China's exports of major steel products rose significantly in March on a year-on-year basis due to the attractive prices for Chinese materials in January and February, when most March shipments were booked.For instance, exports of hot-rolled coil totaled 1.78 million tonnes last month, an increase of 92% year on year, according to Chinese customs data. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-r...Read More
Vale was authorized by environmental regulators of the southeastern Rio de Janeiro state to maintain activities at its Gua?-ba Island iron ore terminal in Mangaratiba, after the local city hall ordered it to be suspended, the company said on Thursday April 22.Early on Thursday, Vale announced that it had been notified of a temporary stoppage order for the terminal issued by the Mangaratiba municip...Read More
Tata Steel has filed a lawsuit against Liberty Steel over its speciality steel business deal made in 2017, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday April 22.A Tata Steel spokesperson confirmed the company has filed a commercial court claim against Liberty Steel concerning the speciality steel division deal, however, the spokesperson declined to go into more details because this is an active case.Liberty Stee...Read More
Brazilian export prices for steel slab went up for the third consecutive week on Friday April 23 when local mills raised their offers, mainly to the United States, and were aiming for higher prices in other regions, including the domestic market.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil, at $880-900 per tonne on Friday, up by $10 per tonne from $870-890 per tonne...Read More
Global steel scrap markets began to revive with growing downstream demand for finished steel in the week to Friday April 23. But regional prices diverged over the period, with Turkish buyers securing scrap at lower levels while Asian importers had to contend with price increases.Mills in Turkey secured cheaper European scrap to feed increased rebar exportsUnited States sales were on hold, with exp...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' Friday April 23 pricing sessions in China, Europe, India and the United States.China General sentiment in the Chinese ferro-silicon market remained positive after Ningxia issued committed to conserving energy, reducing emissions, upgrading environmental facilities and weeding out outdated production facilities; supporters broadly held their ...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey and Michael Greenfield in...Read More
European ferro-titanium producers are increasingly looking for feedstock alternatives, such as vacuum scrap, to tackle weaker alloy bid prices from consumers in the steel sector. Some producers have been switching more of their intake of smelting feed to make alloy, using higher quality vacuum scrap, after turnings prices jumped by almost 65% since the start of the year. Turnings scrap has been in...Read More
Space debris is poised to be the next frontier of recycling even while more companies attempt to make low Earth orbit safer for space industrial ecosystems. Space scrap will feed these industrial ecosystems and act as the raw material feedstock for any advanced space manufacturing systems, such as 3D printing, Airbus' in-space manufacturing and assembly roadmap owner Christophe Figus told Fastmark...Read More
Nickel's three-month price showed the biggest rise among base metals on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Friday April 23, with most prices finishing the week on a positive note due to a low US Dollar Index and fund buying acitivty in the complex.The price of nickel was up by 2% to $16,395 per tonne from Thursday's 5pm price of $16,063 per tonne, after trading sideways for most...Read More
The London Metal Exchange is suspending the trading of all prompt dates from December 2021 onwards on its cash-settled alumina futures contract with immediate effect, it said on Friday April 23. The LME alumina contract was launched on March 11, 2019 and settled against Fastmarkets MB's benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index in a basket alongside CRU's alumina index. Equal weighting was...Read More
Deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses all declined in the week to Friday April 23, due to consumers trucking their cargoes out before the Labour Day holiday in China, sources said.SHFE nickel stocks totaled 8,560 tonnes this week, down by 994 tonnes or 10.4% from 9,554 tonnes last Friday, data shows.The largest outflow of nickel this week left Zhongch...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Market conditions are clearly extraordinary when we find ourselves adjusting the axis on our pricing charts to display the new record-high prices each month.After reporting record price highs in Europe and the United States with regards to coated steel products, we find ourselves repeating the same line this month. In Europe,...Read More
Pig iron export prices from Brazil increased further during the week to Friday April 23 with demand both in the United States and in the local market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $540-545 per tonne on Friday, widening upward from $540 per tonne the previous week.Read More
No deals were heard to have taken place in the Turkish scrap import market on Friday April 23, with activity quiet because of the Children's Day public holiday in Turkey.A third booking from Wednesday came to light on Friday, however, which resulted in Fastmarkets' indices edging down slightly.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a Baltic Sea cargo consisting of 22,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (8...Read More
The US Midwest aluminium premium has risen to its highest since Fastmarkets' initial assessment in 2003, with the market struggling to attract much-needed supply.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 24-25 cents per lb on Friday April 23, up by 2.08% from 23.5-24.5 cents per lb one week earlier.Friday's assessment surpasses the premium's previous high of 24.00-24.25...Read More
The US aluminium billet premium set another all-time high on Friday April 23, after breaking its previous all-time high just last month, supported by tight supply and strong demand.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, delivered Midwest US at 20-22 cents per lb on April 23, narrowing up from 18-22 cents per lb on March 26 and its highest since Fastmarkets began assessin...Read More
Nickel's three-month price showed the biggest rise among base metals on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Friday April 23, with most prices finishing the week on a positive note due to a low US Dollar Index and fund buying acitivty in the complex.The price of nickel was up by 2% to $16,395 per tonne from Thursday's 5pm price of $16,063 per tonne, after trading sideways for most...Read More
Brazil's total mineral production in the first quarter increased by 14.65% from the corresponding period of 2020, with revenues rising by 95% on the same basis of comparison, the country's mining institute, Ibram, said on Thursday April 22. Brazil produced 227 million tonnes of mineral products in the first quarter, up from 198 million tonnes a year before, according to Ibram. The main materials p...Read More
A summary of production figures and financial results from Finnish metal producer Terrafame in the first quarter of 2021, as stated in its earnings report on Friday April 23. In brief: Total nickel production decreased by 12.9% year on year for the first quarter of 2021 due to electricity supply problems caused by freezing temperatures halting production in January. The electrical suppl...Read More