US$1,050/ton a week ago. Azarbaijan Steel failed in its rebar sale on the Iran Mercantile Exchange because the buyer asked for US$880/ton which the mill thought was too low. Some agents facing the same situation offered US$1,020/ton for Chinese rebar. Rebar shipments have decreased by a large range because buyers are delaying their purchases as prices continue to drop. Some private mills are forced to sell at lower prices for cash, under the condition of the current market recession October 1st, 2008  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Turkish wire rod market remains weak Turkey’s domestic wire rod market remained weak, and since the end users can not predict the future trend of the economy, they won’t release their orders.Turkish end users have offers from Chinese and Italian suppliers. China’s suppliers offer an attractive price while Italy’s suppliers offer good quality. However, buying activity remains poor because the end users still have a large amount of stock now. In Dubai domestic market, the price of SAE 1008 with 6.5 mm dia. is US$750/ton. Meanwhile, China’s mills quote SAE 1008 wire rod with boron element at US$800-860/ton. September 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Tunis, Tunisia - Tunisia, soon a leader in the automotive wire and cable industry. Tunisia produces 2% of the world~{!/~}s automotive wire and cable production. It is also the sixth provider of car cables to the European market, including for such major car brands as Audi, Volkswagen Mercedes, but also Renault and Fiat. There are currently some 65 foreign car cable companies in Tunisia, mostly from Germany, France and Italy. So far, foreign direct investments have amounted 251,745 million dinars, (US$ 206,585 million) and the number of jobs generated by the sector has reached 25,418. Thanks to a 30 year old experience and to the competitiveness of its technicians and engineers, Tunisia has become the region~{!/~}s top automotive cable manufacturer and one of the world~{!/~}s leaders in the sector. Several automotive cable companies are increasingly investing in Tunisia, thanks to the many incentives the country offers. www.investintunisia.tn See Extended Story.. September 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington September - US steel wire rod imports fell 34.5% in August as economy slows US steel imports fell to 2.13 million tonne in August, down 19.3% from July and an 11.3% decrease from August 2007, according to preliminary data reported Tuesday by the US Commerce Department. For the first eight months of 2008, total steel imports decreased to 19.2 million tonne, down 10.8% from 21.5 million tonne for the same period a year ago. Among finished products, concrete reinforcing bars fell by 649,448 tonne (-46.1%) to 757,942 tonne, while wire rod imports fell by 379,164 tonne (-34.5%) to 721,268 tonne. Both of these products are subject to high tariffs, but imports primarily declined this year because world prices climbed above US price levels. As a result, foreign producers shifted goods to other overseas markets. Imports of cold-rolled sheet fell by 298,907 mt (-24.6%). September 27th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Is copper market edging into surplus? The International Copper Study Group's (ICSG) reports that copper may be edging into production-consumption surplus. The report covering the first half of 2008 suggests that a market correction is long over due, given the market's prolonged period of low inventory and prices that remain super high by any historical yardstick. The recent trend is still a tentative one and could yet be blown off course by the red metal's notoriously unpredictable supply side. The global refined copper market has recorded only one year of surplus since 2002, according to the ICSG figures. It happened in 2006, when supply outpaced demand by 239,000 tonnes. Since it followed three years of deficit, totaling a cumulative 1,454,000 tonnes, the 2006 surplus was too small to make much difference. Refined copper stocks held by the big three exchanges rose by 96,500 tonnes that year, not enough to create any sort of comfort cushion after several years of severe attrition. The rest of the surplus disappeared into equally depleted off-market stocks. The market swung back to deficit last year, albeit to the tune of a much more modest 23,000 tonnes. That, however, prevented any further build in inventory. The global refined market was in 130,000-tonne deficit again in the first half of this year, according to the ICSG's latest bulletin. September 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Chongqing China - China aluminum output roars on, despite price collapse Reuters reports that China's aluminum market, the world's largest, will remain weak for the next six months if smelters do not cut production by at least half a million tonnes before the end of the year. But few smelters are likely to pare production, despite some marking losses as prices plunge to their lowest since 2004 the report said. At a conference in the central city of Chongqing, officials from Chinese aluminum smelters, alumina refineries and trading firms said prices would continue at levels well below marginal costs, unless smelters significantly cut back output. Chinese smelting capacity has exploded in recent years. In the first eight months of 2008, the country produced 8.9 million tonnes of metal and is on track to churn out more than 13 million tonnes in the whole of 2008, twice the output in 2004. Worries about oversupply and soft demand have dragged Shanghai aluminum futures down by almost a quarter since mid-June, to a 4-year low of 15,200 yuan, as stocks balloon and demand for aluminium products both domestically and abroad slows. September 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese steelmakers further lower product prices. More than 10 Chinese steelmakers followed the heels of Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. to cut their product prices (wirenews September 24). Nanjing Iron & Steel United Co., Ltd. reduced prices of high-speed steel by CNY 200 per ton and those of ordinary round steel bar by CNY 100 per ton. China's top private steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., Ltd. lowered prices of No. 80 hard drawn steel wire and cold-heading steel products by CNY 100 each ton. Maanshan Steel Co., Ltd. said yesterday that it would give distributors in Guangdong Province CNY 390 a ton for every ton of galvanized steel that the latter previously bought at prices higher than current market prices. And distributors in other areas would get similar subsidies of CNY 490 per ton for galvanized steel and CNY 320 each ton for color-coated steel products. China's top steelmaker Baosteel previously lowered prices of most of its products by around CNY 800 per ton for November, amid sluggish steel market. September 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Baoshan China - Steel wire rod prices drop as slowdown starts to bite. According to Mr Zhoutao Guojin Securities analyst in midst of the weak steel market and constantly decreasing prices, Baosteel again lowered its prices for Nov on top of October adjustments. This may help drive up downstream demand and could aid the annual benchmark ore pricing talks. By a bigger range than in October Baosteel pruned price of most steel varieties this time: 1. Steel billet and die steel by CNY 800 per tonne and CNY 1800 per tonne respectively 2. Ultra-low carbon wire rod by CNY 300 per tonne 3. Cold heading steel, high-carbon steel, PC wire and steel fiber by CNY 150 per tonne or CNY 200 per tonne. See Extended Story.. September 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export price decrease further. MySteel.net reports that export offer for Chinese construction steel continue to go down and trading remain thin. On Shanghai market, HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 4750 per tonne to CNY 4770 per tonne; HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 4740 per tonne to CNY 4780 per tonne down by CNY 20 per tonne and up by CNY 20 per tonne respectively from last Friday. That for commercial wire rod drops by CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 60 per tonne to CNY 4650 per tonne to CNY 4660 per tonne that for hi-speed material saw a great decrease of CNY 30 per tonne to CNY 40 per tonne to CNY 4690 per tonne. Export offers continue to dive Some producers are quoting rebar (boron added) at USD 750 per tonne FOB down by USD 50 per tonne to USD 70 per tonne from early last week. USD 720 per tonne FOB is also heard for rebar with boron. A Shandong based steel maker say that transaction level over USD 700 per tonne FOB could break even for them. Quotation for wire rod goes at about USD 780 per tonne FOB a drop of USD 40 per tonne to USD 50 per tonne. September 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Alpharetta Georgia - Mills reduce prices of steel rebar, merchant bar as scrap prices collaps With benchmark shredded scrap prices collapsing by $170/gross ton this month to $400, some steel producers have cut prices by $70/net ton on rebar to $986 and $50/ton on merchant bar to $994. Nucor and Gerdau Ameristeel have issued letters to customers indicating that they have cut prices on both steel long products while Keystone Steel & Wire has cut rebar prices by $70. See Extended Story.. September 15th, 2008  - Market Stats Mumbai India - Metal index at 52-week low on softening prices The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) metal index closed at a 52-week low on Friday mainly due to the decline in metal prices globally during the week. The index declined by 7.7 per cent as compared with the 3.3 per cent fall in BSE’s benchmark index, the Sensex. Since September 5, 2008, the metal index has shed 904.35 points to close on 10,881.42 on Friday. On the London Metal Exchange (LME), metal prices declined in the range of four per cent to eight per cent during the week. The copper wire bar, lead, zinc and nickel prices fell more than five per cent each. In the domestic market, steel stocks fell after the steel ministry recommended a 5 per cent duty on iron ore exports in addition to the present 15 per cent to control the domestic prices of steel. September 12th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel rod export prices drop further. Chinese steel wire rod prices for export continue to go down as steel mills are trying their best to get overseas orders. However, most exporters find it difficult to conclude business as buyers are not in rush to import despite much lower than before. In Shanghai, HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 4820 per tonne to CNY 4840 per tonne while merchant wire rod price dropped by CNY 140 per tonne to CNY 4770 per tonne to CNY 4780 per tonne. Steel makers have cut export offers again this week due to slow demand. Some producers are now quoting rebar at USD 820 per tonne FOB and there is also report of even lower level of USD 780 per tonne FOB down USD 70 per tonne to USD 80 per tonne from early this month. September 12th, 2008  - Market Stats Riyadh Saudi Arabia - Infrastructure developments will demand more fiber optic cables in Middle East's Asian market. The fiber optic cable market in Middle East Asia shows continuous upward growth from the year 2005 to 2008, both in the market demand and in the production and fiber consumption by the manufacturers in the region. The Optic fiber consumption in Saudi Arabia by its 3 cable manufacturers topped the region with 1 million fiber kilometers use in the fiber optic cables produced in the year 2007. Out of this 1 million Middle east fiber cable co. has its highest share among the three manufacturers by leaving Riyadh cables to the second position. Middle East Fiber Cable Company, MEFC is planning to tap the regions potential market and the future demand by expanding its existing cable manufacturing facility with additional machineries from Rosendahl, an Austrian cable machine manufacturer. Middle East Fiber Cable Co. MEFC is investment collaboration with one of the major Optical fiber cable, accessories and equipment manufacturer from Japan, M/s Fujikura Ltd. See Extended Story.. September 11th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Global mine project development explodes to $240 Billion. With more than $240 billion in planned mining projects worldwide, the mining industry is exploding with activity. Earlier worldwide demand and historically high commodity prices have been driving grass root mine construction and mine expansion projects. However, escalating development costs, and this week's collapse of commodity prices are placing constraints on project implementation. Will iron ore contracts be renegotiated? Wire rod traders are cautious waiting for prices to ‘bottom out’ before making a come back to the market. How are cable producers and especially distributors cooping with the rapidly descending copper price? September 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwanese long steel product prices dropped last week Taiwan’s long steel product prices have decreased last week. Feng Hsin Iron & Steel reduced steel rebar price by TWD 2,000 per tonne to TWD 23,500 per tonne. And the current market price in South of Taiwan has fell to TWD 23,000 per tonne. Though China Steel Corporation raised the price of wire rod by TWD 1,800 per tonne, the market remains quiet. Current retailed price of CSC’s Al killed wire rod has dropped from TWD 35,000 per tonne to TWD 34,000 per tonne. Besides, prices of angle bar, channel steel, flat bar and square billet decreased by TWD 1,500 per tonne. Price of H-beam kept stable at TWD 37,000 per tonne. September 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Handan Hebei China - Handan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd raises wire rod price Mysteel.com reports that Handan Steel has raised prices by CNY 30 per tonne for wire rod and CNY 70 per tonne for rebar and round steel, on the basis of August settlement price for construction steel published by Hebei Iron % Steel Group. Latest price stands at CNY 5130 per tonne for 6.5mm high speed wire rod and CNY 5200 per tonne for HRB335 16mm to 25mm rebar. In the meanwhile prices for common carbon medium plate and shipbuilding plate are kept firm. The prices listed include a 17% Value added tax VAT, effective as of September 8th. September 6th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Commodities decline on weak global demand The Standard & Poor's GSCI gauge of 24 commodity futures has fallen for six consecutive sessions and is down 27 percent from a record in July, signaling a bear market. Copper headed for the biggest weekly drop since January 2007. Aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc also dropped The New York-based Conference Board today said the U.S. economy is ``stagnant,'' Europe is falling into a recession and central banks won't have much room to cut borrowing costs. The unemployment rate in the U.S., the world's second-biggest copper consumer and top oil user, climbed to a five-year high. Copper for delivery in three months fell $331, or 4.6 percent, to $6,895 a metric ton at 10:50 a.m. New York time on the London Metal Exchange. That's a weekly drop of 8.2 percent, the steepest loss since the week ending Jan. 5, 2007. Stockpiles monitored by the LME rose to a three-year high, signaling slowing demand in China, the world's biggest buyer of the metal. September 6th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K . - Nickel risks further sharp fall on slow demand. Nickel prices could plunge another 25 per cent by the end of this year, unless orders from stainless steel producers in Europe pick up in the next two to three weeks. London Metal Exchange nickel has already experienced a steep decline this year -- three-month metal is down 23 per cent and traded around $20,060 per tonne on Friday. Undermining the market has been weaker-than-expected off-take from the stainless steel sector, which accounts for around two-thirds of nickel consumption. Demand for stainless steel, has fallen as consumers slow spending due to fears of economic recession and distributors delay restocking until the market stops sliding. See Extended Story.. September 6th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - China copper imports seen rising for 2nd month in August China's imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products are expected to rise for the second consecutive month in August, boosted by lower domestic stocks and firmer Chinese prices. The imports should include 95,000-99,000 tonnes of refined copper, a key indicator of the appetite of the world's top consumer, but a full breakdown will only be released around Sept 22. China imported 88,075 tonnes of refined copper in July, up 16 percent on the month. "August's imports certainly should rise but should stay below 100,000 tonnes, given that arbitrage rates did not improve that much," said Wang Danping, an analyst at Jinrui Futures, a subsidiary of the country's top copper producer Jiangxi Copper. Domestic supply had fallen as a result of low imports in the previous few months, triggering imports, she said. The discount for Shanghai's three-month copper futures to the benchmark London contract, including China's 17 percent value-added tax, contracted to about 500 yuan this week, compared to 6,000 yuan earlier this year. Chinese investors tend to buy LME copper and sell the Shanghai metal when the discount disappears or contracts. See Extended Story.. September 6th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Zinc prices to slide further experts say Zinc prices continue to slide and before the market turns upwards, which, experts say is not any time soon, mine closures and output cuts can be expected while zinc prices drop. Weak demand and global oversupply will keep prices falling into 2010 some experts say. "We would need very, very, very significant production losses to bring the market back to balance" in 2009, said Giles Lloyd of industry consultants CRU Group. "Some producers are now realizing that they were being a bit hopeful thinking that the market could turn in 2010." The metal, mainly used to galvanize steel, is one of the worst performers in the metals complex this year. In August it dropped to its lowest level since November 2005 and is now trading around $1,745 a tonne, down almost 25 percent this year. Weaker demand will also slow the recovery of zinc prices. CRU's Lloyd said the signs are that demand in China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal, is beginning to slow strongly, and that the debate is whether internal demand will slow as export markets for China also weaken. Consumption is also falling in Europe, the next biggest consuming region after China, as economies slow down. European refined zinc demand fell 7.8 percent in the first half of 2008 from the year-earlier period, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group. Demand in Japan and the United States was little changed. September 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Jakarta Indonesia - Steel import soars on robust demand Indonesian steel imports reached a record high during the first seven months of the year due to limited production capacity and soaring demand driven by government-sponsored infrastructure projects. Imports of iron and steel were higher in the period than in the whole of last year, leading analysts to predict total imports this year will double last year's. According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), imports of iron and steel and their products in the seven-month period reached almost US$7 billion, or equivalent to 7.5 million tons, up by 127 percent from $3.08 billion, or 3.5 million tons, in the same period last year. The figure for this year's period is about 1.5 million tons more than the 6 million tons received in full in 2007. See Extended Story.. September 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Wuhan, Hubei China - WISCO, slashes October prices by CNY 400 to CNY 600 per tonne Steel Guru reports that Central China's Wuhan Steel (Wisco) has cut October prices for some products significantly. Most prices have been pulled down by CNY 400 per tonne to CNY 600 per tonne on the basis of September prices. 