Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we approach the end of the first half of 2021, steel markets in Europe and the United States continue to heat up. This six-month period is largely unprecedented, with both steel prices and steelmakers' margins hitting a number of new record highs throughout.The rally is likely nearing its end, however, with global steel ou...Read More
The collapse of the iron ore market and market turbulence over Chinese property developer Evergrande Group are adding to the economic woes caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 for much of this year.It is hard to find bright sparks in the months ahead for the ferrous supply chain, which has been buffeted repeatedly in a short span of few months, starting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's comment...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday October 15 that are worth another look.Most prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down during the week ended October 15, with Brazilian mills lowering their offers, Russian sellers pressuring the market downward and Chinese material still scarce in...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday October 15 that are worth another look.Most prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America were down during the week ended October 15, with Brazilian mills lowering their offers, Russian sellers pressuring the market downward and Chinese material still scarce in...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Bulk and noble alloys both moved largely in line with our price forecasts globally over the past month, though several markets surprised to the upside, exceeding our forecast gains. Stronger-than-forecast pricing momentum was primarily triggered by supply shortages in numerous...Read More
Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel is suing compatriot automaker Toyota and Chinese mill Baosteel on claims that the two had infringed on its patent for non-oriented electrical steel sheet. In its suit filed at the Tokyo district court on Thursday October 14, Nippon Steel is also seeking an injunction to prohibit Toyota from manufacturing and selling motor-driven vehicles equipped with motors using...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 15.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) edged down this week, with few inquiries for spot tonnages, sources said on Friday October 15.TCs for smelters remain in the low-to-mid $60s, a level still well below the Chinese pricing floor of $70 per tonne/7 cents per lb.As for trader purchases, a tender for Escondida concentrate...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 15.China ?EUR?Silico-manganese prices continued to rally in portside ore markets while an improved demand outlook buoyed the seaborne manganese ore markets. ?EUR?Some South African miners raised their offer prices for November-shipment manganese ore, which was accepted by Chinese buyers fo...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 15.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
The entirety of copper's London Metal Exchange forward curve ended the day in a backwardated state on October 15, with fears of supply tightness taking over metals across the board. Zinc reached its highest prices in over a decade while tin climbed to new all-time highs. Copper's benchmark cash/three-month spread on LMESelect - the Exchange's electronic platform - touched a $350-per-tonne b...Read More