German carmaker Volkswagen will halt production at two sites in Brazil for 10 days due to the global semiconductor chip shortage, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 1.Units in S??o Jos?(C) dos Pinhais, a city in the southern state of Paran??, and in Taubat?(C), in the southeastern state of S??o Paulo, will cease activities for a 10-day period starting on June 7, the company said."A signi...Read More
Most prices on the London Metal Exchange were up on the morning of Tuesday June 1, following a steady end in May and notable stock movements for lead and aluminium in LME warehouses.The LME three-month copper price rose to $10,333 per tonne on Tuesday morning, up from $10,258 per tonne on Friday - a further 4% rise on the Monday May 24 close. The possible supply disruptions out of South America -...Read More
Brazil-headquartered Minera????o Vale Verde (MVV) completed construction of the Serrote copper-gold project in the northeastern Alagoas state ahead of schedule and expects its first concentrate shipment to be made in November, its parent company Appian Capital Advisory said on Tuesday June 1.The mining company will ramp up production during the second half of the year aiming to ship high-grade cop...Read More
Steel slab prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States region showed some signs of softening in the week to Tuesday June 1, despite the fact that mills have not been active in the market."It is too early. [According to what I have heard,] they will not make any offer before June 10," one trader said.A producer from Russia said that it was not offering any material at the moment, but if it w...Read More
Brazil exported 26.66 million tonnes of iron ore in May, a 24.25% year-on-year rise from 21.46 million tonnes, the country's ministry of economy said on Tuesday June 1.May 2021 had 21 working days, one more than in the same month a year before, which contributed to the rise. Daily average exports also grew, by 18.33% to 1.27 million tonnes from 1.07 million tonnes in the same comparison.Reven...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices held above $80 per hundredweight ($1,600 per ton) for the sixth consecutive business day after market participants said that there continues to be more demand than the spot market can supply in the next couple months.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $80.08 per cwt ($1,601.60 per short ton) on Tuesday June 1, a decrease of 0.46% fr...Read More
The municipal government of Tangshan - China's steelmaking hub in the northern region - has suggested that basic oxygen furnaces no longer come under production restrictions due to the low level of pollutants that they emit.In a notice released late on Monday May 31, it also suggested a relaxation of the rates of emissions cuts by steel mills in the city to 20-30% from the more stringent 30-50% cu...Read More
Fastmarkets invites feedback on its Taiwan steel scrap price assessment as part of its annual methodology review process, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (Iosco) principles for price reporting agencies.This consultation, which will be open until July 1, 2021, seeks to ensure that our methodology continues to reflect the physical market under the price as...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
Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk once described the ongoing use of fossil fuels and their generation of a vast carbon footprint as "the dumbest experiment in human history."Not everyone will agree with his assessment of the petroleum, gas and coal sectors, which have powered the world's growth for decades. Nonetheless, the twin goals of supply chain security and sustainability are now driving a t...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed this morning, Wednesday June 2 - zinc and tin prices were up on both exchanges and were looking robust, while the others have lost recent upward momentum.* Brent crude oil is back above $70 per barrel, the highest it has been for two years. * Tuesday’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) d...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices retreated on Tuesday June 1 following a proposal from local authorities in Tangshan to lower the rates of steel mills' emission cuts to 20-30% from the current 30-50%. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,900-4,920 yuan ($769-772) per tonne, down by 100-110 yuan per tonne While the proposal has not yet been approved by Hebei's provincial government, it led to sentiment...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices rose sharply on Monday May 31 following strong gains in the billet market over the weekend, but demand decreased in response to the increases.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,000-5,030 yuan ($785-790) per tonne, up by 170 yuan per tonne A $6-trillion budget for the United States' fiscal year 2022 unveiled by President Joe Biden last Friday led to bullish sentiment...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday May 28.Key drivers Price has declined steadily since peaking at 69,000-70,000 yuan ($10,833-10,990) per tonne in early March.Most Chinese participants chose to temporarily withdraw from the market given weak demand from the downstream...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Recent weeks have largely been a repetition of the weeks leading up to our previous tracker in mid-April. A flurry of price increases have been announced, and largely obtained, by leading steelmakers in both Europe and the United States while buyers struggle to secure spot tonnages.Although steel output is rising in both reg...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:Unprecedentedly high flat steel product pricing in the United States was forecast to persist through the current quarter and well into the second half of 2021.Actual US hot-rolled coil prices in April slightly outpaced our forecasts, with Fastmarkets' US HRC index ave...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal price in the cfr market jumped on Monday May 31, with a deal heard done at $275 per tonne cfr China, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $153.89 per tonne, up $1.09 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $284.64 per tonne, up $21.19 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $129.95 per tonne, unchangedHard coki...Read More
Seaborne low- and high-grade manganese ore prices held steady in the week to Friday May 28, with participants in the market awaiting for miners to make offers for July-shipment in the following week. Fastmarkets' manganese ore index 37% Mn, cif Tianjin was unchanged week on week at $4.50 per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) on May 28.No liquidity was reported to Fastmarkets, while there was concern am...Read More
The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week ended May 31, 2021.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