Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE) late on Tuesday September 29. Steel mills in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi will be affected by production restrictions aimed at improving ai...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 29 that are worth another look.Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices made no significant gains at the close on Tuesday September 29, with a directionless base-metals complex awaiting further macroeconomic stimulus.This was expected to come in the form of a United States fiscal stimulus package intended to fight the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.LME base metals futures prices stalled while talks c...Read More
European buyers of hot-rolled coil have been holding back from making deals because they are unwilling to accept further price rises, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 29.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?488.86 ($569.53) per tonne on Tuesday September 29, up by ?,?2.07 per tonne from ?,?486.79 per tonne on Monday.The ind...Read More
Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE) late on Tuesday September 29. Steel mills in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi will be affected by production restrictions aimed at improving ai...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 29 that are worth another look.Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry...Read More
Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will retire early on December 31 this year and take up the role of senior advisor to the board for six months, HKEX said on Tuesday September 29.Li had previously announced that he would not seek a renewal as chief executive at the end of his current contract and was expected to initially leave his role in October 2021."Being c...Read More
Autumn-winter steel production restriction plans in northern China will start on October 1 and last until March 31, 2021, according to a draft plan on air pollution control released by the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE) late on Tuesday September 29. Steel mills in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi will be affected by production restrictions aimed at improving ai...Read More
Steel market participants often identify iron ore as the key driver of steel prices because mills typically formulate their pricing strategies based on raw material costs - but this appears to have changed in 2020.While some unique challenges have emerged this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, one development that stood out from the rest is this: Iron ore market participants have attributed the s...Read More
London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices made no significant gains at the close on Tuesday September 29, with a directionless base-metals complex awaiting further macroeconomic stimulus.This was expected to come in the form of a United States fiscal stimulus package intended to fight the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.LME base metals futures prices stalled while talks c...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Tuesday September 29 amid the easing of sintering restrictions in Tangshan over October, trade sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.61 per tonne, up $1.46 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $117.89 per tonne, up $1.74 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $108.59 per tonne, up $1.84 per tonne.6...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices increased slightly on Tuesday September 29. Demand in India for seaborne materials was good, while most Chinese market participants were awaiting developments in the spot market after the country's Golden Week holiday.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $134.48 per tonne, up by $0.62 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $144.9...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While steel markets in Asia have demonstrated the most strength with regards to pricing through much of 2020, recent weeks have seen prices in Europe and the United States outperform those elsewhere.In a way, much of this is simply catching up on the gains already made by Asian steelmakers. They were able to obtain higher pri...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat-rolled prices began to recover in August, as we expected. The monthly average of our daily HRC index hit $473 per ton ($521/tonne), which was $3/t above our forecast.The upward momentum has since continued and has done so more quickly than we expected - sentiment has turned around dramatically on fundamental developm...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for hot-rolled coil have performed in line with our expectations over the past month, with US domestic HRC prices finding a floor in July in line with the forecast, before improving in August. US HRC prices averaged $473 per short ton in August, compared with our forecast price of $470 per ton.Our prediction that an i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
The takeaways from the latest edition of the Steel Raw Materials Market Tracker are ready to view.Iron ore prices remained relatively stable last week, signalling an end to the price spike. And for the first time since March, at the time of the Covid-19 lock-down in Hubei, we have seen a consistent downturn in utilization rates in China. Blast furnace utilization rates dropped for a fifth consecut...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have decreased over the past seven days with demand being weak, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 29.Most market participants believed that prices would remain stable or decrease further in the coming few days because of weakening Chinese demand and an upcoming holiday in the East Asian country.China will take a nati...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market on the second working day of the week, in anticipation of a downturn in prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 29.A steel mill in northern Turkey broke the long-term silence by booking two Baltic Sea cargoes at $296 per tonne cfr late last week - the first trading activity since Se...Read More
The US Midwest aluminium premium declined further on Tuesday September 29, with growing uncertainty surrounding trade actions - not just against Canada - leading many traders to offer discounts in order to move material.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 12.5-14 cents per lb on September 29, down by 7% from 13.5-15 cents per lb previously, where the premium had he...Read More