1. Wire Rod down by CNY 100 per tonne for common carbon wire rod from Q3 level down by CNY 200 per tonne for other wire rod 2. CR down by CNY 320 per tonne 3. HDG down by CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 350 per tonne 4. Silicon Steel up by CNY 2000 per tonne for grain-oriented silicon steel. Prices for domestic steel products have declined for the seven consecutive weeks. But prices for some products tend to stop sliding or even inch up. August 27th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper down on firm dollar. Rising stocks and a firmer U.S. dollar dampened sentiment in industrial metals on Tuesday, while investors awaited U.S. data for more clues about the health of the global economy and future demand. "We are looking for more downside in copper, towards $7,000 per tonne very short term, until we see any signs of a pick up particularly in Chinese import buying," said analyst Gayle Berry at Barclays Capital. London Metal Exchange copper for delivery in three months fell $135 to $7,525 a tonne by 0932 GMT, after diving by 2.6 percent on Friday before a long weekend with London closed on Monday. See Extended Story.. August 27th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Nickel hits the producer pain threshold Xstrata has just provided ample evidence that nickel prices have now sunk to a level where producers at the higher end of the cost curve are feeling the pain. The company said Tuesday its Falcondo ferronickel operations in the Dominican Republic would be suspended temporarily due to "market conditions". The downtime is expected to be around four months, implying a loss of 9,500-10,000 tonnes of nickel in ferronickel to the market. See Extended Story.. August 25th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese Rebar and Wire rod export prices drop Mysteel.net reported Saturday that Chinese construction steel prices speed up its drop and this is also the case with export prices. Domestic market prices are still on the decrease .Shanghai market prices for HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 4940 per tonne to CNY 4960 per tonne, HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 5000 per tonne to CNY 5030 per tonne down by CNY 200 per tonne to CNY 230 per tonne from last Tuesday. Commercial wire rod is at CNY 4840 per tonne to CNY 4850 per tonne that for hi speed material goes at CNY 4900 per tonne to CNY 4910 per tonne a decrease of CNY 470 per tonne and CNY 480 per tonne from early last week. Mysteel forecasts, taking Shanghai price for HRB335 20mm rebar as benchmark, it is going to reach CNY 4900 per tonne in the short term. If it falls below CNY 4900 per tonne, the next target would be CNY 4700 per tonne or even CNY 4500 per tonne. However, there would be rebound if it could remain above CNY 4900 per tonne. Export offers for rebar are about USD 920 per tonne to USD 930 per tonne for 10mm to 25mm. While BS4449 Grade 460 rebar with CARES certification at USD 1200 per tonne FOB to USD 1250 per tonne FOB. Quotations for wire rod are being exported at USD 960 per tonne to USD 950 per tonne FOB and that for material with boron is about USD 15 per tonne to USD 20 per tonne lower. August 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Doha Qatar - Qatar Steel net profits surge despite three-month freeze on prices QATAR Steel shrugged off the effects of a three-month price freeze by recording a threefold increase in net profits for the first half of 2008. The subsidiary of Industries Qatar (IQ) earned a net profit of QR1.22mn in the first half of this year compared with QR0.47mn in the year-ago period. Qatar Steel contributed 27% to IQ’s overall net profit of QR4.60bn in the review period, which more than doubled from QR2.05bn in January-June 2007, according to the financial statements. Its contribution to IQ’s net profit was 23% in the year-ago period. The surge in first half net profitability came amidst only 75% growth in Qatar Steel’s total revenue to QR3.08mn. Qatar Steel had decided to keep steel prices unchanged for three months until June as part of its measures to contain inflation in the country. Highlighting that the prices for the second quarter 2008 had been fixed, Qatar Steel general manager Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad al-Thani said, accordingly, the current retail price for standard sizes (16–40mm) would range from QR3,250-QR3,300 per metric tonne. These prices were lower by around QR1,000 per metric tonne compared with those in other GCC countries, said Qatar Steel, one of the largest integrated steel plans in the Arabian Gulf. See Extended Story.. August 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Taiwanese July wire rod imports dips by 47% from June Taiwan~{!/~}s import volume of wire rod in July 2008 has decreased by 47% MoM to 17,990 tonnes from last month. Size of D<14mm totaled 13,683 tonnes and the average price was TWD 28,730 per tonne. The import volumes in the January to July 2008 period reached 309,391 tonnes, decreased by 16% YoY. Besides, the exports in July 2008 decreased by 23% MoM to 17,948 tonnes. The imports of D<14mm totaled 16,335 tonnes and the average price was around TWD 27,490 per tonne. The total export in January to July 2008 period hit 145,412 tonnes, up by 4% YoY. August 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Rebar and wire rod prices crash by USD 200 at Black Sea It is reported that prices for rebars and wire rod FOB Black Sea crashed heavily this week The change in price levels between August 8th 2008 and August 15th 2008 is as under 1. Rebars – USD 220 per tonne 2. Wire rods – USD 200 per tonne August 16th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese wire rod prices continue to drop Mysteel reports that Chinese steel makers are quite careful on quotations of construction steel products citing the possible risk of price drop and contract default. Domestic market prices keep going down. Shanghai market prices for HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at 5130 per tonne to 5140 per tonne, HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 5220 per tonne to CNY 5260 per tonne down by CNY 10 per tonne and CNY 20 per tonne from last Thursday. Commercial wire rod is at CNY 5310 per tonne that for hi speed material goes at CNY 53300 per tonne to CNY 5370 per tonne a decrease of CNY 70 per tonne and CNY 100 per tonne from late last week. Quotations for wire rod are being exported at USD 980 per tonne to USD 990 per tonne FOB and there has been contract price of USD 960 per tonne to USD 970 per tonne FOB. That for material with boron is about USD 15 per tonne to USD 20 per tonne lower. See Extended Story.. August 16th, 2008  - Market Stats - Insulated wire & cable demand in China to grow 13.1% annually through 2011 Demand for insulated wire and cable in China is forecast to increase 13.1 percent annually through 2011 to yens 335 billion. Gains will be fueled by strong gross fixed investment in power grid, telecommunication and building construction, as well as by further increases in production of products that incorporate insulated wire and cable. In order to accommodate the needs of the rapidly expanding industrial sector and to provide a solid foundation for continued economic development, the Chinese government is focusing on expanding and modernizing the country's utility facilities, including power grids and telecommunication networks. This is providing significant opportunities for power, electronic and telephone wire, and fiber optic cable suppliers. See Extended Story.. August 16th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US wire rod prices may start to slide US domestic wire rod market is seeing a correction and the price may begin to slide, although domestic mills are increasing their prices for August 2008. A combination of dropping import offers and weak demand for scrap are the main reason. Some mills in South Korea and Malaysia are showing greater interest in the US market, as they are trying to offset weak markets at home, said a trader. Their prices are not attractive now, but it is expected that they will be offering more competitive prices soon. There is also reports out of China that Chinese steel exports in July rebound to reach record levels According to the latest data from Chinese Customs, Chinese finished steel products export volume in July 2008 has hit fresh year high of 7.21 million tonnes up by 38.1% MoM and up by 21.4% YoY. Current US wire rod prices quoted by domestic mills are prevailing at USD 1,235 per metric ton to USD 1,257 per ton and USD 1,290 per ton to USD 1,312 per ton for high carbon wire rod. US wire rod imports totaled 75,546 tons in July 2008 as compared to 138,325 tons in the corresponding month of last year. August 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Guixi City, Jiangxi Province - Jiangxi Copper says demand from appliance makers has dropped. Metal consumption may grow less than 10 percent this year in China, slower than 2007, Zhao Mingwang general manager of rod and wire sales at the nation's second-biggest maker of the metal, said in a phone interview this past week. Manufacturers of appliances and electronics account for 20 percent of copper demand in China. Slowing global economic growth and a rising yuan have sapped China exports growth, with shipments gaining at the slowest pace in four months in June. Copper for cash delivery gained 17 percent this year, raising costs for manufacturers. "Small and medium-sized companies such as air-conditioner makers were seriously hurt by a slump in exports," Zhao said. "Demand in the second half may improve because of a rebound in power equipment investment." The country's worst snowstorms in five decades in February delayed investment in power equipment in the first quarter, and demand may pick up in the second half, Zhao said. Half of China's copper demand comes from the power industry, and another 15 percent is from transportation, according to research company Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Warsaw Poland - Domestic construction steel demand still strong wire rods prices up 65-80% in H1 Polish steel marker Konsorcjum Stali has introduced steep price hikes for steel materials over the last six months, most notably in the case of construction steel. In H1 2008, prices of steel produced by Konsorcjum surged on average by 51% YoY to stand at PLN 990 per tonne. Prices of reinforcement rods and wire rods have gone up the most, rising from between 65% and up to 80%. According to the producer, the price increases are a direct consequence of rising costs of raw materials and electricity, and indirectly have been triggered by world oil and gas prices. August 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Chinese steel prices drop as demand falls Chinese domestic market prices are still on the decrease. Shanghai market prices for HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 5130 per tonne to CNY 5150 per tonne, HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 5250 per tonne to CNY 5280 per tonne down by CNY 60 per tonne and CNY 100 per tonne from last Thursday. Commercial wire rod is at CNY 5380 per tonne that for hi-speed material goes at CNY 5440 per tonne to CNY 5460 per tonne a decrease of CNY 20 per tonne and CNY 100 per tonne from late last week See Extended Story.. August 10th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Stainless steel demand and prices are in a slide MEPS says. UK based MEPS said that "US stainless steel consumption dropped by 12.5% YoY in second quarter and may have dropped even more when April to June quarter data is tabulated. In fact, global demand growth for stainless steel mill products slowed so much in the second quarter that there now is world oversupply, according to a market review by Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu, which produces stainless steel at plants in Finland, the United Kingdom and the US." Meps added that global production of stainless steel in the second quarter increased by around 2% from the first quarter despite hefty production cuts in Asia, especially in China. Also, uncertainty about the global economic situation has affected buyer behavior and softened demand. Spain's Acerinox SA, the world's largest stainless-steel producer, said last month a slump in the property market is eroding orders and prices. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Auckland New Zealand - Pacific Steel hikes prices by 18% New Zealand's steelmaker Pacific Steel Group has announced a price rise by 18% on its rebar and wire rod products, effective from September 1st 2008. According to Pacific Group general manager, price increases are caused from soaring cost of scrap metal and additional factors are higher freight charges, price boost for electrodes, carbon and vanadium and weak NZ dollars. The new price adjustment is followed by previous 25% rise in May, and 60% increase for the year. Although prices climb dramatically, the demand in New Zealand and Australia continues to exceed supply. The company general manager comments that the price of steel will hold steady for a while after a series of rises. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Tokyo ,Japan - Japanese steel export hits record in H 1 JMB reported that Japanese steel export increased by 11.1% YoY to 19.841 million tonnes in January to June from same period of 2007 and the export value increased by 8.2% YoY to JPY 2.15 trillion. The volume and value was record since start of the statistics in 1979. The export increased for European Union and Asian countries while the export dropped for USA both in volume and value. The steel import decreased by 13.1% YoY to 3.941 million tonnes and the import value increased by 5.1% YoY to JPY 534.036 billion. The import volume decreased from USA, EU and Asia while the value decreased from USA and EU. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export price decrease Mysteel.net reports that Chinese domestic construction steel market is quiet this week and export prices have seen evident decrease. Taking Shanghai price for HRB335 20mm rebar as benchmark, the strength to initiate another round of increase will not disappear as long as it is above CNY 4900 per tonne. But the downward correction is expected to sustain for another 2 to 3 weeks. Export offers for rebar have dropped by about USD 30 per tonne to USD 40 per tonne to USD 1040 per tonne to USD 1050 per tonne FOB and those with boron is about USD 980 per tonne FOB. Offers for BS grade rebar to Middle East are enjoying higher level of USD 1250 per tonne to USD 1300 per tonne CFR. Quotations for wire rod with boron is being exported at USD 980 per tonne to USD 990 per tonne FOB up and offers for material without boron are at between USD 1100 per tonne FOB to USD 1120 per tonne FOB. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - Steel prices dip up to 6 pc in last fortnight Government on Friday said steel prices have declined up to six per cent during the last fortnight on the back of measures taken by primary steel producers to check the alloy prices at retail levels. "During the last fortnight, steel prices in respect of pig iron, ingots, rounds, TMT, angles, plates, GP sheets and sponge iron have come down in the range of 3-6 per cent," an official statement said. It added that retail prices of hot-rolled (HR) coil, cold-rolled (CR) coil and wire rods have also shown a downward trend, mainly on account of "strict vigilance exercised over the dealers". See Extended Story.. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats New Dehli India - New Indian steel price index to show you market trends Amidst the currently prevailing volatile and speculative steel price scenario in India, SteelGuru.com has started the much needed barometer to track and measure the price movements on daily basis. Steel prices being an issue at the forefront in the context of inflation, drawing significant government attention, making up for about 4 per cent in the Wholesale Price Index(WPI), has been media~{!/~}s most favorite and hot topic at the moment. Unfortunately, the facts are misrepresented very often due to complexity in the structure and the dynamics of the steel market, leaving the users of the information mostly in a state of confusion. See Extended Story.. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Steel prices leveling off In China, the recent positive price trend has started to turn down. Market players feel the situation may be short lived as domestic supply will remain restricted, partly due to a shortfall in electricity caused by the hot summer plus planned output curbs ahead of and during the Olympic Games. Excellent sales to the automotive sector, industrial machinery manufacturers and ship builders are helping to keep supply tight in Japan. Export business is also brisk. However, dealers' shipments remain slow because of poor building demand. Inventories of strip mill products held by Japanese steelmakers and distributors, at end May, moved up by 1.6 percent, compared to April - the second successive monthly increase. Quayside stocks of imported flat products rose by 11.5 percent during June. