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    April 16, 2020

    CRU: Zinc’s Price Off Lows as China Emerges from Lockdown

    Written by Helen O’Cleary

    By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor

    As the Chinese market gradually emerges from its Covid-19 lockdown and businesses and individuals start to return to normal, acute outbreaks of the virus across the world mean that many countries are still operating under severe restrictions. Even as China attempts to reinvigorate domestic demand, export market weakness threatens to hamper its economic recovery. At the time of this writing, the relaxation of restrictions in Spain and Italy is helping to keep zinc’s price just above $1,900/t, but the extension of lockdowns in countries such as India, Canada, Mexico and Peru and a reluctance by many others to give a date for even a tentative return to normal means recent gains could easily be eroded.

    Helen O’Cleary

    Read more from Helen O’Cleary

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    Mills seek more scrap after lower prices fail to attract tons

    Several mills that bought October scrap early last week are still asking for additional supplies, scrap market participants said. The reason: the mills' initial prices did not attract enough of the raw material, they said. A trading source based in northern Ohio said three mills have contacted his firm seeking offers for additional tons. He said the mills asked for offers even if prices were higher than their original buys last week.

    Nucor increases spot HR to $1,240/ton

    Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 12, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,240 per short ton (st) this week, a $10/st increase from a week earlier. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,305/st, up $15/st from the prior week. Nucor is still offering lead times of three to five weeks, according to the letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 6, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,270/st, up $10/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 13.