Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will resume a quarter of its production capacity that has been restricted since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic after the federal government guaranteed power supply at lower costs, the company and the government said jointly on Wednesday October 13.That will amount to 106,000 tonnes of aluminium and result in 600 new direct and indirect jobs, they said....Read More
Giuseppe Pasini, chairman of Italy's Feralpi Group, one of the leading long steel manufacturers in the European Union, spoke with Fastmarkets' Julia Bolotova about the challenges facing the European steel sector and Feralpi's strategy in light of the EU's ambitious greenhouse emissions reduction goals and global trade restrictions.Energy crisis in EuropeThe recent jump in electricity and gas price...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally up strongly this morning, Monday October 18, with energy shortages and high energy prices continuing to affect supply. The market seems to be ignoring, for now, the weaker economic data out of China.China's gross domestic product climbed 4.9% in the third quarter, down from 7.9% in the second quarter.Autom...Read More
Silicon sales upward of $5 per lb reported in Mexico and Canada indicate continued upward pressure on prices of the aluminium alloying metal in the United States, which reached another all-time high on Thursday October 14.Fastmarkets assessed the price of silicon, ddp US at $3.35-4.25 per lb on October 14, up by 18.75% from $2.90-3.50 per lb on October 7.This was the fourth week in a row...Read More
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
Seaborne coking coal prices increased slightly on Monday October 18. And the number of trucks for transporting Mongolian coal is expected to increase, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $612.56 per tonne, up by $1.46 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.06 per tonne, up by $3.39 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $400.30 per tonne, up by $0.6...Read More
Ford Motor will invest $316 million to build electric car components at its Halewood factory in northern England, it said.The US automotive manufacturer expects power unit production to begin in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year, it said in a release on Monday October 18.This vehicle transmission facility, which currently builds transmissions for several...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption rose by 8.52% year on year in September amid a surge in imports and an increase in long steel demand, national steelmaker association Instituto A??o Brasil said.Consumption totaled 2.20 million tonnes in September, up from 2.03 million tonnes in the corresponding month last year, the association said on Friday October 15.Growth was more pronounced for long stee...Read More
Manganese ore prices at Chinese ports rose markedly in the week to Friday October 15 amid an improved demand outlook and easing production headwinds in some major alloy-producing regions.The price differential between low-grade and high-grade manganese ore grew to 8.50 yuan ($1.32) per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on Friday, the widest since Fastmarkets started assessing the markets in January 201...Read More
The Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) billet export prices increased following a couple of Black Sea cargoes reportedly sold to Turkey, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday October 18.A 10,000-tonne cargo from Russia was reportedly sold to Turkey at $650 per tonne fob late last week, several sources told Fastmarkets.Another billet cargo of around 20,000 tonnes was sold from Ukraine to Iskend...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More
A summary of the operational results for Russian steelmaker Severstal for the third quarter (July-September) of 2021In brief Steel sales were up by 1% quarter on quarter to 2.69 million tonnes due to strong sales of pig iron and slabs. Sales of hot-rolled steel and plate increased by 1% quarter on quarter to 1.12 million tonnes. The total share of export sales volume, including sales of pig iron,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 18 that are worth another look.Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said on October 18.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will...Read More
Base metals prices continued to soar higher this morning, Tuesday October 19, with cash prices rising at an even faster pace while shorts are squeezed. Cash copper prices on the London Metal Exchange were evaluated on Monday evening at $1,103.50 per tonne.* All of the LME base metals’ cash/three-month spreads, except that for aluminium, are in backwardation.* Risk appetite is fairly upbeat de...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange mostly rose during morning trading on Monday October 18, due to continued fears of supply tightness.Copper has hit a high of $10,452 per tonne already this morning. The three-month copper price was last at $10,292.50 per tonne, up slightly from $10,281 per tonne at Friday's close. Available stocks on the LME hit their lowest since 1974 per tonne on F...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil declined in the European Union in the week to Friday October 15, reflecting bearish sentiment in the market and poor demand from the automotive segment.Buyers and sellers have held back from making deals, with only limited volumes traded in Europe during the week.Steel prices have been under downward pressure from weak automotive demand, high distributor stocks...Read More
Export prices for rebar and wire rod originating from the Commonwealth of Independent States increased during the week to Monday October 18 on bullish offers from mills amid increased rolling costs, Fastmarkets heard.A steady uptrend in the international scrap market since last week, as well as increasing costs of production due to surging electricity and gas prices, pushed offers for CIS-origin l...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 18 that are worth another look.Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said on October 18.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 18 that are worth another look.Toyota will invest approximately $3.4 billion in automotive batteries in the United States through 2030, the Japanese automaker said on October 18.Argentinian aluminium producer Aluar will...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices dropped on Monday October 18 following the release of data by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showing a decrease in new housing starts.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,730-5,770 yuan ($890-896) per tonne, down by 30-40 yuan per tonneThe construction area of newly started houses came to 1.53 billion square meters in the first three quarters of 2021, down by 4.5%...Read More