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Baoding Hebei China - Growth of steel export in Hebei slowed down in H1 Hebei Workers' Newspaper reported last week that in H1 2008 the export of steel and other related products in Hebei province was valued at USD 3.33 billion increase by 28% YoY, which falls by a big margin than last year. The main steel varieties for export totaled 3.04 million tonnes, declining 0.9% YoY, with the growth of value also dropping from 111.5% to 51.3%. After the government took measures of lowering export rebate for steel products and of levying taxes since last April, effect has been seen in correcting the volume and structure of steel products for export. Hebei's value added steel sheet and plate was seen an increase in export volume, while steel billet, crude forged piece, bar and rod products were cut down in export more or less. According to statistics, the province exported only a total of 15,000 tons of steel billet and crude forged pieces with a value of USD 7.66 million, both down 97% YoY; exports for bar products and wire rod fell by 26% and 5.8% respectively. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export price decrease MySteel.net reported that Chinese domestic construction steel market is quiet this week and export prices have seen evident decrease. Taking Shanghai price for HRB335 20mm rebar as benchmark, the strength to initiate another round of increase will not disappear as long as it is above CNY 4900 per tonne. But the downward correction is expected to sustain for another 2 to 3 weeks. Export offers for rebar have dropped by about USD 30 per tonne to USD 40 per tonne to USD 1040 per tonne to USD 1050 per tonne FOB and those with boron is about USD 980 per tonne FOB. Offers for BS grade rebar to Middle East are enjoying higher level of USD 1250 per tonne to USD 1300 per tonne CFR. Quotations for wire rod with boron is being exported at USD 980 per tonne to USD 990 per tonne FOB up and offers for material without boron are at between USD 1100 per tonne FOB to USD 1120 per tonne FOB. August 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - U.S. steel imports plummet 17.8 percent in May but rebounds 6.9 percent in June Imports plummeted nearly 18 percent in May “Final imports in April were almost 3 million tons, providing some relief to steel-starved American steel consumers, who have been living with rapidly escalating prices and low inventories in 2008,” said Dave Phelps, president, AIIS. Clearly, the weak dollar along with high shipping rates in late 2007 and early 2008 impacted negatively the ability of importers to bring needed imports to the US market. “The most disturbing element of this month’s data is that the ITC and DOC are still making decisions on new cases and Sunset reviews -- such as the recent decisions on Chinese pipe and tube and wire rod -- that will remove or keep needed steel out of the market. For an industry that is, by its own statements, restructured, profitable and healthy, this cynical use of the trade laws is only damaging American steel consumers, themselves struggling to compete in tough international markets,” said Phelps. “We hope that import levels will improve in future months and benefit all steel consumers,” concluded Phelps. See Extended Story.. July 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices remain unchanged MySteel.net reported that Chinese domestic construction steel market was quiet this week and export prices also remained largely unchanged. Shanghai market prices for HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 5250 per tonne to CNY 5260 per tonne, HRB400 grade material is being quoted at CNY 5440 per tonne to CNY 5480 per tonne down CNY 10 per tonne and CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 60 per tonne from last Thursday. Commercial wire rod is at CNY 5500 per tonne that for hi-speed material remains at CNY 5780 per tonne to CNY 5800 per tonne, down CNY 60 per tonne to CNY 70 per tonne WoW. Export offers for rebar are about USD 1080 per tonne to CNY 1130 per tonne FOB and some producers are quoting at about USD 1120 per tonne to USD 1150 per tonne FOB. Offers for BS grade rebar to Middle East are enjoying higher level of USD 1250 per tonne to USD 1330 per tonne CFR. July 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - North American wire rod price continues to climb US domestic wire rod market price is slated to rise in August The main reasons are raw material cost continuing to increase and global wire rod market prices remaining at a high price level. US wire rod producers have added US$66/ton for August shipments. Current low carbon wire rod prevailing prices are US$1,235~1,257/ton, and US$1,290~1,312/ton for high carbon wire rod. (Note Short tons 1 short ton = 2000lbs) July 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Turkish rebar prices edge higher Turkish rebar mills are offering US$1,380~1,400/ton for markets for September deliveries, except for the US and Persian Gulf areas. Turkish mills said that July and August orders were fully booked. September shipment is almost fully booked as well. September’s price is the same as that for July/August. However, some mills and distributors with stock on hand are offering lower prices. Buyers in the UAE are slowing down their purchases except for urgent and small quantity requirements. July 26th, 2008  - Market Stats BaoShan China - China's mills plan to raise prices of 400-series stainless China’s Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. (Tisco) and Baosteel are mulling an increase of RMB300~500/ton on 400 series spot prices. The move will cause the current 400 series prices to soar, if both companies gain approval. Continued rising input costs are being reflected by price rises, as mills are suffering from the rising costs as well. Agents have also complained about being under pressure from slowing demand. July 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Essen Germany - European 304 stainless alloy surcharge falls Europe’s stainless steel alloy surcharge of 304 stainless has decreased in July amid dropping nickel prices. Major stainless steel manufactures lowered their prices; ArcelorMittal dropped its alloy surcharge from €1,897 to 1,676/ton and Outokumpu decreased its surcharge from €1,847 to 1,636/ton. Purchasing activity is quiet stable, with low quantity orders. Alloy surcharges are expected to be adjusted upward in August. On the other hand, 430 alloy surcharge has risen to €656~687 from €516~636/ton, triggered by soaring chrome prices. July 17th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - EUROFER’s Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2008-2009 EUROFER’s Economic Committee released its July report Tuesday for the steel market outlook. The report said that a more pronounced slowdown EU economy can be expected while steel demand will continue to grow albeit at a reduced rate In line with earlier projections, the EU economy held up well in the first quarter of 2008 amidst weakening global fundamentals. However, indications are that the EU economy will lose momentum heading into the second half of the year have become stronger. Confidence indicators cooled significantly in recent months due to deepening fears over the negative impact of the US slowdown, the global financial crisis and particularly on concerns about the impact of rising inflation on the EU economy. The latest forecasts submitted by the members of Eurofer’s Economic Committee still show GDP growth at 1.8% in 2008, but next year looks set to see a more marked slowdown to a below-trend 1.4%. For the full report use this link July 17th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese mills profit in H1 of 2008 up by 50.8% YoY According to China’s National Development & Reform Commission, Chinese steel industry has continued to post robust growth in January to may 2008 bolstered by rising steel prices. The sector has realized a total profit of CNY 142.6 billion in the period up by 50.8% YoY from same time of last year and the growth rate gains 12.2 percentage points from that of January to February. According to Shanghai Securities News, China's steel output amounts to 216.11 million tonnes in the first five months up by 9.4% YoY or 18.63 million tonnes from the year ago. However, the growth rate dips 10.5 percentage points on YoY comparison. Meanwhile, steel export has dropped considerably as a result of export tax adjustment and strengthening yuan. July 15th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese billet market predicted to drop in July Steel Guru reported Sunday that China’s domestic billet market will drop in July 2008 due to the sluggish demand from downstream rolled plants. As per the report, many factors caused the billet market to drop in July. 1. Rolled plants will reduce the billet purchasing due to the raining days in the month. 2. There is little demand from downstream section and wire rod enterprises for the production stop during Olympic Games on the surrounding areas of Beijing. This will reduce the billet demand. As per report, some billet plants will turn to export for easing the pressure, the billet export in August predicted to increase to a certain point. July 14th, 2008  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - European wire rod, rebar prices drop Bad news reported out of Europe suggests that Europe not USA may bear the brunt of the finance crises. Siemens the German engineering group said last week they were laying off 16000 employees mainly administrative staff. Airbus could lose out on a huge, £17billion, US Air Force contract after it was discovered "significant errors" were made in awarding the work to the European aerospace consortium. Britain’s largest homebuilder Taylor Wimpey reported it had failed to raise much needed finance. yieh.com the on-line B2B steel trader reported on July 10th that European wire rod and rebar prices have slipped further by €10/ton. Dropping scrap prices and decreasing buying activity are the main reasons behind. Current prices of rebar are being contracted at €840~860/ton for August shipments, when the prices were at €840~870/ton last week. Wire rod prices have dropped to around € 830~850/ton July 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Raipur India - Bhilai Steel Plant witnesses record production Bhilai Steel Plant's (BSP) production during the first quarter of the current fiscal (2008-09) has surpassed all previous records, a company statement said Sunday. In 2008-09, not only have we sustained higher levels of production, the Fe 500 grade of TMT, which we are producing in both Merchant & Wire Rod Mills, is now being made available to the customer with earthquake-resistant (EQR) properties," said the statement of India's largest public sector steel maker. The Merchant Mill has exceeded its Q1 annual business plan target of 1.24 lakh (124,000) tonnes by producing 1.47 lakh (147,000) tonnes to meet more orders for its high corrosion-resistant grade and EQR in Fe 500 grade."BSP, the flagship unit of the public sector Steel Authority of India (SAIL) had recorded its best performance so far in last fiscal, 2007-08, in the production of hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel. July 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Falling dollar and lack of offshore competition expected to drive US wire rod prices upwards American wire rod producers have room to raise their prices again for August shipments, under the circumstances of tight supply in both import and domestic markets, plus higher import prices. The price rise is expected to be USD 44 per ton to USD 66 per ton higher than that in July and closer to international prices levels. Besides, rising shredded scrap prices will also support their increasing of prices. Domestic mills are offering USD 1,191 per ton to USD 1,213 per ton for low carbon wire rod for July deliveries, and USD 1,246 per ton to USD 1,268 per ton for high carbon wire rod. These are the highest prices ever recorded and 4 times higher than a decade ago. American wire rod imports dropped to 65,643 tons in May, down from 145,798 tons in April. Note these are short tons. Quotations for wire rod with boron is being exported at USD 1000 per metric tonne FOB and offers for material without boron are at around USD 1180 per tonne USD 1200 per tonne FOB. Transactions for wire rod are described to be quite good and there is less allocation than expected. July 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - More new fiber-optic connections than cable for the first time in 1st Q New fiber-optic broadband connections have exceeded those of cable for the first time, according to research from Point Topic. Over 4.2 million fibre-optic broadband subscribers were added worldwide in the first three months of 2008, compared to 2.5 million cable connections July 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Cleveland Ohio - Freedonia Market Research analyzes Wire & Cable Market in China Demand for insulated wire and cable in China is forecast to increase 13 percent annually (including price increases) through 2011 to 335 billion yuan. Gains will be fueled by strong investment in the power grid, telecommunication and building construction sectors, as well as by further increases in the manufacture of products that incorporate insulated wire and cable. In order to accommodate the needs of a rapidly expanding industrial sector and to provide a solid foundation for continued economic development, the Chinese government is focusing on expanding and modernizing the country’s utilities infrastructure, including power grids and telecommunication networks. This is providing significant opportunities for power, electronic and fiber optic cable suppliers. See Extended Story.. July 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - U.S. housing market may be slow but US utilities and rest of the world needs cable The electrical grid in the U.S. delivers power along millions of miles of cables to neighborhoods and businesses. Electricity plays a critical role in U.S. society and is vital to the nation's economic strength. Electricity consumption will have to increase by at least 40% by 2030 just to keep pace with the energy needs of the constantly expanding U.S. population, according to the Edison Electric Institute. To meet demand, utilities are expected to inject $14 billion a year over the next decade on distribution lines — or low- to medium-voltage cables — and $8 billion to $9 billion on the high-voltage transmission lines, the institute said. "Despite recent reductions in cable demand from the North American utilities, we continue to view the long-term fundamentals for transmission cable in North America to be strong and expect low-voltage electric utility products to recover with the construction cycle in the U.S.," said CEO Gregory Kenny in an earnings statement. Strength in the European electric markets will help offset the impact of Spain's weak construction sector, Kenny said. The company also moved roughly 30% of its production capacity in Spain to other markets in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. July 2nd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese wire rod and rebar prices mixed Steel Guru reports this morning that Chinese domestic steel prices have shown mixed trend in the week ended June 27th following the recent settlement for Rio Tinto's iron ore. Slumping construction steel price has moderated last week amidst mixed price. And price for construction steel inched up CNY 30 per tonne to CNY 50 per tonne in East China's Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei and Jinan etc and dropped nearly CNY 50 per tonne in South China's Guangzhou. Price in North China's Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang etc have edged up CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 50 per tonne following previous week's slump and declined CNY 70 per tonne to CNY 100 per tonne in Southwest and Northwest. Last week, 15 rebar producers and 9 wire rod manufacturers have lowered their ex works prices, while 2 rebar makers and 23 wire rod producers lifted up EXW prices. And the construction steel stocks have stopped declining at the moment. Construction steel stock in Shanghai has increased slightly from last week to stand at over 280,000 tonnes. June 28th, 2008  - Market Stats New York City - ArcelorMittal to raise steel wire product prices in US Platts has reported that ArcelorMittal will raise the price of all steel wire products by USD 80 per short tons effective with shipments from July 14th 2008. ArcelorMittal said that the price increase is required to keep pace with the continued escalation of raw material prices, namely carbon wire rod. Steel wire rod transaction prices have moved up to about USD 985 per shor tons in the US following multiple price increases from mills over the past few weeks. The USD 985 per short tons figure is the current ex works mill base price for low carbon wire rod used in wire mesh, pre stressed concrete strand, fencing and other industrial quality products. Wire rod buyers in the US have absorbed back to back price increases of USD 60 in both May and Jun, and spot prices have risen from about USD 750 per short tons at the beginning of the year. US domestic producers have gained pricing strength from the sharp decline in wire rod imports over the past year. Chinese imports alone are down by 90% and other foreign suppliers have been discouraged by the threat of trade sanctions. June 28th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Copper stable just below $ 8500 while oil and gold surge. Metal insider reported that business remained slack Friday morning, with LME prices failing to follow oil and gold higher and sticking to yesterday afternoon’s 8425-8490 trading range. Physical demand in China was reported to be weak, locals said, with buyers deterred by high prices. Less than 1,600 lots had changed hands via Select currently. Unless technical resistance around 8500 could be overcome soon, values appeared increasingly vulnerable to renewed bouts of weakness in the coming sessions, wrote Cliff Green Consultancy in their daily analysis Thursday night. June 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Hanoi Vietnam - Pledged foreign direct investment in Vietnam jumps nearly fourfold this year. Pledged foreign direct investment into Vietnam has soared nearly fourfold so far this year, a government official said Monday, indicating investors are optimistic despite surging inflation in the country. As of June 22, overseas companies have agreed to invest US$31.6 billion in 478 projects compared to US$8.5 billion (euro5.45 