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 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.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
The impact of China's new "Two High" energy and emissions policy is likely to continue in the iron ore market into the first quarter of 2022, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Sentiment for the coming six months has turned increasingly bearish since the guidelines, coupled with winter production restrictions, were announced in September. New guidance on 'Two-High' projectsThe "Two-High" poli...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
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
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
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...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
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Janie Davies, Cristina Belda,...Read More
September has been a very eventful month so far for the Chinese silico-manganese and ferro-silicon markets. In the first three weeks, the futures prices for both products kept rising to new heights against market expectations.Market participants have grown antsy in the absence of any indication of a slowdown in this upward momentum. They believe the unprecedented price rally has gone far beyond ma...Read More
The processing charge on spot copper concentrates increased in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting the return of smelters to market activity after the traditionally slow summer months.Clean tonnages were sold to Chinese smelters in the low-to-mid $60s per tonne, with interest being shown for material to be available in the first quarter of next year.A new round...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday September 24.China The ferro-silicon price in China became very bullish following the news that Fugu, a ferro-silicon production hub in Shaanxi province, issued instructions for broad cuts in the production of ferroalloys, magnesium and semi-coke starting from September 19, to meet the dual control targets...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 24. Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and Sybil...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums mostly rose on Friday September 24, setting new record highs or being supported at such levels, as more expensive offers for 2022 negotiations advanced.EuropeFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,350-1,400 per tonne on Friday, up from $1,320-1,370 per tonne a week prior and from $1,220-1,270 per tonne a mon...Read More
LME zinc's three-month price was just $2 away from setting a new year-to-date high, while aluminium's three-month price was the only one to close lower in the afternoon session on Friday September 24. The intraday high for zinc's futures contract was of $3,138 per tonne, just a couple of dollars short of its previous 2021 high of $3,140 per tonne from September 17. The metal was spurred on by news...Read More