ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Odisha, India to build an integrated steel plant in Odisha with a capacity for 12 million tonnes per year, it announced on Thursday March 4.The plant will be set up in the Kendrapara district and the investment is reported to be 500 billion rupees ($6.87...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 3 that are worth another look.A crackdown on industrial activity in Tangshan, China's steelmaking hub, is sending jitters throughout the sector. Fastmarkets examines what it means for the steel industry.Glencore has appointed BMO...Read More
A key topic reverberating around the Asian steel market over the past month has been the possibility of China reducing steel export rebates to 9% from the current 13%, or possibly axing them altogether.Market chatter on this topic has grown increasingly louder, with industry sources in China hearing more and more details about these plans from late January onward."This is likely in line with China...Read More
A shortage of containers to ship commodities around the world and the consequent soaring in associated freight rates have led to a revival of interest in breakbulk cargoes. Producers and physical traders of metals, agricultural, chemical and timber products have been starting to book shipments in breakbulk vessels, which cost far less and doesn't require vast amounts of equipment in port. On the m...Read More
The Biden administration's focus on US manufacturing and domestic supply chains will benefit established and developing minerals and metals sectors, including steel, rare earths, graphite and lithium.US President Joe Biden's executive order on the strengthening of American manufacturing, which he signed during his first week in office, is expected to have a direct effect on demand for US-produced...Read More
The strength of the economic recovery in China in 2020 defied the expectations of most market observers. According to estimates by Fastmarkets, apparent consumption in the country rose by 9% in 2020 compared with a 12% fall in the rest of the world.Crucially, this increase in supply was a response to a boom in steel demand in the East Asian nation. In the first quarter of 2020, demand (or real con...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese export prices for seamless oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and linepipe barely moved in February 2021, after rallying in January, because the holidays to celebrate the Lunar New Year curbed market activity sharply.With the holiday now ended, we have seen some sharp jumps in round billet prices and we expect there to...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 moved in line with our forecasts in January, with actual prices modestly exceeding our forecasts for the month. Fastmarkets' US HRC index averaged $1,099 per ton in January, slightly above our forecast price of $1,075 per ton for the month. W...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The uptrend in European flat steel prices continued in January 2021 as expected, with the prices for hot-rolled coil in the North and South of the region averaging ?,?698 and ?,?686 ($840 and $826) per tonne respectively, within 1% of the Fastmarkets research forecasts.With European HRC prices climbing to their highest level...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.We spoke in our previous tracker of stainless steel prices ending 2020 on a high. That trend has continued during early 2021 and, in fact, the upward rally in prices has increased its momentum.Compared with the monthly price increase of some 5% seen at the end of 2020, prices for grade-304 stainless steel in al...Read More
The prices of most base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed lower week-on-week on Friday March 5, coming off highs realized at the end of February.The nickel three-months LME Daily Official price closed at $16,425 per tonne in Friday's session and showed the steepest decline, down by 11.5% compared with the corresponding time last week.Supply-side nickel issues helped to stoke bearish senti...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) fell sharply to fresh multi-year lows on Friday March 5 due to smelters competing with traders for direct-from-mine cargoes. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
China's production of refined zinc and concentrates will increase in 2021, with new mining projects and a recovery in existing domestic production boosting its capacity, attendees at an International Zinc Association (IZA) virtual panel discussion heard on Wednesday March 3.Fewer production interruptions caused by environmental inspections at domestic smelters, new projects coming online and a ram...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) fell sharply to fresh multi-year lows on Friday March 5 due to smelters competing with traders for direct-from-mine cargoes. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday March 5. China High-grade seaborne ore prices rose after miners raised their offers for April shipment. Some buyers accepted the elevated offers, while others showed resistance given the current portside prices and persistently high port inventories. Low-grade prices continued upwards aft...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
The spot cobalt market was treading water on Thursday March 4 while market sources mulled whether falls in copper, nickel and Chinese cobalt futures prices could spill over to hit benchmark cobalt metal prices, sources told Fastmarkets Fastmarkets' benchmark price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam stood at $24.75-25.65 per lb on Thursday, unchanged from the previous day b...Read More