billion) during the same period last year, said Nguyen Thuy Huong, an official with Vietnam's ministry of planning and investment. With its US$7.9-billion steel project in central Vietnam being approved this month, Taiwan has surpassed Canada to top the list of investment by country of origin. Vietnam attracted US$20.25 billion of foreign direct investment, a record since the country began accepting foreign investment in 1998. June 21st, 2008  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - Copper market remains stable despite financial turmoil. NordDeutche affinaderi says in its latest news letter "Copper Mail" that despite an unparalleled crisis in the international financial world the copper price has as yet managed to be stable in this crisis. The monthly average price was mostly above US$ 7,500/t in the second half of 2007. The prices only moved below US$ 7,000/t in November and December primarily due to seasonal impacts. After a slow start to 2008, copper was quoted at substantially more than US$ 8,000/t by the end of May and only showed signs of weakening in the last few days. However, the US$ 8,000/t mark has still proven to be stable. To view the entire June 19th "Copper Mail" news letter use this link June 20th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Canadian wire and steel production up in March Statscan announced Thursday that total shipments of steel wire and specified wire products edged up 0.7% to 53,018 metric tonnes in March 2008. For details on product groups use this link. Total shipments in the first Quarter 2008 was 156,964 tons up from 136,688 from last year for details on product groups use this link. June 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese steel wire rod prices has now started to fall As anticipated (see wirenews June 16) Chinese steel wire rod prices are now falling. According to a report by Steel guru steel mills such as Jigang Minyuan Iron and Steel Company, Weifang Iron and Steel Group, Shandong Laigang Yongfeng Iron and Steel Corporation, Qingdao Iron and Steel Corporation reduced wire rod price by CNY 150 per tonne to CNY 200 per tonne. Wire rod products from Beijing market from Shougang, Tanggang also dropped by CNY 50 per tonne to CNY 100 per tonne. Jigang Iron and Steel Company reduced small deformed bar price by CNY 200 per tonne and CNY 150 per tonne for large deformed bar on. Weifang Iron and Steel Group also reduced its wire rod price by CNY 150 per ton, Laigang Yongfeng Iron and Steel Corporation will reduce CNY 100 per tonne for its deformed bar price. Qingdao Iron and Steel will reduce its deformed bar price by CNY 250 per tonne and CNY 150 per tonne for its wire rod price. June 16th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Nickel price moves upwards on news of BHP Kalgoorlie smelter shutdown Nickel prices on London Metal Exchange surged by 6% after BHP Billiton said it would close a 100,000 tonne per year nickel operation for four months for repairs. ME nickel hit USD 24,585 a tonne in electronic trading, it~{!/~}s highest since May 22nd 2008 and nickel for delivery in three months was quoted at USD 23,900. The market will lose 25,000 tonnes of metal because of the shutdown. The refined nickel market is estimated to be in deficit by 80,000 tonnes this year and this will just deepen the shortfall. Some optimistic traders says it is time to forget about the stainless steel glut and falling demand." This editor feels that when nickel reached US$ 30000 per tonne last year it priced stainless out of the market and many consumers changed specification for material substitutes and it will be quite a while yet before consumption of stainless steel reaches last years peak demand levels. See Extended Story.. June 16th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices hold steady (see news item May 28) Chinese construction steel prices are still in a dull period and downward correction are expected. On Shanghai market, HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at CNY 5340 per tonne to CNY 5350 per tonne, HRB400 at CNY 5630 per tonne to CNY 5660 per tonne down by CNY 70 per tonne to CNY 100 per tonne from last week. Price for commercial wire rod is at CNY 5750 per tonne that for hi speed material is tagged at CNY 6080 per tonne to CNY 6090 per tonne down by CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 30 per tonne Export price for low carbon wire rod has reached USD 1120 per tonne to USD 1130 per tonne FOB and that for high carbon goes at around USD 1170 per tonne FOB. Export offer for rebar with boron is being quoted at around USD 1000 per tonne FOB and that for rebar without boron is at USD 1070 per tonne to USD1100 per tonne FOB. But there is said to be not much transaction at the updated levels, especially for shipments to South East Asia. This is well above current US domestic prices. (See also news item June 11th) See Extended Story.. June 12th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US Imports of stainless bar, rod and wire products continue to fall The Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA) has released the statistical data on imports, U.S. consumption, and import penetration for March 2008. The data represents U.S. consumption, imports, and import penetration for YTD March 2008 compared to the same 2007 three month period. The following data is presented by specialty steel product line, total stainless steel, and total specialty steel: Stainless steel bar: Imports in YTD March 2008 were 30,475 tons, a 7.4% decrease compared to YTD March 2007; U.S. consumption was 63,879 tons, a 1.9% decrease; three month import penetration was 47.7%, a 2.8 percentage point decrease from 2007. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD March 2008 were 6,932 tons, a 21.7% decrease compared to YTD March 2007; U.S. consumption was 12,738 tons, a 32.7% decrease; three month import penetration was 54.4%, a 7.6 percentage point increase from 2007. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD March 2008 were 10,283 tons, a 10.6% decrease compared to YTD March 2007; U.S. consumption was 18,045 tons, a 16.9% decrease; three month import penetration was 57.0%, a 2.6 percentage point increase from 2007. June 11th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Chinese wire rod effectively priced out of the North American market My-steel has reported following export prices for wire rod Wire Rod SAE1008 for EU Q195 for Asia Europe -1120-1165/1090-1110 - South Korea -1120/1070-1100 S.E Asia - 1120-1140/1090-1110 Price are quoted in USD per tonne FOB - No prices were quoted for exports destined for the USA where domestic wire rod is quoted just below or shy of US$ 1000.00 per short ton or US$ 1100.00 per tonne. June 11th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi, India - Spot steel prices moving up Long-term contract prices higher by 5-7% Steel prices in the spot markets of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai have gone up during the first week of June. Trade sources said that this is because they are expecting another round of price hikes by major steel producers in the public sector such as Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rastriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and also the private sector manufacturers. Sources in SAIL told Business Line ( a New Delhi daily) that “the company has effected 5 - 7 per cent price hike in long-term negotiated contracts with effect from June 1. But spot prices are increasing because the demand is high and dealers are raising their margins.” Prices of most steel products such as pig iron, pencil ingots, wire rods, rounds, tor steel, angles, plates, hot rolled coils and cold rolled coils have been moving up during the past few days, sources in the JPC said. Trade sources pointed out that prices in Delhi and Chennai are higher when compared to Mumbai. "This is because major private sector players such as Ispat and Essar are closer to Mumbai, while for the Delhi and Chennai markets the freight cost is higher," they said. June 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Pittsburgh Pennsylvania - Wire rod prices in US soon to exceed US$ 1000 per ton wiredrawers attending WireExpo says. Steel wire rod transaction prices continues to move upward and have moved to about USD 985 per short ton in the US following multiple price increases from mills over the past few weeks. This is the current ex works mill base price for low carbon wire rod used in wire mesh, pre stressed concrete strand, fencing and other industrial quality products. Wire mills, re-drawers and re-bar fabricators in the US have absorbed back to back prices increases of USD 60 in both May and June and spot prices have risen from about USD 750 per short tons at the beginning of the year. As earlier reported Gerdau Ameristeel and ArcelorMittal US told their domestic customers last month that wire rod price would increase again in June in order to recover the increased cost of raw material inputs, as well as higher costs of energy and freight. Gerdau said that its mill price includes a raw material surcharge of USD 403 per short ton reflecting the high price of ferrous scrap. See Extended Story.. June 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Hong Kong - Wire rod prices in China and Taiwan continues to climb Wuhan Steel announced it intends to raise Wire rods prices for the third quarter by CNY 700 per tonne for steel tire cord. China Steel Corp announced that its new price of third quarter. Price of steel bar and wire rod has increased by TWD 4,830 per tonne. Price of CHQ wire has reached TWD 29,750 to TWD 30,000 per tonne. May 31st, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US steel imports break first Quarter falling trend in April The U.S. Census Bureau announced that preliminary April steel imports were $2.8 billion (2.7 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary March totals of $2.5 billion (2.3 million metric tons). The March to April change in steel imports, based on metric tonnage, reflected increases primarily in blooms, billets, and slabs; hot rolled sheets; and wire rods. Monthly changes in steel imports reflected increases primarily with Brazil and Turkey. Wire rod imports jumped to 148,561 mt in April, or 83.7% higher than a year ago, which could renew calls for trade limits. OCTG imports were 171,651 mt, representing an increase of 30.7% from a year ago. The year to date final statistics through March 2008 showed steel imports of 7.0 million metric tons compared to 7.9 million metric tons through March 2007. The largest commodity decreases were in wire rods, reinforcing bars, and cold rolled sheets. The largest commodity increase was in line pipe greater than 16 inches in diameter. The largest country decreases were with China, Brazil, and Russia. The largest country increase was with Canada. May 30th, 2008  - Market Stats Essen Germany - European rebar, wire rod prices rise again Rebar and wire rod price in Southern Europe has continued to raise by €100/ton compared to it was in the beginning of May. The main reason is due to soaring global scrap price. Current rebar price is prevailing at €750 to 850/ton and the wire rod price is about €750 to 820/ton. Now with the price rising further, buyers have stopped purchasing to wait-and-see what will happen. May 30th, 2008  - Market Stats Istanbul Turkey - Turkish export price of rebar up again Due to rising global oil price and strong demand, the Turkish export price of rebar has continued to rise. Current rebar export to Dubai has risen to US$1,330~~1,350/ton (CFR). But, some Middle East buyers said that they are not a hurry to purchase at this moment because they still have stock and the rebar price is really too high. At the same time, regarding the soaring billet price, some of Turkey~{!/~}s rebar rolling mills are not able to pay such high prices in buying billet; therefore, some mills have reduced or halted their output. May 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Kuala Lumpur Malaysia - MBAM calls for further liberalization of steel bar & wire rod products Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) has urged the government to consider liberalizing all seven steel bar products under HS Code 7214 and all four wire rod products under HS Code 7213. In a statement Wednesday, the MBAM said although the removal of ceiling price for steel bar from May 12 was seen as a milestone for the construction industry, only two types of steel bars classified under the HS Code 7214 were liberalized. "MBAM has already appealed to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Finance, International Trade and Industry Ministry and Construction Industry Development Board regarding the above situation," it said. Its president, Patrick Lim, said the liberalization of steel wire rod was also crucial as it was mainly used in the construction of low- and medium-cost housing and pre-fabricated components under the industrialized building system. He said the government should also consider setting up a national stockpile for steel bar to ensure price stability. See Extended Story.. May 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices on the rise again Mysteel reports that Chinese construction steel prices seem to have stopped its downward correction and start to move up again this week. On Shanghai market, construction steel prices have rebounded this week.HRB335 20mm rebar is being quoted at 5330 to 5340 per tonne, HRB400 at CNY 5590 per tonne to CNY 5620 per tonne down by CNY 130 per tonne from peak levels. Price for commercial wire rod has returned to CNY 5850 per tonne that for hi speed materials go up by CNY 50 per tonne to 5900 per tonne. Steel makers told Mysteel that allocation for rebar and wire rod exports is quite tight and most of them only arrange 20,000 tonne to 30,000 tonne for monthly tonnage since they normally first meet the domestic demand. Lower output and robust demand from domestic construction are believed to be two major drivers for further price increase. Export offers are expected to witness another rise of USD 100 per tonne in the next two months. May 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Paris France - OECD Steel Committee says market remains strong, despite risks to global economy The world steel market remains strong in spite of heightened risks to the global economy, according to industry and government officials at the OECD~{!/~}s Steel Committee meeting in Paris. Global steelmaking capacity continues to expand rapidly, a trend that is being supported by generally higher producer profitability and positive demand prospects. This development has been enhanced by increased flows of foreign direct investment, as steel companies expand their operations, particularly to emerging economies which allow such investment and where steel consumption is increasing rapidly. Although demand and cost-related considerations are the main factors determining the location of investment by the steel industry, concern has been expressed that differences in existing and prospective CO2 compliance standards may also play a role. See Extended Story.. May 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Tokyo Japan, - Japan's copper cable shipments down 4.8 pct yr/yr in April Japanese copper wire and cable shipments fell 4.8 percent in April from a year earlier to 70,500 tonnes on a preliminary basis, data from the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association showed on Thursday. The steepest declines continued to be seen in the construction sector, where consumption has been falling since tighter building rules were introduced in June last year in the wake of an engineering data scandal. May 22nd, 2008  - Market Stats Singapore - Cat 5 and Cat 6 cables now the staple products as Cat 7 to costly for home applications according to recent market report Makers offer Cat 5, Cat 6, coaxial and fiber-optic cables. Some companies produce more than one type of cable and concentrate on telecom applications. According to some makers, Cat 7 and fiber-optic cables are relatively expensive for home configurations. Still others tend to focus more on multimedia cables. See Extended Story.. May 21st, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Global Industrial production deteriorates fast in March CHR Metals says. Global industrial production growth slowed sharply in March, according to UK analysts CHR Metals, who have now cut their global IP growth forecasts for both this year and next. Writing in their latest monthly ~{!0~}Global IP Watch~{!1~}, CHR note that global growth was 5.3% in February, ~{!0~}a little slower than our initial estimate, but still remarkably strong given the unfolding turmoil in financial markets at the time.~{!1~} However, ~{!0~}with a degree of hindsight we can now see that this represented something of a calm before the storm,~{!1~} CHR said. Global IP growth in March braked sharply to 4.9% with that in the OECD area contracting by 0.7% month-on-month. As a consequence CHR has cut its 2008 growth forecast to 4.1% from 4.8% and to just 1.1% in 2009. See Extended Story.. May 21st, 2008  - Market Stats Hamburg Germany - Norddeutsche Affinerie AG sees copper settle in around US$ 8400/ton The raw material markets continue to make headline news. At some US$ 128 per barrel, the oil price reached a new high mid May and the € 1.50/l mark was passed at the petrol stations for four-star. The price trend for industrial metals was not quite so spectacular. After a high of US$ 8,861/t (settlement) on 17 May, the copper price declined, but seemed to have found a basis at about US$ 8,400/t in May. The fluctuation span was high from day to day, varying at times from US$ 200 to 300/t. Backwardation for three-month contracts was in the range of US$ 90 and 175/t in May. See Extended Story.. May 21st, 2008  - Market Stats Singapore - Cat 5, Cat 6 networking cables still strong, but fiber-optic cables rising Suppliers of networking cables in mainland China and Taiwan forecast stable market in the coming months despite potential production cost hikes due to rising raw material prices, particularly copper. Despite increased focus on USB and HDMI cables by some cable makers, Cat 5 and Cat 6 networking cables, along with their variants, remain high on makers~{!