Luo Tiejun, the vice president of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) said the country will take measures to push down steel production in 2021 and raise imports.Luo, who spoke at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership's (RCEP's) Steel Development Forum on Friday April 9, emphasized five major points, according to a report on Cisa's website.Lower crude steel outputCisa is of the opi...Read More
Automotive manufacturer Volvo Group and Swedish steelmaker SSAB have signed a collaboration agreement for the research, development, serial production and commercialization of the world's first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel, the companies said on Thursday April 8. Volvo plans to start the production of concept vehicles and components produced from steel made by SSAB using hydrogen this...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 13 that are worth another look.A court in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has accepted a request for bankruptcy protection from local iron ore pellet producer Samarco, which is owned 50:50 by Vale and BHP,...Read More
Inert anode technology is one of several methods UC Rusal will use to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with the company to lay out a roadmap on its path forward in September, a senior executive at the aluminium producer told Fastmarkets.According to Roman Andryushin, company head of sales and marketing, the roadmap will not just focus on reducing emissions across Rusal's smelting operations but...Read More
Aluminium premiums in the United States and Europe continued to rise on supply tightness in the week to Tuesday April 13, with the US Midwest premium climbing to its highest level for more than six years.US Midwest premium passes six-year highEuropean duty-paid premiums rise in liquid marketsHigh freight rates drive premiums up again in South Korea.US Midwest premium highest since 2015Fastmarkets...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in Mexico edged up in the central Baj?-o region but were stable in the region near northern Monterrey city, with fewer buyers in the marketthan usual.One scrap buyer was applying price increases of 100-200 pesos ($5-10) this week in Mexico, but most buyers either held the line on prices or were purchasing minimum volumes due to high costs.Fastmarkets assessed the&nbs...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 13 that are worth another look.A court in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has accepted a request for bankruptcy protection from local iron ore pellet producer Samarco, which is owned 50:50 by Vale and BHP,...Read More
Proposed changes to the London Metal Exchange's market structure may actually have the opposite effect to its desired intention: destroying liquidity, not increasing it.Attention has been focused on the proposed permanent closure of the LME ring, the incentivization of electronic trade and changes to margin methodology, which were central issues in the exchange's recently closed discussion paper.B...Read More
The Shanghai Futures Exchange's plans to list ferro-chrome futures, potentially this year, will bring welcomed hedging opportunities and may weaken the dominance of China's stainless steel mills in the ore and alloy markets, participants told Fastmarkets.While no definite date or specifications of the ferro-chrome futures have been announced, Fastmarkets asked participants what changes these contr...Read More
Usually after a London Metal Exchange discussion paper there is a decent idea of what the outcome is likely to be. But this time around, it seems much harder to tell which path the LME will take. The proposals under debate include the permanent closure of the exchange's open outcry trading floor, known as the ring, which dates back to 1877. They also include the incentivization of electronic trade...Read More
Aluminium's futures price traded close to its 2021 year-to-date high at the close of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday April 13, while most metals recovered their losses from Monday because of a tumble in the US Dollar Index.The three-month price of aluminium closed at $2,993 per tonne at 5pm, but had reached $2,295 per tonne during trading, just $6 per tonne below its year-to-date h...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were largely trading sideways during the morning session on Tuesday April 13, after decreases across the board on Monday due to warnings out of China about rising commodity prices.The three-month aluminium price bucked the trend however, rising by 0.8% to $2,280.50 per tonne as at 9am on Tuesday, from a closing price on Monday of $2,262 per tonne. Th...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board this morning, Tuesday April 13, as were most of the metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, while broader markets were quiet.China's trade data showed imports and exports grew, highlighting broad-based economic recovery Markets waiting for the release of United States consumer prices today and to see how that will a...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? There is no end in sight to the shortfall in flat steel supply that has characterized US markets in early 2021, and we expect record-high US pricing for hot-rolled coil to persist through the second quarter of 2021 and into the second half of the year. We are fo...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.In both Europe and the United States, the prices of most flat steel products have pushed to record highs in the weeks to Monday March 22. They remain slightly below their mid-2008 peaks in China, but are at multi-year highs there too.This illustrates in part the heavier consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for steelmakers in...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese seamless linepipe prices have jumped by $120 per tonne over the past month because of rising costs. With iron ore prices remaining elevated, scrap costs on the rise, and activity at steel mills curbed by environmental measures, steel billet has become difficult to source, bolstering the prices for seamless linep...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. This month's key North American steel forecast highlights: US hot-rolled coil prices continued to move in line with our forecasts in February, although actual prices again modestly exceeded our forecasts. Domestic HRC prices averaged $1,194 per ton in February, exceeding our forecast price of $1,150 per ton for the month. U...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 are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR?In a strong start to the year, January saw ore and alloy pricing gains across all markets priced by Fastmarkets - with the exception of Chinese silicon metal export prices, which retreated slightly last month after posting impressive gains in December 2020.The combination...Read More