Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a weekly import price assessment for steel billet on a cfr China basis.

Markets seem to be anticipating a Democratic win in the Georgia Senate run-off this morning, Wednesday January 6, and that could be bullish for commodities because a Democratic-controlled US Congress could push through larger fiscal stimulus packages.

Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a new daily China ferrous scrap import price assessment to enhance its growing editorial coverage of the Asian market for the steelmaking raw material.

Global silico-manganese output dropped by 4.5% month on month in November 2020 to 1.5 million tonnes, due to production cuts in Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States region, according to the latest data from the International Manganese Institute (IMnI).

Strong gains were seen across the base metals on the London Metal Exchange at the start of the week and most of the metals in London and all the metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up again this morning, Tuesday January 5.

The new year has started with optimism in the air and base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were up by an average of 1.8% and 1.4% respectively this morning, Monday January 14.

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.

Fastmarkets proposes to make two amendments to the specifications of its daily price for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast Asia.

The new coronavirus strain found in the United Kingdom has raised fears of scrap supply shortages which could feed the runaway prices in Asia, market sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday December 24.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board this morning, Thursday December 24, while those on the London Metal Exchange were mixed.