DLA offers sixth tender for tungsten ore

Market: Metals
17/07/18

The US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) today began its sixth sales tender for tungsten ore and concentrates in 2018 with bids due by the following day.

The DLA, the procurement arm of the US Defense Department, is offering seven lots of tungsten ores and concentrates all of which are located at its Scotia, New York, facility. This is up from the five lots offered in late-June.

The combined bulk weight of the lots was up by 39pc to 587,469lbs from the previous offering. The tender contains 313,774lbs of tungsten by weight, up from 230,862lbs.

The DLA offered two lots of scheelite and four lots of wolframite of unknown origin as well as one lot of Spanish wolframite.

The DLA held 11 solicitations for tungsten ores and concentrates in 2017, selling 3.45mn lbs of tungsten ores by content. Sales of tungsten ores declined by 29pc to 1.52mn lbs in the first half of 2018 from the prior year period.

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26/12/24

China's GFEX launches polysilicon futures contracts

Beijing, 26 December (Argus) — China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) has launched futures contracts and options for polysilicon today. This is the third contract that GFEX has launched, following the launch of its contracts for silicon metal in December 2022 and lithium carbonate in July 2023. The launch of polysilicon contracts is aimed at easing a supply surplus and ensuring market development, given increasing new capacities at polysilicon producers and lower-than-expected demand from the downstream silicon wafer industry in the past two years, according to market participants. The new contracts are for benchmark N-type polysilicon and substitute P-type polysilicon. The exchange has set a premium of 12,000 yuan/t ($1,644/t) for the N-type over the P-type. It is offering seven contracts starting from June 2025 until December. The most-traded June contracts for N-type polysilicon on the GFEX closed at Yn41,570/t on 26 December, up from the launch price of Yn38,600/t, with trading volumes totalling 301,655 lots, equivalent to around 905,000t. GFEX has established delivery points for the new contracts in eight provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. Output and consumption in these regions account for 93.1pc and 91pc of the country's total output and consumption respectively, according to GFEX. South China-based GFEX launched in April 2021 and is partly owned by China's four operational futures exchanges — the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange and the China Financial Futures Exchange — with each holding a 15pc stake. Market reaction Some market participants expect the new futures contracts will ease pressure from ample spot inventories and shore up spot market sentiment in the coming months. But the market has yet to see immediate effects on the first trading day. Argus -assessed domestic prices for 5-5-3 grade silicon metal — a key feedstock in the production of silicon powder, which is the feedstock for polysilicon — held at Yn11,200-11,400/t delivered to ports on 26 December, unchanged from 24 December given limited buying interest from consumers. The most-traded February contracts for 5-5-3 grade silicon on the GFEX closed at Yn11,190/t on 26 December, down from Yn11,585/t on 25 December. China is the world's largest polysilicon producer, producing 1.74mn t during January-November, up by 33pc from a year earlier, according to data from the China nonferrous metals industry association (CNIA). It has an production capacity of over 2mn t/yr, according to industry estimates. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Japan’s crude steel output to recover in FY2025: IEEJ

26/12/24

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26/12/24

Japan’s crude steel output to recover in FY2025: IEEJ

Tokyo, 26 December (Argus) — Japan's crude steel output is expected to recover during April 2025-March 2026, given higher output in wider domestic industries, according to government affiliated think-tank the Institution of Energy Economy Japan (IEEJ). The country's crude steel output will increase by 4.1pc on the year to 86.5mn t in 2024-25, according to the IEEJ's projection on 24 December. This will mark the first year-on-year growth in four years. A recovery is mostly attributed to an uptrend in wider domestic industrial sectors including automobile, electric and industrial machinery, IEEJ said. It sees domestic car output increasing by 1.8pc to 8.9mn units from a year earlier. IEEJ did not provide further details, but it suggested that expanding investment for digital and green transformation will underpin the steel demand throughout the period. The think-tank also predicts that the country's steel product exports will increase by 1.2pc on the year following an upward trend in the global manufacturing sectors. Japan delivered around 32mn t of steel products overseas during 2023-24, according to the industry group the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). The country's crude steel output has been sluggish throughout 2024, partly owing to weak demand from the construction and automobile sectors. Rising material costs and labour shortages have led to fewer construction projects in the country, weighing on steel demand. Operational suspensions at major auto manufacturers including Toyota and Daihatsu, following alleged false reporting on safety test results, also pressured steel demand. This partially led to the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year decline in booked orders of ordinary steel for car use in October, according to JISF. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Viewpoint: US tariffs, new EAFs may alter scrap flows

