The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Upside breakout last weekThe price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange surprised us with a break to the upside in the week ended July 10, when prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange raced to three-and-a-half-year highs. While we think there is more short-term upside potential if technical and liquidity fact...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Capped by oversupplyA lack of a meaningful supply adjustment to the Covid-19 demand hit is keeping the aluminium physical market oversupplied and weighing on prices, limiting the success of more buoyant macro and technical forces on prices. Our premium forecasts are under review in light of threats from the U...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved down in line with our expectations, averaging $461 per ton in July versus our forecast price of $460 per ton. Although domestic HRC prices slipped to less than $450 per ton in late July/early August, we maintain the view th...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.?EUR? US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have moved down in line with our expectations, averaging $508 per tonne in July compared with our forecast price of $519 per tonne. While we are forecasting coil price increases in August, we have revised our expectations downward. Although steelmakers are reporting improving dema...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The price for steel scrap in China has risen recently, amid high mill operating rates and at a time of heavy rain, but it remains at a premium to hot metal, we estimate. Heavy rains in China tend to increase the moisture content of iron ore stockpiles, which can cause issues during the sintering process, and this may have en...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Trading activity at a minimumWelded pipe trading activity has been slow globally over July 2020, and while the holiday-period slowdown is partly to blame in several countries, disruptions to projects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were obviously the main cause. In this context, substrate costs were driving much of the prici...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Heavy rains in China, which can negatively affect iron ore supplies and pig iron production, and bolster demand for scrap, continued in July 2020. Although this was more an upside risk to our bearish base case one month ago, Chinese scrap prices remained strong. The firm prices gained support from the rains and from a more g...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This year has come with several unexpected events which increased the bullish case for iron ore prices, while the Chinese government's spending on infrastructure is likely to boost iron ore demand and add upside support to prices. But supply disruptions and a demand surge which caused price spikes are now easing. We do not e...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' teamof analysts are ready to view.Chinese crude steel production outperformed our expectations with its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Crude steel output was up by 2.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 503 million tonnes, and we have revised upward what was initially a more bearish forecast for this year. We now estimate that product...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prolonged flooding in China could limit the use of construction steel and drag down demand for steel rebar in the short term, which in turn could damp the demand for iron ore. So far, it has been reported that steel mills in the affected regions have continued to operate as normal. The floods have, however, caused a few days...Read More
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 analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices increased over the past week in line with strengthening domestic finished steel prices and imported scrap costs, sources said on Monday August 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey was 1,890-2,115 lira ($257-288) per tonne on Monday, up from 1,720-2,045 lira per tonne last week.A number of steel mills ra...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were unchanged day on day on Monday August 17, after a gradual increase last week, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at ?,?419.17 ($496.32) per tonne on Monday August 17, unchanged from August 14.The index was, however, up by ?,?5.00 per tonne week on wee...Read More
AMAG Austria Metall Ag will acquire a 70% stake in German aerospace and aviation components manufacturer Aircraft Philipp Gruppe (ACP), the Austrian aluminium cast and flat rolled products company said. The deal is expected to be concluded in late autumn, with ACP to be retained as an entity which will operate and be managed as an independent company. ACP current owner Rolf Philipp will retain a 3...Read More
The aluminium premium at main Japanese ports (MJP) in the fourth quarter of 2020 was unlikely to rise from its level in the third quarter even though the gradual recovery of demand in the country has improved market sentiment in recent weeks, sources have told Fastmarkets.Last week was part of the summer break for the majority of end-users in Japan, but participants said that the MJP market has be...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer during morning trading on Monday August 17, pushing past the $2,400-per-tonne resistance level despite continued stock inflows, while nickel futures continued their ascent against a wide forward curve.Zinc's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $2,426 per tonne, up 2.5% from $2,367.50 per tonne at the c...Read More
Metal prices were mostly firmer on both the London Metals Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Monday August 17, the exception was the SHFE September aluminium contract that was down by 0.3% while the rest of the metals on both exchanges were up by an average of 1.1%. United States/China trade talks over the weekend were postponed. Japan's preliminary gross domestic product fell by 7.8%...Read More
Domestic flat steel suppliers to Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow are keen to increase prices from September, supported by stronger exports, although buyers doubt they will stick, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday, August 17.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled sheet, domestic, cpt Moscow, Russia was unchanged at 41,000-42,000 roubles ($563-576)...Read More