/~} product portfolios. Some companies have expressed interest in investing in Cat 7 cables and fiber-optic cables, but it may take a few more years before the latter will eventually displace copper-based LAN networking cables. Notwithstanding the proliferation of wireless networking technologies, many companies believe that wired solutions are still the major networking method for desktop PCs at home and enterprise environments, as these ensure data security and bandwidth support. See Extended Story.. May 13th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese domestic wire rod prices starts to stabilize Chinese domestic steel market prices are still on the rise with exception of rebar and wire rod. On Shanghai market, HRB335 20mm rebar with exemption from inspection was being offered at CNY 5340 per tonne to CNY 5350 per tonne while those common products were only tagged at CNY 5220 per tonne to CNY 5240 per tonne down by CNY 150 per tonne from peak levels. Export offer for rebar were at about USD 950 per tonne to USD 960 per tonne on FOB levels and that for wire rod at USD 970 per tonne to USD 980 per tonne on FOB levels. But transactions were concluded at USD 920 per tonne for vanadium based rebars and USD 940 per tonne for wire rods. Tonnages have seen evident rebound and most shipments go to Asia and Middle East area. The first five destinations for rebar in March are South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Angola and Cambodia. Those for wire rod are Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Philippines. Export volume is expected to see further rise for April shipment, but it also would raise the risk of another increase in export tariff by Beijing and more trade friction. May 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese steel wire prices soar in April up 37% year on-year. China's April producer price index (PPI) rose 8.1 pct from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. PPI in the four months to April was up 7.2 pct year-on-year, the NBS said. The figures compare to a March PPI rise of 8.0 pct and first quarter growth of 6.9 pct. The NBS said procurement prices for Steel wire prices rose 37.0 %, while prices for medium thickness steel plates were up 24.9 %. Non-ferrous metal processing prices increased 4.7 % last month. Procurement prices for raw materials, fuel and power increased 10.3 % month-on-month in April. May 7th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - 3-month copper hits record in post holiday trading London copper traders faced an interesting challenge as they returned to work this morning after Monday~{!/~}s UK holiday on the one hand Monday's COMEX closing price had hit a new record high on the other hand workers Codelco, the world~{!/~}s largest producer, had called off a 19 day strike action. At 3:43 p.m., London Metal Exchange copper for three-month delivery was trading at $8,490 per tonne against $8,410 per tonne at the close on Friday. May 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Chinese steel exports continue to fall in Q1 Chinese customs data, shows that the Chinese government's efforts to curb steel exports are starting to take effect. China’s steel export fell by 19.3% YoY to 11.39 million tonnes in the first quarter although March shipment rebounded from February to 4.16 million tonnes but still down by 22.6% YoY from March 2007. In fact Chinese steel exports have recorded a six month decline since last July. The tax rebate change has clearly put a squeeze on export of some lower end products such as wire rods, and rebar products, has dropped 44% and 36% respectively in the first three months due primarily to 15% export tax and a rising Chinese currency. Steel exports to Middle East has also dropped sharply off 57% in Q1 as a result of the export tax in particular the wire rod/bar exports that are down as much as 92%. May 6th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - Yieh Hsing to slash stainless steel wire rod prices Taiwan’s Yieh Hsing Enterprise Company Limited has announced to lower its stainless steel wire rod prices of May 2008. The domestic price has declined by TWD 2,000 per tonne and the export price also dropped by USD 70 per tonne. Consequently the domestic price of 304M is at TWD 145 to TWD 150 per kilogram and 302HQ price is TWD 167 to TWD 170 per kilogram. On the other hand, the export price is quoted at USD 4,900 to USD 4,930 per ton for 304M and that is around USD 5,530 to USD 5,550 per tonne for 302HQ. However, the prices of carbon steel wire rod increased by TWD 1,000 per ton, since CSC’s carbon steel price is expected to rise further. May 5th, 2008  - Market Stats Osaka Japan - Nakayama Steel hikes wire rod prices by USD 144 per tonne SBB reported that Japan's Nakayama Steel Works is adding JPY 15,000 per tonne (USD 144) to its domestic prices for ordinary wire rods, wire rods for fasteners and wire mesh grade rods from May contracts, June deliveries. The Osaka based mini mill had earlier lifted prices by JPY 20,000 per tonne for April deliveries but since then, prices of scrap and other auxiliary materials have risen, leading the company to decide to add another JPY 15,000 per tonne. A Nakayama spokesman said that Demand for ordinary wire rods has weakened because of the downturn in building construction. But we are still producing near full capacity because rods supply is still just a little below demand. Nakayama makes 5.5mm to 16mm diameter wire rods at its Funamachi works in Osaka and is producing at close to full capacity of 20,000 per month May 2nd, 2008  - Market Stats Chirstchurch New Zealand - Another round of price increases for steel rod Pacific Steel says an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials has forced it to increase the price of reinforcing steel and wire rod again, this time by 25%. That rise follows a 12% increase in the price of reinforcing steel and wire rod in March, and will come into effect in a month. It increased the price of galvanized wire used in fencing by 14% on Thursday. Pacific Steel Group general manager John Beveridge says the price of scrap metal has surged 100% and iron ore is a record price. He says further increases are also on the horizon. Mr. Beveridge says there was a similar surge in the price of raw materials in 2004, which was soon followed by a correction but he cannot see any prospect of that this year. Pacific Steel is New Zealand's sole manufacturer of steel wire rod and reinforcing products. May 2nd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese to raise rebar and wire rod export prices. Mysteel reports that Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices are expected to move up further in May and they are going to reach USD 1000 per tonne FOB soon. The steady rise in domestic market, robust overseas demand and rising production cost are believed to the major drivers. Some steel producers have boosted export offer for rebar to USD 96 per tonne to USD 970 per tonne FOB June shipment. There is strong likelihood that quotation for July shipment would approach USD 1000 per tonne FOB or even higher. While wire rod is forecast to exceed USD 1000 per tonne FOB sooner or later. Some steel mills have also limited export allocation. New official export price would be announced following the 3 day long May Day Holiday. In addition, there will be more wire rod exports than rebar. April 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Stainless producers reports improved market conditions in Q1 of 2008. Outokumpu said in its first quarter interim report released Wednesday that End-user demand for stainless steel was healthy with improved demand from the distributor sector, gradual base price increases achieved during the quarter. Operating profit in the first Quarter was EUR 100 million including nickel-related inventory losses of some EUR 60 million, underlying operational result about EUR 160 million. And production running close to capacity, stainless deliveries up by 28% to 449 000 tons (IV/2007: 352 000 tons). Acerinox the Spanish stainless also saw production recover in first Quarter of 2008. The company reported meltshop stainless steel production of 626,300t in Q1 08, up from 606,100t in Q4 2007 and the 389,500t produced in Q3 07, the latter marking the trough of the de-stocking cycle in the stainless sector. However, Q1 production was still 5.1% off the pace of the 659,800t produced in the year-earlier period (Q1 07). Acerinox said the stainless sector had recovered in the period helped by relative stable nickel prices. It said its order book had improved and ~{!1~} demand strength allows us to be optimistic with regard to the price evolution in the next months. ~{!1~} Brazilian metals giant VALE said that despite relatively high stocks of nickel in the LME warehouse system, ~{!1~} the near term scenario has improved, as demand is increasing and prices are holding firm. ~{!1~} It said that global stainless steel production is ~{!1~}gradually recovering~{!1~} from the vicious de-stocking cycle of Q3/Q4 2007. Critically for nickel usage in the stainless sector, the company said that the ratio of austenitic (high-grade nickel) stainless is also recovering ~{!0~}as substitution pressures subside. Editors Note: As speculators entered the nickel market and drove the price to stratospheric heights last year stainless was priced out of the market. Manufacturers like appliance makers substituted stainless for plastic and once a stainless component is designed out of a product it takes more than a short dip in price to change the specification back again. This editors guesstimate is that it will take quite some time before market conditions are fully restored. April 25th, 2008  - Market Stats New Dehli India - Base metals regain strength on global cues, industrial demand. Select base metals regained strength to close between Rs 10-15 higher in the wholesale non-ferrous metal market today on stockists buying, triggered by overnight gains at London Metal Exchange. Pick up in demand from consuming industries, particularly steel and electroplating units, also gave push to rising prices. Traders said firming trends in base metals at London Metal Exchange (LME) where tin soared to hit record high of 22,600 per tonne after closing at 22,475 dollar, influenced the trading sentiments here. Copper gained 183 dollar at 8698 dollar a tonne while zinc up by 50 dollar at 2270 dollar. At wholesale market here, Tin ingot traded sharply higher at Rs 1050 per kg while zinc dross up by Rs 4 at Rs 105 per kilo. Cadmium plate surged to Rs 475 a kg from Rs 435 while nickel 4x4 traded higher at Rs 1360-1450 per kg. Following were Thursday's quotations per kg (in Rs): Tin ingot 10509, zinc ingot (hindsutan) 119, zinc dross 105.00, nickel plate (4x4) 1360-1450, cadmium plate 475, Rod 420, antimony (china) 275, gun metal scrap 240, bell metal scrap 245, copper wire scrap 342, copper super d rod 357, copper wire bar 352, copper mixed scrap 322, C C rod 352, Utensil scrap 307, Mixed scrap 302, Chadripital 234, brass sheet cutting 230, bullet scrap 245, bharat scrap 240, accessories scrap 243, brass boring 222-235, and brass radiator scrap 218. Lead ingot 103, Lead imported 138-141, Aluminum ingots 117, sheet cutting 112, aluminum wire scrap 107 and Aluminum utensils scrap 102. April 24th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - SSINA announces market data for February 2008 The Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA) has released the statistical data on imports, U.S. consumption, and import penetration for February 2008. The data represents U.S. consumption, imports, and import penetration for YTD February 2008 compared to the same 2007 two month period. The following data is presented by specialty steel product line, total stainless steel, and total specialty steel: Stainless steel bar Imports in YTD February 2008 were 19,370 tons, an 8.8% decrease compared to YTD February 2007; U.S. consumption was 42,100 tons, a 2.4% decrease; two month import penetration was 46.0%, a 3.2 percentage point decrease from 2007. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD February 2008 were 4,480 tons, a 21.1% decrease compared to YTD February 2007; U.S. consumption was 10,189 tons, a 21.7% decrease; two month import penetration was 44.0%, a 0.3 percentage point increase from 2007. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD February 2008 were 6,738 tons, an 8.4% decrease compared to YTD February 2007; U.S. consumption was 8,777 tons, a 37.0% decrease; two month import penetration was 76.8%, a 24.0 percentage point increase from 2007. April 24th, 2008  - Market Stats San Jose, California - Global steel wire market projected to reach $23.7 Billion in 2012, according to new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. A tremendous growth in developing economies, particularly China and India is fuelling market growth. Backed by various favorable trends, the steel wire market is projected to reach $23.7 billion in 2012. Steel wire market in Asia-Pacific is estimated at $9.4 billion, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Asia-Pacific and Europe collectively account for more than 70 percent of the global steel wire market. European carbon steel wire market is expected to reach $4.6 billion by 2010. Global market for alloy steel wires is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 4% over the period 2001-2010. Asia-Pacific accounts for about 43% of the global stainless steel wire market. The steel industry's business cycles reflect the general economic activity of a nation. Steel wire being a part of steel industry is highly dependent on the buoyancy of its end-use industries. Conditions in construction and automotive industries largely determine demand for wire products worldwide. Rampant economic expansion in China has catapulted the nation as the largest and fastest growing consumer of steel and steel products in the world. Growing investment in infrastructure and higher disposable incomes in several developing economies are key factors driving growth in steel and its derivative products. For more details about this research report use this link April 21st, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Profit of Chinese steel industry may peak in Q2. China Mining reported that profits of the steel sector could peak in the second quarter of this year. As per the report 5 listed companies in the steel sector have released their earnings pre-announcement. 1. Tangshan Iron & Steel, with a projected profit growth of between 50% and 100% 2. Sansteel Minguang with a projected profit growth of 70% to 100% 3. Hangzhou Iron & Steel with a projected profit growth of 50% 4. Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel, with a projected profit growth of 150% 5. Hualing Steel Tube & Wire, with a projected profit reduction of 150% to 250%. In addition, Capital Iron & Steel announced an earning per share of CNY 0.0668 up over 20% YoY. Industrial observers say that three factors have contributed to the profit growth of the steel sector in the first quarter 1. Rising steel price 2. New production capacity and 3. Reduction in income tax. Mr Zhou Tao Iron & Steel analyst with Sinolink Securities predicts that more listed companies will issue pre announcements of increased profits for Q1. Leading steel makers such as Baosteel, Wuhan Iron & Steel and Anshan Iron & Steel are yet to release their pre announcements. Data collected by China Iron and Steel Association for the first two months of this year show that the whole sector could see a profit growth of some 20% in Q1. April 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Rolling Meadows Illinois - US Steel and Aluminum Shipments drop sharply in March The slowing North American economy overwhelmed the normally positive seasonal business pattern for steel and aluminum in March, the Metals Activity Report from the Metals Service Center Institute shows. With metals service centers tightly managing inventories, U.S. sales of steel and aluminum fell at double digit rates from those of March 2007, while Canadian steel sales also dropped sharply. U.S. steel shipments were down 11.2% from March 2007, to 4.25 million tons. First-quarter shipments of nearly 13.1 million tons were 4.8% below those of the 2007 quarter. Steel inventories at the end of the month totaled nearly 12.1 million tons, 18.6% lower than at the end of March a year ago and equal, at current shipping rates, to a 2.8-month supply. Service center inventories, which normally expand this time of year in response to market demand, instead were flat to lower from February levels and remained well below year-ago levels. Editors comment In evaluating the statistic of total consumption it is important to factor in import statistics. February steel wire imports dropped to 3054 metric tones down 4249 tonnes in February 2007 a 39% drop suggesting that the brunt of the drop is still absorbed by a reduction of imports thanks to the fall of the US$. See Extended Story.. April 18th, 2008  - Market Stats Taipei Taiwan - China Steel raises steel prices by 18% in domestic market in Q2, 2008 Skyrocketing prices of iron ore and coal have moved China Steel Corp., Taiwan`s leading upstream supplier of steel products, to raise its steel prices of by an average of NT4,200 per metric ton, for a record hike of 18%, in Taiwan in the second quarter of this year. Affected by an increase of 65% in a steel ore price, export prices of steel slab and steel billet have respectively risen to US$740, and between US$740 and US$760 per metric ton in Russia and those of hot rolled steel and cold rolled steel have mounted to up to US$810 and US$900 in China. In the meantime, quotations of a metric ton of wire rods has sharply risen to between US$860 and US$880 and steel plate to US$1,000 in the Asian market. In comparison, China Steel`s hot-rolled steel sold for around US$600 (NT$18,000 at US$1: NT$30) a metric ton, cold-rolled steel for US$700, steel plate for US$760 and rod wire for US$670 in the first quarter. This is clear that there was large room for the company to raise its selling prices for the domestic market. Unsurprisingly, the firm finally decided to adjust upward a quotation of hot-rolled steel at US$757 a metric ton, cold-rolled steel at US$833, steel plate at US$917 and rod wire at US$812 for the second quarter in Taiwan. April 15th, 2008  - Market Stats Ugine France - Ugitech increases prices of SS bars and wire rod Ugitech Schmolz+Bickenbach AG announced that all its subsidiaries will review all its long stainless products base prices for new orders to take into account the inflation in all transformation costs like energy, salary, maintenance, consumables and processing. The increase will be EUR 150 per tonne for bars products and EUR 100 per tonne for wires and wire rod. For markets quoted in a different currency, the same increase will be translated in this currency. April 15th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Corus sees higher wire rod prices on cost pressures Corus in a statement said that coal supplies are extremely tight on international markets and stocks at many steel makers are being