China has further diversified the list of countries supplying heavy scrap (HS) imports, with recent deals from both South Korea and Singapore, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday February 10.

Chinese steelmakers have been actively bidding for Japanese import scrap cargoes at prices above the China domestic market level in recent days, sources have told Fastmarkets.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly weaker, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly firmer this morning, Thursday February 4, with the weaker dollar likely weighing on dollar-denominated prices.

Ferrous markets are volatile, and 2020 marked one of the most up-and-down years for steel pricing in recent memory, but perhaps no year was as unpredictable as 2008.

Fastmarkets MB is inviting feedback on its iron ore indices, as part of its annual methodology review, in compliance with Iosco principles for price reporting agencies (PRAs).

Brazil’s iron ore exports increased by a third in December compared with a year earlier, according to statistics from the country’s economy ministry.

An increase in the number of physical scrap cargoes offered in key import market Vietnam in the the week to Thursday December 31 has dampened sentiment, market sources told Fastmarkets.

Import prices for containerized ferrous scrap into Taiwan continued on an uptrend in the week to Thursday December 24 amid limited supply and strong demand.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have moved above $50 per hundredweight ($1,000 per short ton) for the first time since early September 2008 thanks to a continuing supply shortage.

Jakob Stausholm will become the new chief executive officer of mining major Rio Tinto at the start of next year, the company announced on Thursday December 17.