Demand and prices for alumina in China were in limbo this week because market participants have become cautious after a steep decline in downstream aluminium prices, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday October 28.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina, metallurgical grade, exw China, was 3,900-4,150 yuan ($610-650) per tonne on Thursday, flat from a week earlier.Domestic demand for alumina in...Read More
Prices for imports of basic pig iron into China have inched upward over the past fortnight, after transactions for Brazilian cargoes completed on October 15, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday October 28.Following those deals, however, buying activity started to slow down because sellers were offering cargoes at higher prices due to tight supply, market participants said.Around 120,000 tonnes of...Read More
Iron ore prices were largely down on Thursday October 28, after a dip in demand following the introduction of stricter emissions restrictions in China's steelmaking hub of Tangshan, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.65 per tonne, down $7.21 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $115.25 per tonne, down $6.90 per tonne58% Fe fines high-gr...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 27 that are worth another look.Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the...Read More
Consolidating its position in the battery materials supply chain amid fierce competition is the biggest challenge facing Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co, company president Dongqiang Cao told Fastmarkets in an interview.Previously, attracting investment and improving the ability to provide finance had proved to be a bottleneck in the early stages of Greatpower's development, when it expande...Read More
Active buying interest, limited offers from mills and export sales activity - because of the imminent expiry of a temporary export duty - pushed flat steel prices in the Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow up again in the week to Monday October 25, sources have told Fastmarkets.But the upward price trend may not be sustainable because of the usual low season during winter, some market...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 27 that are worth another look.Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the...Read More
The low-carbon ferro-chrome market in Europe leapt over the two weeks to Tuesday October 26 to a multi-year high due to extremely tight availability, with some sellers not offering on the spot market and consumers scrambling to find material.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe was $3.43-3.75 per lb Cr on October 26, up by 38-50 cents (13.97%)...Read More
The UG2 chrome-ore market has seen fresh liquidity with previous offers from miners encouraging buying interest. And ample supply plus sluggish demand has continued to weigh on the market.Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index basis 42%, cif China dipped by $1 per tonne on October 26 to $154 per tonne."40 to 42 percent concentrate material is under huge pressure and...Read More
Turkish steel mills were quiet in the deep-sea scrap markets ahead of an upcoming Republic Day holiday on Thursday and Friday, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday October 27.The most recent cargo was recorded on Tuesday, when a steel mill in the Marmara region booked a cargo from the United States, consisting of 20,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (90:10) and 10,000 tonnes of shredded at an average price o...Read More
Labor shortages across the global scrap industry pose the biggest threat to growth, according to a panel discussion at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in Brussels on Tuesday October 26."We are having tremendous difficulties in hiring employees as we grow," George Adams, president of SA Recycling said as part of the discussion."There is going to be a massive shortage of scrap...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 27 that are worth another look.Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Janie Davies in London;...Read More
From Wednesday December 1, Fastmarkets will publish its seaborne Asia battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide assessments on a daily basis. Fastmarkets had proposed in July to increase the pricing frequency for the two battery-grade lithium prices - assessed on a cif China, Japan and South Korea basis - to daily from weekly. This proposal had originally stated that the consultation period fo...Read More
Aluminium producer Rusal's sales dipped by nearly 12% quarter-on-quarter to 915,000 tonnes in July-September 2021, according to its latest statement of operating results."Aluminium sales dynamics can largely be explained by an increase of goods in transit that are recognized as inventory, which was caused - among other factors - by transport capacity restrictions in supply chains globally," the co...Read More
Consolidating its position in the battery materials supply chain amid fierce competition is the biggest challenge facing Greatpower Nickel & Cobalt Materials Co, company president Dongqiang Cao told Fastmarkets in an interview.Previously, attracting investment and improving the ability to provide finance had proved to be a bottleneck in the early stages of Greatpower's development, when it expande...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday October 27.Please click...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday October 27 that are worth another look.Long and flat-rolled steel producer Gerdau expects demand to continue to grow in 2022, after a rapid recovery of the local market this year from the lows of 2020 that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the...Read More
Trading activity in the European hot-rolled coil market was slow on Wednesday October 27, but mills are likely to seek price rise due to increasing production costs, sources told Fastmarkets. Buyers and sellers have been holding back from trading until a trend becomes clear, they added. Demand, however, has started to gradually improve due to distributors re-stocking for the first quarter of next...Read More
The nickel briquette premium in the United States surged by 10% this week amid supply tightness while those in China also rallied amid a favorable arbitrage.?EUR? US briquette premiums hit all-time high?EUR? Chinese premiums rally to 2-year high?EUR? European premiums stableNew peaks for both US premiumsHaving been flat for many weeks, nickel premiums in the US rose to new all-time highs.The two p...Read More