depleted to dangerously low levels. It added that floods and port congestion in Australia have made the situation worse and some steelmakers have already started to cut back production due to inadequate supplies. Corus said that higher coal prices will push wire rod prices substantially higher for deliveries from April 28th 2008. Corus which has already raised wire rod prices by GBP 70 to GBP 90 per tonne on deliveries from March 31st 2008 said that it is unable to specify the level of further price increases due to the uncertainty in coal prices. April 12th, 2008  - Market Stats Chengdu Sichuan province China - Steel wire prices continue upward trend. Price for construction steel like rebar is on the rice in the south western province of Sichuan. As for wire, the price of high speed wire in Kungang is CNY 5,220 per tonne, while the price of plain wire in Pansteel Chengdu Branch and Shuigang is CNY 5,200 per tonne. The price of high speed wire in Weigang is CNY 5,250 per tonne. The inventory of construction steel in Chengdu is 135,000 tonnes down by 7,000 tonnes than it in last weekend, including 20,000 tonnes of wire and 115,000 tonnes of rebar. Due to sustaining increase of raw materials prices, steelworks have to continue to raise EXW prices. Pansteel Chengdu Branch, Shuigang and Weigang raised wire and rebar prices up by CNY 50 per tonne on April 7th. Desheng Steel raised prices of II grade rebar and wire up by CNY 30 per tonne in the market in Chengdu. Due to tight supply at present, it is believed that construction steel price would remain rising trend in Chengdu. April 12th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Meps forecasts North American long product prices to escalate as scrap prices move higher. In the short term, long products prices are expected to follow scrap higher. However, import volumes, expected to arrive shortly, should help to alleviate the pressure on supply for some categories. Reasonable levels of inventory are likely to result in reduced buying from distributors as values reach their peak. As a result, May is predicted to be the pinnacle of the current cycle, with North American long products price topping $US810 per tonne. Economic concerns should prevent wire rod figures from moving up further, despite the predicted rise in scrap costs this month. Transaction figures for all long products are forecast to move downwards in the second half of the year. Current prices are likely to attract further imports, alleviating tight supply. Demand on the mills is expected to slow towards the end of the year with a considerable drop in end-user consumption predicted for 2008. A pickup in selling values is then anticipated for the first quarter of 2009 as distributors look to rebuild inventories after the Winter lull. April 9th, 2008  - Market Stats Hanoi Vietnam - Steel makers expect input prices to increase by 65% before month end. Vietnamese steel mills say that the price of imported iron ore will reach $210/tonne this month, or $100/tonne more than two months ago. Meanwhile, the scrap steel price has also seen sharp increases. Scrap steel is now being offered at $670/tonne, while some steel producers have purchased at $630/tonne. The increases of iron ore, scrap steel and coke coal prices by nearly 50% have been making ingot steel and finished steel products skyrocket. Last week, China-sourced ingot steel was offered at $905/tonne only, while it is now offered at $970/tonne. Other supply sources from Russia and Ukraine offer lower prices, but importers will have to pay higher transport fees due to the longer distance. According to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), Vinakyoei said that it has signed contracts on importing ingot steel at $930/tonne. However, VSA’s Chairman Pham Chi Cuong said that he has not heard of any other steel company purchasing ingot steel at more than $900/tonne. April 9th, 2008  - Market Stats Christ Church New Zealand - Fencing wire price to increase up to 14% Galvanized wire used to produce fencing is about to increase in price by up to 14% from May. The price hike is due to a global shortage of scrap metal and strong demand for steel in China and India. The latest increase follows a 12% rise in March. Pacific Steel, which manufactures fencing wire, says it's inevitable that price rises will knock back demand. But the general manager, John Beveridge, says other factors could also have a negative affect on demand such as the drought and some sectors of the agricultural market not doing as well as expected. April 8th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Global long products price may remain firm CISA says According to Mr Qi Xiangdong the vice executive secretary general of China Iron & Steel Association that that global long products price is rising up firmly and domestic long products price would recover soon. Qi said the hike of prices of iron ore, coal and coke will seriously restrict the production of medium and small sized companies, which would directly affect the release of long products capacity. Another contributing factor was the introduction of export tax on low value added steel products, the export price of long products would be driven up which would boost prices high in both international and domestic market. April 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Thu Dau Mot Town, Binh Duong Province Vietnam - Province export turnover surges 23 % The southern province of Binh Duong earned 1.35 billion USD in the export turnover in the first quarter of the year, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent, said the Binh Duong People~{!/~}s Committee. The foreign-invested sector saw the highest growth, with 28.7 percent, followed by the State-owned sector with 17.7 percent and the private sector with a modest 7.4 percent gain. The province~{!/~}s main export products brought in high revenues included cable and electric wire, electronic goods furniture and textiles. In the first quarter, the province saw 21 new foreign-invested enterprises come into operation and 35 foreign invested projects expand with a total 246 million USD in additional investment capital used to increase production capacity and install modern equipment aimed at improving the products~{!/~} competitiveness. April 7th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - Shougang to raise long product price in April China's Shougang Group has announced price increases for its steel long products in April 2008. The prices for wire rod and rebar will be raise by CNY 100 per tonne. The new price for 6.5mm wire rod now climbs to CNY 4,950 per tonne. Rebar updated prices are shown HRB335 16mm to 25mm at CNY 4,930 per tonne and 12mm to 14mm at CNY 5,080 per tonne. April 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Copper faces a supply side shortage BME says and deficit can be severe Copper's notoriously unpredictable supply side continues to pose the biggest risk to price forecasts, according to UK analysts Bloomsbury Minerals Economics (BME), writing in their most recent monthly Copper Briefing Service. The company said it is forecasting a small commercial market deficit for 2008 and a price peak (at all-time highs) in June. "But maybe we are under-estimating both the size of the deficit and the magnitude of the ultimate peak to this market," BME said. Amid falling global stocks of refined copper the market "has given every indication of deficit in the first quarter, a more bullish situation than had been expected when the year began," it said, continuing: "Consumption has undoubtedly been firmer than many expected, but the real surprise factor looks to have been supply." BME drew particular attention to the sharp 18% month-on-month fall in Chilean mine output in January. While Chilean production normally dips in January from December in any given year, this year~{!/~}s drop was above "normal" levels. It was part of a 0.5% year-on-year reduction in global mine production in January (the figures are from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics). "That compares to BME~{!/~}s forecast for the full year as an increase of 5.9%. It may turn out that we (and others) have been too optimistic about mine production," BME said. April 2nd, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US manufacturing sector fails to grow in March A report issued Tuesday by Norbert J. Ore, C.P.M., chair of the Institute for Supply Management™ Manufacturing Business Survey Committee said the US manufacturing sector failed to grow in March as the PMI fell below 50 percent for the second consecutive month. This completes the weakest quarterly performance for the U.S. economy since Q2 of 2003. Manufacturers' order backlogs continue to erode as the New Orders Index failed to grow for the fourth consecutive month. Additionally, manufacturers continue to experience heavy cost pressures, as the prices they pay are still rising even with slower overall demand. Some manufacturers are still benefiting from strong export demand and continue to see growth in export orders the report said. March 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Hong Kong - China's stainless steel output to reach 9 million tons this year China's stainless steel output is expected to grow by nearly 25 percent year-on-year to 9 million tons this year, according to Jiang Xinfang, president and general manager of Tsingshan Holding Group, China's largest privately owned stainless steel mill.. China produced 7.206 million tons of stainless steel in 2007, up 36 percent from the previous year, while the country's apparent consumption grew by 10.59 percent year-on-year to 6.58 million tons last year. according to the China Stainless Steel Enterprise Association statistics. China's domestic stainless steel consumption is due to grow by an average of 10 percent per annum, Jiang said. Tsingshan Holding Group, headquartered in the city of Wenzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, has an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of stainless steel, 700,000 tons of long products and steel strip, 30,000 tons of steel pipe and 20,000 tons of stainless steel wire per annum. March 29th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese domestic and export prices for steel wire rod remain firm. Chinese domestic market prices have seen rebound this week. On Shanghai market, commercial wire rod goes at CNY 5020 per tonne, hi speed material at CNY 5040 per tonne. Export offers are largely unchanged. Prevailing export offers for rebar are still at USD 860 per tonne to USD 870 per tonne FOB. Wire rod is being quoted at USD 890 per tonne to USD 900 per tonne FOB an increase of USD 10 per tonne. Some steel makers are tagging at USD 860 per tonne FOB for material with boron. March 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington, D.C. - US stainless bar, wire and rod imports continue to drop The Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA) has released the first statistical data on imports, U.S. consumption, and import penetration for 2008. The data represents U.S. consumption, imports, and import penetration for YTD January 2008 compared to the same 2007 one month period. Stainless steel bar: Imports in YTD January 2008 were 9,050 tons, a 24.1% decrease compared to YTD January 2007; U.S. consumption was 18,414 tons, a 24.2% decrease. One month import penetration was 49.1%, with no change from 2007. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD January 2008 were 2,311 tons, a 22.3% decrease compared to YTD January 2007; U.S. consumption was 5,149 tons, a 24.5% decrease; one month import penetration was 44.9%, a 1.3 percentage point increase from 2007. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD January 2008 were 3,367 tons, a 22.5% decrease compared to YTD January 2007; U.S. consumption was 6,173 tons, a 19.4% decrease; one month import penetration was 54.5%, a 2.2 percentage point decrease from 2007. March 25th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - China's steel exports may fall 27% this year China is likely to sell 27 percent less steel abroad this year, largely due to the government's efforts to curb its exports, Luo Bingsheng, vice-chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association said last week. It appears that the export tariffs that China imposed last year on more than 80 steel products, including steel wire, sheet and plate, and raised export tariffs on primary commodities such as steel billets, ingots and pig iron is working. In February, China exported no steel billets and 3.11 million tons of rolled steel, a record low since May 2006. March 25th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - Metal prices rise sharply due to external inflationary pressures. Basic metal, alloys and metal products rose 20%. Prices of blooms and billets and slabs went up by a steep 30%, wire of all kinds by 25%, steel and tensile plates by 20%, and bars and rods by 3%. The input costs like iron ore and energy are largely to blame and industry spokesman said. The government, which is in a bind over rising prices, is working on a warfooting to contain the price line. The government is now contemplating an export duty on steel, to increase domestic supplies. March 25th, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices continue to move up It is reported that export offers for Chinese rebar and wire rod export prices continue to move up this week although domestic market prices were largely unchanged during the week. On Shanghai market, HRB335 20mm rebar was being quoted at CNY 4710 per tonne to CNY 4730 per tonne, HRB400 at CNY 4800 per tonne to CNY 4820 per tonne. Commercial wire rod was at CNY 5000 per tonne level and hi speed material at CNY 5040 per tonne. Export offers for rebar were at USD 860 per tonne to USD 870 per tonne on FOB basis another increase of USD 30 per tonne to USD 40 per tonne ton from early last week. Wire rod was being quoted at USD 890 per tonne to USD 900 per tonne FOB. As per report there is strong likelihood that export quotations would stay at high level, but it remains to see how the transaction would be at the updated levels. March 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US steel industry booming - January steel shipments up 7.3 % over January 2007 The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that for the month of January 2008, U.S. steel mills shipped 9,246,000 net tons, a 7.3 percent increase from the 8,614,000 net tons shipped in January 2007 and an 8.8 percent increase from the 8,495,000 net tons shipped in the previous month, December 2007. A year-to-year comparison of year-to-date shipments shows the following changes within major market classifications: service centers and distributors, up 9.3 percent; automotive, up 1.3 percent; construction and contractors’ products, up 8.5 percent; and oil and gas, up 3.2 percent. March 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US steel mills acts in unison to raise wire rod prices Purchasing.com reported that most wire rod producers are planning to raise mill list prices by USD 40 per tonne in April 2008. The price announcements from ArcelorMittal, Keystone Steel & Wire, Gerdau Ameristeel and other producers match the previous USD 40 per tonne price increases in January and February 2008. The mills are quoting list prices in March of USD 760 to USD 780 per tonne while buyer surveys show low carbon wire rod was purchased at an average USD 730 per tonne. Mill marketing personnel said the price of wire rod is being pressured upward by increasing scrap costs. The spot purchase price of shredded auto scrap in the Midwest, for example, broke through the USD 400 per gross ton barrier earlier in the month. March 17th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - India's inflation rate spikes The annual Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose 5.11 per cent during the week ended March 1, higher than the previous week’s annual rise of 5.02 per cent, data showed on Friday. The rise in the year-on-year inflation rate was on account of a further spike in prices in the Primary metals group. The index for ‘Base Metals, Alloys & Metal Products’ group rose by 0.4 per cent due to higher prices of steel wire (10 per cent), other iron steel, MS bars and rounds, zinc ingots and steel wire ropes (4 per cent each), steel sheets, plates & strips and lead ingots (3 per cent each) and foundary pig iron and basic pig iron (2 per cent each). The index for ‘Machinery and Machine Tools’ group rose by 0.2 per cent due to higher prices of hydraulic machine (8 per cent) and jelly filled telephone cables (5 per cent). March 14th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - India and China can't save metals boom from a US slowdown Chinese metal fabricators are starting to feel the pinch from a slowdown in U.S. export orders, indicating that internal demand from the Asian giant may not be able to sustain the metals price boom. Auto part makers to tube manufacturers in China are reporting lacklustre order books going into the second half of the year. Together with efforts by Beijing to curb economic expansion, analysts fear that industrial commodities will be hit by a double whammy. An official at copper wire maker Tai-I Copper, a subsidiary of Tai-I International, said the firm was worried about lower export orders in the second half of this year, following a flat performance in the first two quarters from a year earlier. But a purchasing manager at Golden Dragon, a major copper tube producer in China, said the company's exports, which run at 6,000 tonnes a month, half of which go to the United States, had not so far been affected by the slower pace in the U.S. economy. Both China and India are expected to slow slightly in the coming year as a severe US downturn saps demand for exports. High Indian interest rates have led to a stronger currency that could make the country's exports more expensive on world markets. See also "Wire & Cable Industry Outlook 2008" in Wire & Cable Business Review issue distributed at Wire/Tube2008 in Germany March 31 - April 4. March 13th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Corus warns of significant cost pressures, further impacting wire rod prices Following a statement on 29th Feb that wire rod prices in the UK will increase by £70 - £90 per tonne on deliveries from March 31st, Corus today warned that higher coal prices will push wire rod prices substantially higher for deliveries from April 28th. Corus has taken this step now in an effort to provide as much information as possible to the supply chains, which it serves. Coal supplies are extremely tight on international markets and stocks at many steel makers are being depleted to dangerously low levels. Floods and port congestion in Australia have resulted in several mines declaring ‘force majeure’ on coal shipments and some steel makers have already started to cut back production due to inadequate supplies. Latest international spot prices for coal and coke have surged to US$300 per tonne fob and $600 per tonne fob respectively. This compares with contract prices for coal in 2007 of c. US$100 per tonne fob. Contract prices in 2008 for metallurgical coal have yet to be settled. Corus is currently unable to specify the level of the further price increases at this stage due to the uncertainty of purchase prices for coal. Corus endeavours to communicate this as soon as possible to customers as it is recognised that price increases will need to be passed through supply chains in the wire industry to end users. Customers who require further information to support this process can contact their normal Account Managers in the Wire Rod business. March 13th, 2008  - Market Stats New Delhi India - Industrial production growth trend slows in India. India~{!