24/12/24

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24/12/24

Viewpoint: US tariffs, new EAFs may alter scrap flows

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Viewpoint: FeV demand may grow next year

24/12/24

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24/12/24

Viewpoint: FeV demand may grow next year

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Viewpoint: US steel glut may dampen prices, profit

23/12/24

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23/12/24

Viewpoint: US steel glut may dampen prices, profit

Houston, 23 December (Argus) — Persistent steel oversupply in the US may continue to dampen domestic steel prices and steel mill earnings as the market faces weak demand and rising import volumes. Buyers told Argus the market remains oversupplied and has been for most of 2024, despite US steelmakers lowering production through the first three quarters of 2024. Raw steel production was 66.21mn short tons (st) this year through 28 September, a 1.11mn st decline from the first three quarters of 2023, according to weekly data published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). While steel production is lower, many US buyers believe steelmakers are still producing too much material, making it easy to buy spot tons. The Argus US hot-rolled coil (HRC) lead time crossed into 2025 in mid-December, and HRC lead times have averaged 4.3 weeks in 2024, down from six weeks in 2023. Facing these factors, US steelmakers see lower profits or even losses during the final quarter of 2024 and potentially into 2025. The five largest steelmakers by production capacity — Cleveland-Cliffs, Commercial Metals (CMC), Nucor, SDI and US Steel — reported combined profits of $3.55bn for the first three quarters of 2024 — $4.35bn lower than the same period of 2023. In recent fourth quarter earnings guidance, Nucor and US Steel said they could post a profit and loss, respectively, at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2020. Demand pressured by high rates A decline in demand has been the fundamental issue this year and is expected to continue to be moving into 2025. Many service centers reported lower steel consumption forecasts for 2025 compared to this year, outpacing any decline in US steel production. Automotive production and steel consumption from automaker Stellantis is said to have sagged recently as that company struggles to tamp down high vehicle inventories . High interest rates constrained demand and put pressure on buying trends. The Associated General Contractors of America's (AGC) chief economist Ken Simonson said recently that increased federal government project announcements have not led to more construction contracts, and that spending for major private construction categories are flat or shrinking. Nonresidential construction is one of the largest consumers of steel products. That lower trend in nonresidential spending is being masked by higher residential investment, with construction spending at $2.17 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate in October, 5pc above the same period the prior year and up by 0.4pc sequentially. Much of the increase was from higher spending in residential projects. Coupled with this lower demand, new and better operating steel mills could intensify the supply overhang. US Steel recently started up its new 3mn st/yr Big River 2 flat steel mill in northeast Arkansas and after years of production issues, Steel Dynamics' (SDI) 3mn st/yr Sinton, Texas, mill is operating at higher rates. Australian steelmaker BlueScope also reported that it is continuing to work on improving efficiency at its Ohio-based North Star flat steel mill, which it completed an expansion to last year. Farm tractor sales, another consumer of flat steel, stood at 196,000 units through November, down by 30,900 units from the same period the prior year. The higher production is coming online as steel prices are falling. The Argus US HRC Midwest assessment had a third quarter average of $680/st ex-works, down by 27pc since the first quarter average. Import volumes adding to oversupply Lower global steel costs have led to stubbornly elevated import volumes, despite persistent US oversupply and short lead times. Import volumes rose to 22.3mn st in the first three quarters of 2024, up by 431,000st from the same period prior year, according to data from the US Department of Commerce. By Rye Druzchetta US steel mill profits, production, steel imports and prices Through 3Q 2024 Through 3Q 2023 Difference US steel mill profits ($mn) Nucor 1,740 3,739 -(1,999) US Steel 473 975 -(502) Cleveland-Cliffs -(307) 554 -(861) SDI 1,330 2,027 -(697) CMC 309 598 -(289) US production US steel mill utilization rate (%) 76.7 76.9 -(0.2) Raw steel production ('000st) 66,212 67,325 -(1,113) Imports Quarterly steel product imports ('000st) 22,301 21,870 431 Argus-assessed pricing ($st) US HRC MW ex-works $796 $911 -($115) US rebar MW ex-works $809 $904 -($95) Company filings; AISI; US Department of Commerce; Argus CMC fiscal quarters adjusted to most relevant calendar year quarter. Utilization percentage rate and production tonnage estimates based on AISI data through 28 September. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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