Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said onMonday October 18 ."Specifically, the investment is for developing and localizing automotive battery production, including those for battery electric vehicles, and is part of the global total of [approximately] $13.5 billion (1.5 trillion yen) set aside for investm...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...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
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
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.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
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:?EUR? Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...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
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...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
The Port of Los Angeles plans to operate around the clock seven days a week to address a growing backlog of shipments waiting in cargo containers anchored offshore to be unloaded at the port.The port announced the move on Wednesday October 13, joining a similar effort that began at the nearby Port of Long Beach in September.The port is figuring out the details of how it will work with supply chain...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
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
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
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
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 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