The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Prices of stainless steel are generally set to reach highs for the year as 2020 comes to a close. For the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel, this upward trend is being driven above all by rising nickel prices, which themselves are hitting relatively high levels into the end of 2020.The price increases si...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While much commentary has been written about Asian economies performing far better than those elsewhere this year during the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is stainless steel markets in Europe and the United States that are ending the year in better shape than their Asian counterparts.We do not talk of demand levels or demand g...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While a world leader in many areas, the United States is a relatively small player when it comes to stainless steel. It produces a small amount of material, both in absolute and relative terms (i.e. compared to the size of its population), while a large share of its industry is in the hands of bigger European companies. Never...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Having found it easier to increase prices than their counterparts in Europe and the United States during the past few months, Asian stainless steelmakers now face a number of concerns.In the short term, Asian prices have moved down in recent weeks while those in Europe and the US are on the up. This is mostly a reflection of...Read More
Shipping problems faced by commodity market participants are likely to get worse ahead of Chinese New Year on February 12, 2021, sources told Fastmarkets.Freight rates for both bulk vessels and containers have soared to record highs in recent months amid a perfect storm of higher global shipping demand and rising crude oil costs.Those involved in the container trade have been particularly hurt, fa...Read More
The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market continued its upward trend with news of a fresh cargo from the Baltic Sea region, sources said on Tuesday December 22.Late on Monday, a steel mill in northern Turkey booked the cargo, comprising 12,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20), 6,000 tonnes of plate & structural scrap (P&S) and 5,000 tonnes of a mixture of busheling and oxy plates at an average price...Read More
Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) will begin 2021 with new extrusion billet capacity after two years of investments to increase it by 50%, the company said on Monday December 21.CBA announced in December 2018 that it would raise billet production capacity to 270,000 tonnes per year from 180,000 tpy. Capital expenditures totaled 30 million Reais ($7.7 million).CBA...Read More
Daily PDFs will be downloadable until Friday December 25. After that, because of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the next daily PDF will be downloadable on Tuesday January 5.Read More
Brazil's duty-free import quota for unalloyed aluminium for 2021 will be 262,000 tonnes, as decided by the executive management committee (Gecex) of the foreign trade chamber (Camex) on Monday December 21. The quota will be in effect from January 1, 2021 and expire on December 31. The country permits a limited volume of aluminium imports exempt from 6% duties due to insufficient domestic ingot pro...Read More
The base price for hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) steel in the United States edged up this month while that for cold-finished SBQ remained flat, but market participants expect higher surcharges to push up prices for all SBQ products starting January 1, 2021.On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality 1-inch round 10...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have achieved their highest level since September 2008 after a limited release of spot tonnage - offered at $50-51 per hundredweight ($1,000-1,020 per short ton) - provided a glimpse of things to come when order books eventually open again. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US rose to $49.74 per hundredweight on Tuesday December 22...Read More
Steel rebar producers in the United Arab Emirates increased their prices on Tuesday December 22, but not by as much as expected due to the limited availability of imports, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic rebarThe country's steel producers were offering rebar at 2,259-2,295.5 dirhams ($615-625) per tonne ex-works for orders to be produced in January, rising from 1,984,1,985 dirhams ($540) per ton...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia continued to increase over the past week because of globally strong demand and reduced availability of some products, sources said on Tuesday December 22.Demand was not strong in the UAE and Saudi Arabia because stock levels were sufficient to meet limited end-user demand.Buyers were also reluctant to accept ...Read More
Feralpi Group has suspended operations at its Riesa works in Germany for planned maintenance, which will last for about four weeks, it said earlier this week.The company will idle steelmaking operations at Riesa in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, from December 21 to January 25, while the rolling mill will be idled from December 24 until January 18, the company said in a...Read More
The price of steel billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) exported via the Black Sea continued to move up this week on the back of a new deal for wire-rod grade material to Turkey on Tuesday, December 22.Billet offers from Russian and Ukrainian suppliers were heard at $580-605 per tonne fob Black Sea on Tuesday, little changed from Monday.Turkey remained the major consumer o...Read More
The domestic hot-rolled coil price increased day on day in Northern Europe on Tuesday December 22 due to limited supply of the material across the EU.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?665.00 ($811.68) per tonne on Tuesday December 22, up by ?,?4.60 per tonne day on day from ?,?660.40 per tonne on Monday.The index was also up by ?,?28....Read More
Mexican ferrous scrap prices continued to rise in the week ended Friday December 18 amid supply constraints and rising global prices.Most market participants reported price increases of 200 pesos ($10) per tonne in both regions assessed by Fastmarkets, but there were reports of price increases varying between 50 and 450 pesos per tonne, depending on buyer and grade. A few buyers kept prices stable...Read More
Russia is set to impose early next year a temporary increase to its export duty on ferrous scrap exports to combat the threat of a shortage of steelmaking raw materials in the domestic market.On Friday December 18, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development approved an amendment to its export duty on ferrous steel scrap exports to 5% with a minimum level at ?,?45 per tonne, according to a statement...Read More