/~}s headline industrial production growth slowed to 5.3% year-on-year in January from 7.7% in December, while growth over the Apr 07-Jan 08 period (the first 10 months of the financial year) decelerated to 8.7% from 11.2% in the year-earlier period. High interest rates are taking their toll on growth, particularly in one of the most sensitive sectors for metals~{!*~}consumer durables. Output contracted by 3.1% in January and growth over the April-Jan period slowed to just 1.7% from 10.6% in the year-earlier period. That is a key factor in the overall slowdown in manufacturing growth~{!*~}5.9% year-on-year in January. It has been in single digits for the last three reported months. In the same period a year ago, it was booming with double-digit growth. India is suffering from the same inflationary pressures evident elsewhere in the world, which makes it extremely unlikely the central bank is going to lower its base rates from 7.75% any time soon. Inflation is running at a nine-month high of 5.02% and the central bank has indicated it will prioritise that over slowing growth. As such, the government has taken up the reins, raising the income tax threshold and cutting a whole range of taxes, most notably on passenger vehicles, in order to stimulate domestic consumption. March 13th, 2008  - Market Stats Mannheim Germany - Fresh euro/dollar highs after ZEW reading The euro rose to a fresh high of 1,5495 against the US dollar this morning on the back of a stronger-than-expected reading in the ZEW (Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung GmbH = Center for European Economic Research ) monthly economic sentiment indicator. The German economic institute’s survey of institutional investors and analysts generated a headline reading of minus 30.0 in March, up from a reading of minus 39.5 in February. It is still in negative territory and a long way below its historical average of 30.3. However, it came in better than expected—the analysts consensus was a further decline to minus 40—and suggests optimism that “the peak of the financial market crisis will be overcome in half a year and that business dynamics will not weaken more strongly than expected to date,” in the words of ZEW president, Wolfgang Franz. The ZEW reading adds to a string of better-than-expected data out of the euro-zone, including positive industrial production reports in all three big economies—Germany, France and Italy. The contrast with slowing US growth—or emergent recession, depending on your viewpoint—is underscored by the divergent trends in euro-zone and US interest rates. The former are on hold and the latter are trending lower, placing further pressure on the dollar. For the first time yesterday Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, tried some verbal market intervention against the soaring euro. “In present circumstances, we are concerned about excessive exchange rate moves,” he told a central bankers meeting in Basel, Switzerland. March 11th, 2008  - Market Stats San Jose, California - Global Market for Fiber Optic Components to Exceed US$44 Billion by 2010 Worldwide sales of fiber optic components are projected to exceed US$44 billion by 2010, while demand for optical fiber is projected to exceed 103 Million KM by 2009. According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Fiber optics industry is expected to grow in spite of high consolidation. Optical Fiber demand is primarily driven by increased demand for broadband Internet connections in North America and China. With surplus manufacturing capacity of optical fiber and centrally regulated tender process, China has emerged as a very price sensitive market. United States represents the largest market for fiber optic components, with an estimated share of 39.02% of the global market in 2007. Transmitters/Receivers constitute the largest product segment in the worldwide fiber optic components market with estimated sales of US$12.6 billion in 2007. Sales of fiber optic components in US are projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.98% during the period 2000-2010. March 11th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - China steel wire prices jump 25.6 percent in February China's February producer price index (PPI) rose 6.6 pct from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. PPI in the two months to February was up 6.4 pct year-on-year, the NBS said. Prices for production materials increased 7.2 pct, while mining and exploration prices rose 25.3 pct. Raw materials prices rose 8.8 pct last month. Prices for the processing industry rose 4.1 pct, with consumer goods prices up 4.9 pct. Prices of crude oil rose 37.5 pct in February, while the prices of gasoline, kerosene and diesel were up 8.7 pct, 11.4 pct and 9.8 pct respectively. Coal mining and washing prices increased 18.5 pct and raw coal prices were up 19.4 pct. Ferrous metal processing prices rose 17.9 pct. Prices for large- and medium-sized steel products rose 18.9 pct and 29.6 pct respectively, while prices for small steel products were up 27.8 pct. Steel wire prices rose 25.6 pct, while prices for medium thickness steel plates were up 18.5 pct. Non-ferrous metal processing prices increased 6.6 pct last month. March 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - LME copper price likely to hit $10,000 in Q2 some analysts say. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are very likely to reach as high as $10,000 per tonne in the second quarter of this year, due to increased speculative fund investment in the commodity market some analyst suggest. The LME three-month copper contract ended 1.5% lower at $8,560 per tonne on Thursday, after touching an intra-day high of $8,795 per tonne. "U.S. dollar weakness, along with market expectation of further U.S. Fed interest rate cuts in the near future, has forced investors to quit stock, real estate and bond markets, in favor of commodity markets. The three-month copper price contract on the LME is very likely to hit $10,000 per tonne in the second quarter," Bi Sheng, general manger of the futures department of Henan Gold Dragon Copper Tube, China's largest copper tube manufacturer, said in a comment to the current bullish copper market that is more driven by speculative fund investment than by strong consumption. Bi Sheng said that current downstream copper consumption is not as strong as last year. Hu Kaixi, an analyst from Shanghai CIFCO, China's leading futures broker, also said that LME copper prices will soar to as high as $10,000 per tonne by May this year, supported by the recovery of China's copper consumption and inventory restocking activities. "Copper prices will see seasonal correction this summer, but are very likely to reach a new record of $11,800 per tonne by October," he said. March 10th, 2008  - Market Stats Bombay India - Ramsarup Industries hikes prices of steel wires India’s leading steel wires maker Ramsarup Industries Limited recently announced that it has increased prices of steel wires in range of INR 2,500 per tonne to INR 4,000 per tonne. Ramsarup Industries Limited announced had raised prices of steel wires by INR 3,500 per tonne to INR 4,000 per tonne in February beginning March 8th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - US wire rod market strengthens and cost soar. Due to domestic mills operating at capacity and exchange rates making imported rod costly a tight supply situation has developed, why people expect wire rod price to soar in the US market. Buyers will have no choice but to accept for the new price level. Last week, the wire rod price had already risen by US$33/ton and the price keeps climbing strongly. The low carbon wire rod price is about US$827 to 849/ton, high carbon wire rod price is about US$882 to 904/ton and the wire mesh usage wire rod price is about US$805 to 827/ton now in the US domestic market. So far, the demand in the US market is not strong; however, wire mills will still announce the new higher wire price for April and May shipments. The question is now if wiredrawers will be able to pass on all of the increase March 4th, 2008  - Market Stats Milan Italy - Italian rebar market remains steady in February After large price increases in January, Italian domestic rebar market appears stagnant in February. In January 2008, rebar basic price rose and reached EUR 320 to EUR 330 per tonne. It said that increased prices are mainly related to the surcharge that was increased by EUR 20 per tonne in December 2007. Market price has remained steady in February 2008 and will continue to the beginning of March. The reason for the lack of market price increases is weak domestic market demand, and end users reducing purchase volume due to strong price and stagnant market conditions. March 3rd, 2008  - Market Stats Nanjing China - Nanjing Steel raises ex-works prices for rebar and wire rods In a press release China~{!/~}s Nanjing Steel announced that it has increased ex-works prices for some products, on the basis of prices released on February 25th 2008. The price has been increased by CNY 200 per tonne for rebar, high speed wire rod and strip steel, CNY 220 per tonne for round bar and carbon high quality structural round bar and CNY 60 per tonne for medium plate and low alloy steel. It added that latest ex-works price is offered at CNY 5250 per tonne for 18mm to 25mm HRB335 rebar and CNY 5300 per tonne for 6.5mm Q235 high speed wire rod. Prices listed above includes a 17% VAT, and are effective as of February 28th 2008. Earlier in the week Baosteel, Angang Steel Co Ltd, Maanshan Iron & Steel and Chongqing Iron&Steel group announced they will raise its product price in second quarter (see wirenews Feb 27) March 1st, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Corus increases prices for wire rod products Corus is increasing UK wire rod prices by £70 - £90 per tonne on deliveries from March 31st 2008. Gareth Beese General Manager, Sales and Marketing, stated: "Recent agreements concluded for iron ore contracts are at prices considerably above analyst forecasts. Coking coal contract prices are expected to be considerably above 2007 levels. In addition, increases in scrap prices, combined with the additional costs of bulk freight and utilities are resulting in unprecedented levels of input cost increases." Corus recognises that these price increases will need to be passed through supply chains in the wire industry to end users. Commercial enquiries should be directed to the normal sales contact at Corus’ wire rod business. March 1st, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Speculators make industrial metal procurement hazardous. In base metals, market speculation that copper and aluminium would breach their record highs gathered momentum this past week as the extent of potential disruption to Chinese production due to winter storms and power supply problems became clearer. Over the week, copper rose 1.3 per cent to $8,435 a tonne, targeting its record $8,800, while aluminium jumped 6.3 per cent to $3,104, marching towards its $3,310 peak. Nickel surged 11.1 per cent to $31,550 a tonne this week on supply concerns as strike action paralysed BHP Billiton’s Cerro Matoso ferro-nickel mine in Colombia, which accounts for about 4 per cent of global nickel supply. Tin hit a record $18,900 on Thursday and rose 6.7 per cent to $18,750 over the week amid concerns over supply interruptions in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zinc jumped 9.6 per cent to $2,740 a tonne following production losses in China, the world’s top producer. Debate is intense among analysts and investors over whether the commodity super cycle can be sustained. “Commodity markets are ignoring the genuine risks posed by a recession in the US and pinning all their hopes on 'decoupling’ with the rest of the world. But this is an extremely brave call,” says Stephen Briggs of Société Générale. “Most base metals prices are extraordinarily high by historical standards and it is difficult to envisage another bull market phase when facing a material slowdown in the global economy.” Commodity bulls argue that infrastructure requirements in emerging markets are likely to underpin demand for base metals for years to come. Be that as it may speculators are now driving prices beyond what global supply and demand dictates. February 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - US stainless rod and wire imports continued to fall in December The Specialty Steel Industry of North America ("SSINA") has released statistical data on imports, U.S. consumption and import penetration for YTD December 2007 compared to the same 2006 twelve-month period. Stainless steel bar: Imports in YTD December 2007 were 122,734 tons, a 1.9% increase compared to YTD December 2006; U.S. consumption was 227,392 tons, a 2.5% decrease; twelve-month import penetration was 54.0%, a 2.4 percentage point increase from 2006. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD December 2007 were 30,567 tons, a 2.9% decrease compared to YTD December 2006; U.S. consumption was 63,862 tons, a 10.5% decrease; twelve-month import penetration was 47.9%, a 3.8 percentage point increase from 2006. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD December 2007 were 45,982 tons, a 5.5% decrease compared to YTD December 2006; U.S. consumption was 78,890 tons, a 5.9% decrease; twelve-month import penetration was 58.3%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from 2006. Imports of total stainless steel (comprising the foregoing product lines) in YTD December 2007 were 765,431 tons, a 7.6% decrease compared to YTD December 2006; U.S. consumption was 2,225,789 tons, a 14.0% decrease; twelve-month import penetration was 34.4%, a 2.4 percentage point increase from 2006. February 27th, 2008  - Market Stats Brussels Belgium - Crude steel production up 4.9% in January 2008 over January 2007 World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) was 113 million metric tons (mmt) in January. This is a 4.9% increase on January 2007. However the Moving Annual Total (MAT) growth rate slowed from a peak in March 2007 of 10.8% to 6.6% in January 2008. This month’s figures from China are estimates from the China Iron and Steel Association as official figures have not yet been released. Total production in China was 40.9 mmt for the month, an increase of 7.3% on January 2007. China’s MAT growth rate has slowed from 21.0% in January 2007 to 13.3% in January 2008. Japanese production was 10.3 mmt, an increase of 1.8% and India produced 4.8 mmt, an increase of 8.8% compared to January 2007. See Extended Story.. February 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - Flux-core welding wire consumption anticipated to grow 15 percent per year Since the early 1980s, flux cored welding wire for carbon steel has been widely promoted various commercial application. Today, flux cored welding wire is an essential material in the fabrication industry. In recent years, demand has been growing for this welding consumable. As one of the leading producers of flux cored welding wire, including that for specialty steel, Kobe Steel has been increasing its production capacities for this material at its plants in Japan, China, South Korea and Europe. China is the largest market for welding consumables, using an estimated 2.5 million tonnes of welding materials of various types per year. China's shipbuilding capacity is anticipated to steadily grow, with capacity in 2010 expected to double, in comparison to 2007. In addition, the use of welding electrodes in shipbuilding is shifting to high-efficiency flux cored welding wire for carbon steel. As a result, Kobe Steel predicts that demand for flux cored welding wire will increase sharply. World Demand for Welding Consumables (Kobe Steel estimate) (In thousands of metric tons/year) Region 2006 2010 Europe 500 650 North America 450 530 Asia 3650 Other 445 570 Total 3,350 5400 China (subset of Asia 1,000 2,500 February 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Shanghai China - Soaring Iron ore prices send cost of rebar and wire rod sky high Rebar and wire rod prices have started to move upward reversing a two month long downward correction, which started early December 2007. It is believed this is the start of another round of increases. On the Shanghai market HRB335 20mm rebar prices have surged up to CNY 4500 per tonne to CNY 4510 per tonne while that for HRB400 20mm are being offered at CNY 4600 per tonne increased to CNY 160 per tonne and CNY 130 per tonne to CNY 150 per tonne. Merchant and high carbon wire rod prices have skyrocketed by CNY 160 per tonne to CNY 190 per tonne to CNY 4550 per tonne and CNY 4650 per tonne respectively. February 22nd, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - North American steel production for 2008 predicted to rise only 1.5% World steel production is projected to increase 5.7% this year to 1.42 billion metric tons from a preliminary 1.344 billion metric tons last year, forecasts MEPS (International) of Sheffield, England. The steel consultancy says the increase will be driven mainly by an expected increase in China’s output to 533 million metric tons from 489 million metric tons in 2007, a gain of 9%. Russia and Eastern Europe, the area known in Europe as the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, also is expected to show growth in production to 131million metric tons from 124 million metric tons in 2007, a 5.6% gain, the MEPS study suggests. MEPS also forecasts a marginal increase in the European Union (EU-27) output to 215 million metric tons from 210 million metric tons in 2007. In the NAFTA region (Mexico, Canada and the U.S.), a small 1.5% improvement is