Aluminium's futures price on the London Metal Exchange rose $10 after an over 330,000-tonne inflow entered Malaysian warehouses on Thursday March 11, with the rest of the complex finishing higher too with tin closing in on $26,000 per tonne and zinc's price up by 2%.Aluminium's price was at $2,178 per tonne at Thursday's close despite a total of 332,975 tonnes of aluminium being delivered into Por...Read More
Traders and investors are placing more bets on the outright price of copper after being incentivized by greater volatility, metals-focused fund managers said during Fastmarkets Copper Seminar.The London Metal Exchange three-month benchmark copper price contract rose sharply in intraday volatility since the Covid-19 pandemic started in early 2020, after years of narrow daily movement.Quantitative e...Read More
Metal markets are still yet to see the major flows of institutional capital into commodities that characterized past "super-cycles", fund managers told attendees of the virtual Fastmarkets Copper Seminar on Thursday March 11.Commodities from oil to grains and metals have seen prices rise sharply since the start of the year, with bank analysts and executives like Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein call...Read More
The growth in the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles will see global refined copper demand rise by 20% per year until 2030, participants at a Fastmarkets Copper Seminar were told on Thursday March 11. "Based on our copper demand projections for all types of [electric] vehicles, we estimate refined copper demand, between 2020 and 2030, will increase on average by 21%," Fastmarkets analyst Bor...Read More
The premium on alumina cargoes in Brazil compared to Australian units is at its highest in more than two years on Thursday March 11 due to continued lack of balance in supply between the Pacific and the Atlantic, sources said.Fastmarkets' alumina index adjustment to fob Australia index, Brazil was at a premium of $7.83 per tonne on Thursday, widening from $0.90 per tonne on February 23."It's no su...Read More
Europe's proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has been approved by a firm majority in the European Parliament and is expected to help to preserve the region's steel supply chain, industry association Eurofer has said.On Wednesday March 10, the European Parliament voted on the CBAM resolution, prior to a legislative proposal expected to be published by the European Commission (EC) in...Read More
Steel mill shipments in the United States rose by 5.3% to 7.42 million net tons in January 2021 from 7.05 million net tons in December 2020, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).This follows a 4.4% month-on-month rise in December. The AISI has reported month-on-month increases in shipment volumes since June 2020.The January total, however, is down by 13.1% from 8.54 milli...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Europe substantially increased day on day on Thursday March 11, due to a shortage of material combined with good demand, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?791.79 ($940.79) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?29.29 per tonne from ?,?762.50 per tonne on March 10.The...Read More
Demand for steel billet and rebar in Egypt has been very weak over the past seven days, with prices unchanged, and with market participants now asking for the country's construction ban to be removed, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 11.Construction permits have been limited in Egypt since May 2020, with a small number of permits issued in September.But the current permits were not enoug...Read More
Turkish steel billet prices have remained largely stable over the past week on limited demand, while sentiment turned negative with the latest downturn in scrap prices, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 11.Billet producers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) faced pressure from lower scrap values and rising transportation costs.Turkish steel producers had booked deep-se...Read More
Turkish steelmakers continued to stay back from the deep-sea scrap markets because of falling prices and increasing supply, market sources said on Thursday March 11.Two Turkish steelmakers booked US cargoes last Saturday and late on Monday at $453-456 per tonne cfr on an HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis, sending the daily scrap indices down by $5.79 per tonne on March 9.But booking activity did not continue,...Read More
Momentum has faded in the Japanese steel scrap export market following six straight weeks of increases, with buyers stepping away from closing sales, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Japan scrap export prices fell over the last week in the markets for H2 heavy scrap and Shindachi busheling, while tags for shredded and heavy scrap or plate and structural (P&S) material remained more stable.Fastma...Read More
Iron ore prices were firmer on Thursday March 11, most likely because of lower steel inventories and firmer demand for steel, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $170.70 per tonne, up $6.03 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $170.79 per tonne, up $6.04 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $156.05 per tonne, up $4.13 per tonne65% Fe Br...Read More
The seaborne premium hard coking coal fob market was quiet on Thursday March 11, with both sellers and buyers on the sidelines after deals were sealed below $120 per tonne fob Australia early this week.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $118.63 per tonne, up $0.36 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $212.43 per tonne, down $0.55 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT:...Read More
Falling scrap prices in Asia have encouraged buyers to stay away from purchasing, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday March 11.There was limited interest from buyers amid the falling prices, especially with complementary iron ore prices plunging sharply on March 9 and producers in the key steelmaking hub of Tangshan cutting steel production further this week.Downstream billet and rebar pri...Read More
The London Metal Exchange's latest off-warrant inventories data showed a decrease of 46% in total zinc stocks, while lead inventories more than doubled in the month of January.The total amount of material held outside of the LME network increased by 2.5% during the first month of the year to 1.93 million tonnes, after a decrease of 3.9% to 1.88 million tonnes in December.Aluminium remains the bigg...Read More
Over 300,000 tonnes of aluminium were delivered into London Metal Exchange warehouses in Port Klang on Thursday March 11, while price gains wereplentiful for all base metals due to a record-setting Dow Jones index.A total of 332,975 tonnes of aluminium was delivered into Port Klang. The delivery was a combination of ingots, sows and t-bars - with 69% of the delivery in ingots. It is the biggest in...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices continued to drop on Thursday March 11 on soft demand caused by rain in the country's eastern and southern regions. DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 4,610-4,630 yuan ($709-713) per tonne, down by 20 yuan per tonne Stockists lowered their prices to draw down their inventories, but trading activity did not pick up despite that due to bad weather. End users bought limit...Read More
Stakeholders across the copper value chain need to collaborate to drive widespread adoption of responsible production and consumption, participants at a panel discussion said at the Fastmarkets Copper Seminar on Thursday March 11.Speakers at "The green transition: Responsible copper production" panel on Thursday highlighted the great strides made in consumer and investor interest in responsible pr...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam,...Read More