Tight regional supply boosted aluminium premiums in Rotterdam and the United States to multi-year highs on Tuesday March 30, while the quarterly premium in Japan settled at its highest level for six years.Rotterdam duty-unpaid highest since April 2015US Midwest premium climbs to April 2018 levelMJP premium at six-year high.European shortage drives premiums higherA lack of aluminium flowing into Eu...Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices were little changed in the week ended Friday March 26, with most grades remaining at high levels and market participants waiting for the next developments in the United States' market. Most market participants indicated stability in prices last week while the market digests recent price increases that particularly affected the prime grades of scrap....Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday March 30.Please click...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 30 that are worth another look....Read More
Nickel's futures price on the London Metal Exchange decreased by 1.65% on Tuesday March 30, while copper and aluminium were also down, with a range of macroeconomic forces that have acted as headwinds over the past few weeks continuing to exert downward pressure on prices."In this regard, both the dollar and US ten-year rates seem to be on the move again, with the latter getting to 1.77% at one po...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Tuesday March 30, sources told Fastmarkets, due to the downtrend in rebar prices and reduced trading activity at Chinese ports.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $166.58 per tonne,down $1.30 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $167.22 per tonne,down $1.66 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $147.50 per tonne,down $1.96 per...Read More
Apart from aluminium, base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange were firmer this morning, Tuesday March 30, with broader markets also firmer having partially shook off, for now, contagion worries from last week's hedge fund troubles. US Treasury 10-year yields jump higher againWeakness in gold prices and stronger bond yields suggest market is not lookin...Read More
Nickel's futures price on the London Metal Exchange decreased by 1.65% on Tuesday March 30, while copper and aluminium were also down, with a range of macroeconomic forces that have acted as headwinds over the past few weeks continuing to exert downward pressure on prices."In this regard, both the dollar and US ten-year rates seem to be on the move again, with the latter getting to 1.77% at one po...Read More
Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were expected to rise due to shortness of supply from EU mills and a lack of import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 30.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?836.00 ($984.44) per tonne on Tuesday, down by just ?,?0.67 per tonne from ?,?836.67 per tonne on Ma...Read More
As global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) increases, the focus on battery technology and the challenges relating to production costs, sustainability and performance becomes more acute.Fastmarkets has identified the need for more transparency in the seaborne market for nickel sulfate, a key component in nickel, cobalt, manganese (NCM) lithium-ion batteries, which is a battery chemistry of growin...Read More
Force majeure has been declared on shipments of copper concentrate from the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources said in a notice to shareholders on Tuesday March 30.Deliveries have been halted as a result of "Covid-19 health and safety precautions related to Chinese-Mongolian border crossings," said Turquoise Hill, which owns 66% of the Oyu Tolgoi mine and is itself 50.8%...Read More
Nornickel has stopped the inflow of water at its Oktyabrsky mine, one of two flooded mines in its Norilsk Division, and will resume production at both operations in line with the plan announced earlier this month, the company said on Monday March 29.The Oktyabrsky and Taimyrsky mines have been closed since February 24 following an inflow of groundwater.The second stage of the remediation plan for...Read More
Nala Renewables, the joint venture between Trafigura and global institutional fund manager IFM Investors, has appointed Jasandra Nyker as chief executive officer, it said on March 30.Jasandra will start in her new role on April 1, 2021, with over 20 years of experience in renewable and clean energy from a project development, investment and acquisition perspective.Before...Read More
The residential construction and home improvement sectors are set to drive long steel consumption in Mexico this year, Gerdau Corsa chief executive office Fernando Pessanha said on Tuesday March 30.The infrastructure segment may also benefit from both state-level projects and the United States' spending plan, the executive said during Fastmarkets' virtual Mexican Steel Forum 2021. He did not, howe...Read More
The price of finished steel was not expected to drop dramatically in Mexico after new capacity expansions come online in the country, executives with Mexican steel end-users said on Tuesday March 30.On the other hand, the recent phenomenon of Mexican steel prices rising much higher than the US market could come to an end when the tightness in steel supply starts to be resolved, they added."With Te...Read More
Strong domestic demand in China and India meant that there were reduced numbers of offers of flat steel products made to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the week ending Tuesday March 30, sources told Fastmarkets.Some of the import offer prices did also go down, however.China and India are two of the principal exporters of flat steel to the Middle East, and an additional factor was the...Read More
Rebar producers in the United Arab Emirates sold material at reduced prices in the week to Tuesday, March 30, to encourage sales despite limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets. Rebar producers in the UAE rolled over their offer prices on March 22 and are officially offering rebar at 2,530-2,545 dirhams ($689-693) per tonne ex-works.However, deals were heard at 2,300-2,435 dirhams per tonne...Read More
CIS billet producers rushed to increase their export offer prices on Tuesday March 30, after a sharp rise in import scrap costs in Turkey on Monday.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $418.27 per tonne on Tuesday, up by $1.40 per tonne day on day and by $12.27 on Monday.In...Read More
The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) went up again during the week to Monday March 29 on further sales to Turkey and an overall shortage in the global market, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil (HRC), export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $830-855 per tonne on Monday, up from $815-830 per tonne a week earlier....Read More
Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up on Tuesday after firm offers from the Baltic Sea region, although many mills were looking to achieve further rebar sales in the export and domestic markets before purchasing more scrap, sources said on March 30.The most recent deep-sea transaction was done on Friday March 26, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a United States-origin carg...Read More