forecast for this year to 134.8 million metric tons from 132.8 million in 2007 due mostly to reduced imports because of the weakness in the U.S. dollar that have created higher-priced markets elsewhere. Steel production in South America will rise to 52 million metric tons in 2008 from 48 million in 2007, mainly because of rising local demand. February 20th, 2008  - Market Stats Tehran Iran - Steel production in Iran's Khuzestan province increased by 20 percent Since the beginning of this year (Iranian year started 20 March 2007) more than 2,850,000m tonnes of various kinds of steel have been produced in Khuzestan Province. The head of the Mines and Industry Organization of Khuzestan Province said that this amount of steel has been produced in four active mills in the country, which are Khuzestan Steel Company, Iran National Steel Industrial Group, Ahvaz Navardoluleh and Kavian Steel Company with an increase of 20 percent compared to last year. Hasanzadeh (head of the Mines and Industry Organization of Khuzestan Province) said that these items include various types of ingots, billet, bloom, slab, steel used in constructions, various kinds of wire and round bars, seamless pipes and iron beam. He also said that during this time more than 480,000 tonnes of various metal products with a value of 268 million dollars have been exported to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Syria from Khuzestan. February 19th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - China's Producer Price Index up 6.1% on year on January The first in a series of key bits of economic data continued to point to an overheating economy on Monday. Producer prices in China were up 6.1 percent on year in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics - more than the 5.6 percent increase that analysts had been expecting. It also marked the sixth consecutive month of PPI growth after a 5.4 percent increase in December. For all of 2007, PPI rose by 3.1 percent. Not surprisingly, the largest annual increase belonged to crude oil, which jumped 29.9 percent. Other gains on year included ferrous metals (17.3 percent), steel wire (25 percent) and non-ferrous metals (4.7 percent). Now the focus turns to the consumer price index report, which is scheduled for release Tuesday morning. Analysts are expecting the January inflation figure to hit a fresh 11-year high of 7 percent, making it increasingly likely that the government would have to introduce some cooling measures. December's figure was 6.5 percent, the highest since it topped out at 8.0 percent in 1997. February 15th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C - SSINA releases November market data The Specialty Steel Industry of North America ("SSINA") today released statistical data on imports from China, U.S. consumption and import penetration for YTD November 2007 compared to the same 2006 eleven-month period. Stainless steel bar: Imports in YTD November 2007 were 112,642 tons,a 3.2% increase compared to YTD November 2006; U.S. consumption was 210,258 tons, a 1.5% decrease; eleven-month import penetration was 53.6%, a 2.5 percentage point increase. Stainless steel rod: Imports in YTD November 2007 were 28,592 tons, a 1.9% increase compared to YTD November 2006; U.S. consumption was 58,628tons, an 8.6% decrease; eleven-month import penetration was 48.8%, a five percentage point increase. Stainless steel wire: Imports in YTD November 2007 were 42,739 tons, a 3.7% decrease compared to YTD November 2006; U.S. consumption was 75,633 tons, a 2.3% decrease eleven-month import penetration was 56.5%, down 0.8 % from 2006. February 12th, 2008  - Market Stats New York City - US steel mills are pushing wire rod prices again $800/ton record-high price sought for spring. Purchasing.com said on its web site that steels mills are citing a lack of imports and increased scrap costs for as much as $200/ton in increased wire rod prices for March and April deliveries that could bring spot prices up around $800/ton. In letters to customers, U.S. steel rod mills Keystone Steel & Wire ArcelorMittal Long Carbon North America say price increases are needed to offset scrap costs, which have risen by $90-$100 ton when compared with 2007 average costs. Various news sources are reporting that supply deals with lower prices are being terminated by the mills, claiming there is tight supply in the U.S. market due to reduced inventories and imports. However, demand has weak for some months and the rate of inflation hasn’t matched mill-announced price hikes. (see also wirenews January 8th, 2008 Market Stats New York City - US Steel wire rod prices increased 19 percent in 2007) February 9th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. - Copper strong on falling inventory. Copper confounded the doomsayers on Thursday, casting off macro gloom and weakness elsewhere, instead focusing on eroding exchange stocks. ECB president Trichet hinted that slowing economic growth in the Eurozone could see interest rates cut, which hampered upward progress mid-morning, though the market finished with a flourish, brushing off (relative) dollar strength and lacklustre equities. LME stock levels fell to three-month lows and warrant cancellations remained strong, all pointing to Chinese restocking after their week-long holiday. Technically, the likes of Cliff Green Consultancy concurred that copper’s short-term outlook had “improved significantly”, attracting fresh CTA and macro fund buying in the afternoon, locals reported. See Extended Story.. February 8th, 2008  - Market Stats Washington D.C. - ISM services index drops for the first time in five years A growing number of top economists believe that the U.S. economy has now toppled into recession. The alarm bells were set off Tuesday by a grim report on service businesses, which make up the majority of the U.S. economy. The Institute of Supply Management's latest index on the services sector dropped for the first time in five years in January, contributing to anxiety about a U.S. recession. The ISM index composite fell 7.6 points to 44.6 in January from 52.2 in December. Any value under 50 on the index means decline in the sector while above-50 values indicate growth. At the same time, the business activity index dropped to 41.9 in January from 54.4 in December, stunning most economists who were predicting a value of around 53 in January. This gap between December and January is the largest seen in a decade. February 5th, 2008  - Market Stats Calcutta India - Ramsarup Industries hikes steel wire prices Ramsarup Industries has increased prices of steel wires in range of Rs 3,500 per metric tons to Rs 4,000 per metric tons with immediate effect. Ramsarup Industries, a Kolkata-based company was incorporated in 1979 and manufactures wires and TMT bars. The company serves railways, housing, power, roads and bridges, water management, and defense sectors. Ramsarup Industries, formerly known as Ramsarup Engineering Industries, changed its name to Ramsarup Industries in 2005. This company is one of the few manufacturers in India to provide the whole range of TMT products with size ranging from 8mm to 40mm. February 5th, 2008  - Market Stats Brantford Ontario - World steel output up 7.5% US steel imports drop again December The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has announced that world crude steel output reached 1,343.5 million metric tons (mmt) for the year 2007. This is an increase of 7.5% on 2006. The total represents the highest level of crude steel output in history and it is the fifth consecutive year that world crude steel production grew by more than 7%. While the overall output remains high, 2007 has seen a small slowdown in the growth rate, year-on-year growth peaking at the end of the first quarter. This slowdown in growth was seen in nearly all the major producing countries and regions including China, EU, CIS and the US. The exception was in the Middle East where production growth accelerated during the second half of the year. US imports declined again in December to 1.98 million tonnes by 15% from November’s low level and by 34.3% compared to December 2006. For the year the decline from record 2006 levels was 26.6%. December wire rod imports dropped to 46,058 tonne, down from 48,530 in November 2007 and down from 91,151 in December 2006. January 26th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - CISA (China Iron and Steel Association) outlines steel industry scenario for 2008 Mr Luo Bingsheng vice chairman of China Iron and Steel Association, during a conference held in Beijing this past week outlined five points on the business climate for China's steel industry in 2008. 1. Tight monetary policy will curb market demand for steel: China will strengthen tight monetary policy in 2008, possible curbing the growth of investment in fixed assets and new projects, further squeezing demand for steel. China's apparent consumption of crude steel in 2008 would gain 12% from last year, slightly lower than that in 2007. If tight monetary policy is strengthened, the growth of steel consumption may fall to 10% or even lower. 2. Steel exports will drop dramatically: China's total exports in 2007 amounted to 72.5 million tonnes of crude steel, remarkably helping consumption of domestic products yet worsening pollutants emissions, resources consumptions and international trade frictions. If current policy is of little avail when it is fully implemented, relevant policies may be hammered out again to curb export growth. China will face bitter steel export market in 2008, during which total export volume is expected to lose at least 20 million tonnes year on year. 3. Production cost will rise notably: By the end of November 2007 production costs reported by large and medium size steelmakers had increased 30% over that in a year earlier and average cost of steelmaking pig iron had jumped to over CNY 2800 per tonne. Costs for iron ore and freight rate hit new records continuously, doubling the pressure on steelmakers. Tight coking coal supply also emerges recently and steelmakers are scrambling for coking coal resources at the moment. High costs for raw materials are expected to continue for the whole 2008. 4. Obsolete capacity elimination remains a difficult job: China plans to wash out 30 million tonnes each of obsolete steelmaking and iron making capacity this year. But experience in last year indicates this is a difficult job. Fresh capacity in 2008 adds up to over 40 million tonnes. The trend of overcapacity still exists. 5. Prices for steel products keep fluctuating on a high track: Due to cost for iron ore and coking coal, prices for steel products will keep fluctuating at a high level and that for some varieties may hit new records. January 24th, 2008  - Market Stats London U.K. January 24 - China’s refined copper imports surge in 2007 Metals insider (http://www.metalsinsider.com/ )a U.K. based on-line newsletter said yesterday that China’s net refined copper (not alloy) imports surged by 135% to 1,369,644t last year. In tonnage terms the increase amounted to a massive 785,650t. There were two elements to this stellar increase in the country’s net imports. Firstly, outright imports rose by a dramatic 666,700t to 1,493,700t. The buying was not symmetric. Rather, it was biased heavily towards the first part of the year, as the spike in the chart above shows. This was with hindsight a major re-stocking exercise triggered by LME prices falling towards the $5,000/t level over the first part of 2007. Imports of refined metal had slumped by 32% over the course of 2006, which was a function of commercial de-stocking but more importantly the release of massive amounts of copper into the local system by the government stockpile manager, the State Reserve Bureau (SRB. The actions of the SRB in 2006 also explain the second part of the sharp rise in last year’s net imports—the fall in China’s exports. At 125,900t, they were down by 48% year-on-year, equivalent to a drop of 117,000t. A large part of that drop was down to the fact that as well as pumping metal into the domestic market, the SRB in 2006 was forced to make heavy deliveries against loss-making positions on the LME market. The shadow cast by the dealings of Liu Qibing, senior trader at the SRB, was a long one in terms of the disruption to China’s net trade patterns. That disruption has bedevilled statistical analysis of the Chinese market ever since. Last year’s super-strong imports mean that “apparent” consumption in China—a calculation based on domestic production plus net imports plus/minus changes in stocks registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange—stands at around 37% in 2007. The consensus thinking is that this is too high a number, even allowing for strong demand for copper for China’s infrastructure investment, but quantifying how much copper was imported for consumption and how much for re-stocking last year is nigh impossible. January 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - No - recession seen here CISA sees 540 million tonnes crude steel in 2008 According to Mr Qi Xiangdong vice secretary general of China Iron & Steel Association, said on its web site that China produced some 490 million tonnes crude steel in 2007 up by 16.4%, the output is expected to grow by 10% YoY in 2007 to reach 540 million tonnes. CISA also revealed that consumption of crude steel in 2007 stood at 436 million tonnes up by 12.9%YoY from a year before and the net export of crude steel was 54.89 million tonnes rising by 20.17 million tonnes over 2006. Mr Qi Xiangdong predicted that steel product export to drop 20% this year and the billet & slab by as much as 50%; while import should stand flat at 16 million tonnes compared with last year. And the crude steel consumption growth is likely to keep 12%. According to Mr Qi “Fixed asset investment growth would not fall back substantially due both to stainable development of real estate and the central and western construction of infrastructure. Taking backward capacity elimination campaign, the supply & demand condition should hold stable.” During January to November 2007, China’s output of pure sheet was 70.18 million tons, up 33.68%; long products 241.59 million tons, up 16.68%; strip 128.02 million tons, up 26.68%; coating and galvanized 20.98 million tons, up 42.36%; pipes 38.54 million tons, up 16.32%; others 8.54 million tons, up 46.4%. January 23rd, 2008  - Market Stats Riyadh Saudi Arabia - Scrap price in Saudi Arab surge by 8% According to a report published in the Arabic daily Al Eqtesadyiah, the price of scrap iron in Saudi Arabia has jumped by SAR 100 a tonne or 8.33% from SAR 1,200 per tonne to SAR 1,300 per tonne in the beginning of 2008. Scrap iron dealers are expecting a big jump in the price of iron during the next 3 years. Traders expect that Saudi's consumption of iron and steel during the next 3 years would exceed more than 36 million tonnes. The volume of consumption during the last 3 years was 23 million tonnes. However, investors emphasized that scrap iron prices in the kingdom are always low compared to prices in the International Iron Stock Exchange. Industry analysts also forecast an increase in rebar demand in the local market by more than 10% during the current year. January 18th, 2008  - Market Stats Beijing China - China's wire and cable industry will steadily increase capacity China Machinery Industry Federation says Construction of ultra-high voltage power projects is well underway alongside China's fast power grid development in recent years, creating huge market for wire and cable industry with an annual average growth of 15 per cent. At present, total industrial output value has exceeded 400 billion yuan (US$55 billion), enabling China to surpass the United States to become the top wire and cable producer in the world. Based on technology introduction and research and development, China's wire and cable industry has formed huge production capacity and formed a complete industry system. Statistics show that of wire and cable enterprises in China, state-owned enterprises only account for 15 per cent, while foreign-funded enterprises and private enterprises take a share of 25 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. January 12th, 2008  - Market Stats Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal boosts steel wire prices Steel wire list prices are being boosted by $60/ton in February by ArcelorMittal Long Carbon North America, which has joined with some other North American mills to raise list prices of steel wire rod by $100/ton since last September. Steel Business Briefing, the online news service, reports that ~{!0~}wire drawers have been having a difficult time passing along rod price increases, This matches Purchasingdata.com reports that wire prices have increased by just $35/ton since September and an earlier attempt to raise wire prices flopped. The wire rod price hikes are driven by increased energy costs, a weak US dollar and the subsequent reduction in pressure from imports. According to US commerce department figures, published December 27, 2007 US Wire Rod imports for November was 64,080 tonne down from 69,775 tonne in October and down significantly from the 193,999 tonne in November 2006 earlier. The average cost of imported non alloy carbon wire rod in November 2007 was US$ 651 up from US$ 646 in October 2007 and up from US$ 516 in November of 2006. Meanwhile the cost of imported non alloy carbon drawn wire in November 2007 was US$ 1003 up from US$ 979 in October 2006 and up from US$ 977. Drawn wire volume dropped from 52,395 tonne in October 2006 to 46,759 tonne in November 2006 and to 42,897 tonne in November 2007. In a related issue, that could have some correlation to wire rod versus the price for drawn wire the Commerce Department has decided that punitive tariffs on carbon and alloy steel rod imports from seven nations--Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago and Ukraine--should stay on the books. The import duty case now goes to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which has the final say in the matter. January 11th, 2008  - Market Stats Moscow Russia - ArcelorMittal to increase long product prices in CIS FIS reported that is planning to increase prices for long products in the CIS countries by USD 20 per tonne to USD 30 per tonne. The report added that the release price of rebars from ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog in Ukraine will increase to total USD 620 per tonne to USD 630 per tonne in January 2008 as compared to USD 580 per tonne to USD 600 per tone. Earlier it was reported that ArcelorMittal was planning an increase of by USD 30 per tonne for Turkish, Mediterranean, North America and Middle East markets.