Sentiment varied in the hot-rolled coil markets of Northern Europe and Italy despite seasonally slow demand in both regions, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 20.In Northern Europe, domestic HRC prices are likely to remain fairly stable during summer and will possibly rise in autumn, sources said. Good order books at the region's mills and concerns about tight supply due to German floods su...Read More
A summary of BHP's operational review for iron ore for the year ended June 30, 2021, as released on Tuesday July 20.In brief BHP delivered full-year production of iron ore in line with its guidance for the year to June 30, which was 245-255 million tonnes. BHP achieved record production at Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO), reflecting record production at Jimblebar and Mining Area C, which include...Read More
A summary of Brazilian miner Vale's iron ore results for the second quarter of 2021, as stated in its latest production and sales report published on Monday July 19.In brief Vale's iron ore fines production totaled 75.7 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2021, up by 12% from a year earlier and by 11.3% from the first quarter of 2021. Vale said second-quarter fines production increased for the...Read More
Major steelmaker Shagang raised its purchase price for domestic scrap in the week to July 20 after keeping its prices stable for one month, sources told Fastmarkets. Mills in other regions followed suit.Shagang increased its domestic scrap purchase price by 80 yuan to 3,850 yuan ($593.3) per tonne delivered mill on Saturday July 17, including a 9.2% value-added tax (VAT)."The supply of domestic sc...Read More
A summary of the second-quarter iron ore production results for 2021 from British multinational mining company Anglo American, reported in its latest production report released on Tuesday July 20.In briefIron ore production increased by 6%, driven primarily by a 14% increase at Kumba, and partly offset by a 5% decrease at Minas Rio.Total production at Kumba increased, reflecting the effect of Covi...Read More
A summary of BHP's copper, iron ore and nickel production results for the year ended June 2021.Australia-based resources company BHP's operational review, published on Tuesday July 20, is summarised below.In brief Annual copper production was down by 5% from the previous year, mainly due to declines at Escondida and Pampa Norte, both in Chile,...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices across China's domestic market edged lower on Tuesday July 20 and futures prices fell following Beijing's latest pledge to ensure stable prices for commodities.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,850-5,930 yuan ($903-915) per tonne, down by 20-30 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped to a one-week low of 5,822 yuan per tonne in e...Read More
Steelmaking heavyweights in eastern China's Jiangsu province were actively looking to source steel billet imports on Tuesday July 20, after the reality of crude steel production cuts in the region started to become clearer.Three mill sources from the region told Fastmarkets they were interested in importing billet, with the recent output cuts communicated to them by Chinese authorities set to limi...Read More
Fastmarkets has corrected its weekly price assessment for European high-carbon ferro-chrome (60-70% Cr), which was published incorrectly on Tuesday July 20 due to an error in the review process.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for MB-FEC-0004 ferro-chrome, high carbon, 6-8.5% C, basis 60-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe, should have been $1.34-1.55 per lb Cr but was published as $1.34-1.6...Read More
An overview of the chrome ore and alloy markets in Asia, Europe and the United States on Tuesday July 20 and their latest price moves.China Spot ferro-chrome prices reached 10,000 yuan ($1,541) per tonne after some stainless steel mills raised their purchase prices amid strong production rates and with stainless steel prices at seven-year highs. Ferro-chrome producers in Inner Mongolia continued t...Read More
The London Metal Exchange nickel cash price is likely to hit $20,500 per tonne in the third quarter, with strong stainless steel demand and electric vehicle (EV) restocking driving the uptrend, according to analysts at Citi.Despite a sell off across base metals on July 19, Citi Metals Strategist Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets that nickel fundamentals remain strong for Q3 and that he expects the pr...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange performed well on Tuesday July 20, despite strong headwinds from rising coronavirus cases and a strong United States Dollar Index."The sell-off on Monday July 19 across the LME base metals complex was triggered by a set of negative macro dynamics, which spooked global investors," Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida said. "Risk sentiment turned very negat...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 20 that are worth another look,Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets...Read More
Base metals prices on the LME were up across the board this morning, Tuesday July 20, while the SHFE followed Monday's weakness, which was triggered by growing fears over the potential impact of the Delta variant of Covid-19 on the global economic recovery.Gold, the yen and the dollar were stronger and the United States 10-year treasury yield weaker - all signs of a pick-up in haven demandThe spre...Read More
Turkish steel mills remained silent on Tuesday July 20, with no bookings heard due to the ongoing week-long Eid al-Adha public holiday, sources told Fastmarkets.The Turkish deep sea scrap market has remained silent since material was last booked on Tuesday July 13.A public holiday on Thursday 15 July also slowed any possible trading...Read More
The London Metal Exchange nickel cash price is likely to hit $20,500 per tonne in the third quarter, with strong stainless steel demand and electric vehicle (EV) restocking driving the uptrend, according to analysts at Citi.Despite a sell off across base metals on July 19, Citi Metals Strategist Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets that nickel fundamentals remain strong for Q3 and that he expects the pr...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's new aluminium duty-paid European premiums contract, which is settled againstFastmarkets' assessment, traded for the first time on Tuesday July 20.The cash-settled contract had more than 1,800 tonnes cleared in the LME's inter-office market at $359 per tonne for a September 2021 to April 2022 period. The contract, which launched on Monday July 19, is basis...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States climbed to a new record high as a result of the latest spot offers and an increase in reported transactions involving material for August and September shipment.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $91.34 per hundredweight ($1,826.80 per short ton) on Tuesday July 20, an increase of 0.42% from $90.96 per cwt on Mo...Read More
Shipments and distribution of steel in Germany have been disrupted by the recent flooding in the country, pushing flat steel producer Thyssenkrupp to declare force majeure, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 20.The situation was likely to worsen the carbon steel shortage in the European market, participants believed. Over the past year, the supply of both flat and long steel products has bee...Read More
Base metals prices were up across the board on the morning of Tuesday July 20, recovering slightly from Monday's drop after a sharp rise in global coronavirus cases raised concern about potential further lockdowns stifling economic recovery."This morning the metals have recovered a little from yesterday's fall but on very thin volumes and no doubt unnerved by the Asian equities in negative territo...Read More