The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view, including an upgrade to our aluminium price forecasts.Aluminium: Price forecasts raisedWe correctly expected the macro reflationary theme to raise the prices for all base metals but, with it being the base metal with by far the weakest fundamentals, we had expected the price of aluminium to underperform relative...Read More
Turkish steel mills have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for September-October shipments at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 3.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $300 per tonne, 13,000 tonnes of shredded at $305 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $310 per tonne cfr late on Wednesday.Anot...Read More
Peru's copper production continued to increase on a monthly comparison in July but output was still lower than a year ago, while the reopening of zinc mines drove output higher compared with the same month of 2019, the country's energy and mines ministry, Minem, said on Wednesday September 2. Copper output reached 198,796 tonnes in July, down by 2.2% from 203,321 tonnes a year before, Minem's data...Read More
Chile produced 462,000 tonnes of copper in July 2020, a 5.1% year-on-year drop from 486,800 tonnes with several operations halted, notably Codelco's, national copper commission Cochilco said on Wednesday September 2.Despite the lower production in July, the year-to-date output for the country was still up year on year after seven months. Chile produced 3.29 million tonnes in January-July 2020, up...Read More
Extreme tightness of duty-unpaid aluminium units in Rotterdam has pushed the P1020 duty-unpaid premium to its highest since March. With a lack of imports and material in tight hands, participants are concerned the tightness will not ease in the near term. "There is no unpaid material, simple as that. There is nothing new coming in and those holding the material are not willing to let it go at low...Read More
China's latest amendment to its solid waste law took effect on Tuesday September 1 and its stricter enforcement of solid waste import rules could push up downstream aluminium alloy prices, market participants told Fastmarkets. The new law, aiming to have zero waste imports, not only set legal requirements for solid waste importers but also claims carriers will hold joint liability for smuggling so...Read More
A post-summer return to the lead market enlivened spot activity in India and Vietnam in the week to Tuesday September 1. But while Indian lead premiums were buoyed by an increase in spot demand, the Southeast Asian lead premium narrowed over the period, with most countries remaining on the sidelines. Indian buyers came back to the lead market in full force, driving deals higher and premiums u...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have moved closer to $26.50 per hundredweight ($530 per short ton), reaching their highest since early April - the same month the index plunged to a more than four-year low on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $26.44 per cwt ($528.80 per ton) on Thursday September 3, up b...Read More
Imported billet prices increased slightly in Egypt because of the higher offer prices heard from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) although no deals were done, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 3.Export billet prices from the CIS region have been increasing, supported by rising prices in the scrap segment and the revival of customer interest, particularly in North Africa.Fa...Read More
Turkish billet prices have increased over the past week on rising imported scrap values and improving demand, sources said on Thursday September 3.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, domestic, exw Turkey was $425-430 per tonne on Thursday September 3, up from $420-425 per tonne ex-works last week. "I already heard a steel mill sold billet to a local customer at $429 per tonne ex...Read More
Domestic long steel prices in Turkey have increased over the past week in line with rising imported scrap values, sources said on Thursday September 3.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Turkey, was 3,950-3,960 lira ($535-536) per tonne on Thursday, up from the 3,860-3,870 lira per tonne of last week.The long steel...Read More
Prices in Turkey for steel rebar and wire rod have increased over the past week thanks to rising imported scrap costs and improving demand, sources said on Thursday September 3.A steel mill in the Marmara region was heard selling 52,000 tonnes of rebar to Hong Kong at $443 per tonne fob on an actual weight basis, while it also sold some 58,000 tonnes of rebar to West and North Africa at $450 per t...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Thursday September 3 amid market anticipation of a healthy demand outlook for steel, trade sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $129.92 per tonne, up $2.61 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $130.17 per tonne, up $2.27 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $115.23 per tonne, up $4.01 per...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices remained relatively stable on Thursday September 3 amid a lull in transactions, while Indian demand for seaborne materials in the spot market will increase after monsoon season, a source said. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $106.22 per tonne, up $0.12 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $114.43 per tonne, down $0.01 per tonneHard co...Read More
A stable domestic market for hot-rolled coil in China on Thursday September 3 led exporters to raise their minimum threshold for transaction prices.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,040-4,050 yuan ($591-593) yuan per tonne, unchangedPrices were stable in eastern China, with a trader there saying that she had received more bids during the day than on Wednesday.She believes gains in the futures ma...Read More
Chinese battery materials producer GEM has signed an eight-year nickel and cobalt supply contract with Indonesia's Halamahera Persada Lygend (HPAL), starting from 2021.This procurement scheme, seen by Fastmarkets, specifies eight-year totals for battery-grade nickel and cobalt raw materials, with nickel content totalling no less than 74,400 tonnes and no more than 178,560 tonne...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was the laggard during morning trading on Thursday September 3, with price action correcting by more than 3% despite both outflows and freshly canceled material, while tin was the only metal to hold recent price gains against subdued buying sentiment. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $15,195 per tonne, falling from...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices failed to increase on Thursday September 3 despite a strengthening of the futures and billet markets, with inventory levels continuing to rise in the past week.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,670-3,700 yuan ($537-541) per tonne, unchangedThis month's expected rise in demand has yet to take place due to unfavorable weather affecting the construction sector in China...Read More
Markets were mixed this morning, Thursday September 3, with the base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange generally firmer, albeit in fairly light volumes.Markets are still underpinned by the prospect of more stimulus from the United States, once Congress can agree on a figure, but some of the metals are starting to look a bit tiredChina's Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI) at...Read More