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
Steel scrap import prices in South Korea were likely to drop again in the next few days with buyers looking to take advantage of tepid local demand in Japan and falling prices in other key Asian import markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 4.South Korea likely to push Japan prices down furtherProduction curbs weigh on Chinese scrap demandOffers for bulk cargoes to Vietnam fallTaiwa...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
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
European buyers of hot-rolled coil have been in "wait-and-see" mode so domestic prices were fairly stable on Wednesday August 4, sources have told Fastmarkets.Sentiment in the market turned negative despite the seasonal slowdown, due to competitive import offers. Although the volumes available have not been significant, according to estimates by market participants, they will still affect sentimen...Read More
Benjamin Baptista will retire and leave his role as chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal's Brazilian unit on September 30 after 12 years, with current Latin America long steel CEO, Jefferson De Paula, to replace his role, Baptista said on Tuesday August 3.Baptista joined ArcelorMittal in 1983, when it was still called Companhia Sider??rgica de Tubar??o (CST). It was later bought by Arcelor, to...Read More
Century Aluminum is on track to complete the expansion at its Mount Holly smelter in Goose Creek, South Carolina, by the end of the year, allowing it to ramp up to 75% of its 229,000 tonnes annual production capacity.Second quarter 2021 ended June 30 in brief Century's adjusted earnings before income, tax, depreciation and amortization was $34.4 million, an increase of $54.1 million from the previ...Read More
Latin American steel group Ternium expects prices to remain steady in North America, despite the increase in capacity coming into the market.New projects coming onstream are expected to add around 5-6 million tonnes of flat steel capacity in the region, according to the company's estimates. But such an increase is not expected to bring prices down. "I don't see this as a driver of huge oversupply,...Read More
Global commodities producer BHP's nickel sulfate plant in Australia is nearing completion and is now at the commissioning stage, BHP Nickel West asset president Eduard Haegel said on Tuesday August 3.Haegel was speaking to the Diggers and Dealers Mining Conference in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.The plant at the Kwinana nickel refinery in Western Australia has begun production, Haegel said. Tanka...Read More
A Turkish mill has bought a deep-sea ferrous scrap cargo from the United States, the third reported so far this week, at a price comparable to the two previous US sales to the region.An East Coast exporter sold a 31,000-tonne cargo - comprising 15,000 tonnes of an 80:20 mix of No1 and No1 heavy melting scrap priced at $464 per tonne cfr, 14,000 tonnes of shredded scrap and 2,000 tonnes of plate an...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices increased in the fob Australia and cfr China markets on Wednesday August 4. New buying interest for Australian August-laycan cargoes increased in the fob Australia market while strong offers for United States-origin coking coal in the cfr China market scaled back buying, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $215.51 per tonne, up $0.84 per...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for September shipments at stable prices on Wednesday August 4, market participants told Fastmarkets.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a United States cargo comprising 15,000 tonnes of heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) at $464 per tonne, and 14,000 tonnes of shredded and 2,000 tonnes of plate and structural (P&S) at $479 per tonn...Read More
A rebound in Chinese ferrous futures prices on Wednesday August 4 has led to increased interest in booking seaborne steel billet cargoes in China, sources told Fastmarkets.Sharp drops in ferrous futures on both Monday and Tuesday sapped sentiment from the Chinese market, with buyer indications heard as low as $660 per tonne cfr China for 3sp billet on Tuesday.This was down sharply from the la...Read More
Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, along with key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia.Read More
Steel scrap import prices in South Korea were likely to drop again in the next few days with buyers looking to take advantage of tepid local demand in Japan and falling prices in other key Asian import markets, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 4.South Korea likely to push Japan prices down furtherProduction curbs weigh on Chinese scrap demandOffers for bulk cargoes to Vietnam fallTaiwa...Read More
Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), Russia's largest steelmaker, will increase output of hot-dip galvanized (HDG) coil by starting up a new line at its Lipetsk site in the second half of 2022.Capacity of the new line is 450,000 tonnes per year. Once the line is commissioned, NLMK's HDG capacity will increase by 36% to 1.7 million tpy.Read More
Iron ore prices eased on Wednesday August 4 amid pollution control measures being implemented in Tangshan city between August 4-9, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $183.69 per tonne, down $0.98 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $184.39 per tonne, down $1.08 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $147.91 per tonne, down $1.09 per ton...Read More
The spodumene price skyrocketed in July with tight availability posting challenges to lithium operations in China, while suppliers intended to negotiate the price more frequently in light of the price rally in the downstream chemical market.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for spodumene 6% Li2O min, cif China rose to $880-950 per tonne on Wednesday June 30, up by $195 per tonne from $690-750 per to...Read More
Prices for steel hollow sections in Europe were unchanged on Wednesday August 4 due to the market heading into a seasonally slower period, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' assessment of steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,400-1,430 ($1,662-1,698) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week."Prices remain above ?,?1,400 per tonne and will stay there until S...Read More