The temporary closure of Japanese carmaker Honda's Swindon plant last week sparked concerns through the local downstream aluminium sector that a no-deal Brexit would prompt a chain reaction of automotive closures and sound the death knell for UK car production. Compounding this, a global pandemic, bloated freight costs, overpriced containers and the proliferation of scrap shortages have driven alu...Read More
Stronger global demand for scrap shipments in bulk has led to a sharp rise in deep-sea import scrap prices to Bangladesh over the past week, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 17.An acute shortage of containers has pushed more buyers toward the bulk route in recent weeks, with at least two Bangladeshi mills in the market actively looking for a deep-sea cargo, which led to a...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 17 that are worth another look.Usiminas increased its output and domestic sales volumes over the past 45 days from first-quarter and 2019 volumes, the Brazil-based flat steel producer said in a filing to Brazilian securities and exchange commission CVM.The Shanghai...Read More
Alcoa is halting plans to curtail its San Cipri??n aluminium smelter in Spain after a Spanish court ruled in favor of the workers on Thursday December 17."The workers' representatives filed a lawsuit with the High Court of Justice of Galicia... In the court's ruling, it declared the collective dismissal process 'null...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium and tin prices set new year-to-date highs during trading on Thursday December 17, while the whole complex is continuing to hold high prices on hopes of a positive outcome in negotiations for a United States economic stimulus package to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The aluminium price hit a new 2020 high of $2,096 per tonne at around 2pm on Thursd...Read More
Jakob Stausholm will become the new chief executive officer of mining major Rio Tinto at the start of next year, the company announced on Thursday December 17.Currently chief financial officer, Stausholm joined Rio Tinto in 2018, having previously held senior positions at shipping company AP Moeller-Maersk and at oil producer Shell. The appointment comes as Rio Tinto faces a series of corpora...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 17 that are worth another look.Usiminas increased its output and domestic sales volumes over the past 45 days from first-quarter and 2019 volumes, the Brazil-based flat steel producer said in a filing to Brazilian securities and exchange commission CVM.The Shanghai...Read More
Forecasts for growth in electric vehicle (EV) use set the scene for increased cobalt demand, but they have become the backdrop for increased volatility in prices.The mismatched timing of increased supply for, and demand from, the growing EV sector has seen cobalt prices swing to highs of nearly...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 17 that are worth another look.Usiminas increased its output and domestic sales volumes over the past 45 days from first-quarter and 2019 volumes, the Brazil-based flat steel producer said in a filing to Brazilian securities and exchange commission CVM.The Shanghai...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to accept higher prices for deep-sea scrap cargoes on Thursday December 17 due to limited supply of the material, with prices rising by more than $7.50 per tonne day on day.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a Baltic Sea cargo, which originated from St Petersburg, priced at $444 per tonne for an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap and at $454 per tonne...Read More
The European ferro-titanium price has jumped to a peak last seen in January 2013, with strong demand from consumers for prompt deliveries and into February combining with a shortage of scrap to push the markets higher. Fastmarkets assessed the price for ferro-titanium 70% Ti, max 4.5% Al, ddp Europe at $7.00-7.50 per kg on Wednesday December 16, an increase of more than 11% from $6.25-6.75 pe...Read More
Forecasts for growth in electric vehicle (EV) use set the scene for increased cobalt demand, but they have become the backdrop for increased volatility in prices.The mismatched timing of increased supply for, and demand from, the growing EV sector has seen cobalt prices swing to highs of nearly...Read More
Cobalt metal prices nudged higher during the first half of the week amid a slight improvement in spot inquiries but limited visibility on metal demand for 2021 is keeping the lid on more substantial gains, sources told Fastmarkets on December 16.Fastmarkets' price assessments for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam and cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam remained trading at parity and moved t...Read More
The spot cobalt sulfate price in the domestic Chinese market continued on its uptrend midweek after suppliers either held offers firm or held out for sales in expectation of extensive restocking in January, sources told Fastmarkets on December 17.Fastmarkets' cobalt sulfate 20.5% Co basis, exw China rose to 54,000-55,000 yuan ($8,269-8,422) per tonne on Wednesday December 16, up 0.5% from 54,000-5...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday December 17 that are worth another look.Usiminas increased its output and domestic sales volumes over the past 45 days from first-quarter and 2019 volumes, the Brazil-based flat steel producer said in a filing to Brazilian securities and exchange commission CVM.The Shanghai...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continued to climb toward $50 per hundredweight ($1,000 per short ton), with little spot availability and relatively long lead times maintaining record-high prices, according to market participants. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil price, fob mill US was calculated at $49.22 per cwt ($984.40 per ton) on Thursday December 17, up by 0.68% from $48....Read More
Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil increased slightly in Northern Europe day on day Thursday December 17 due to a shortage of material in the market that allowed steelmakers to push offers up further. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?647.92 ($788.95) per tonne on Thursday December 17, up by ?,?1.92 per tonne day on...Read More
Steel billet and rebar prices in Egypt increased during the week ending Thursday December 17 because of restocking after recent price increases, although demand for billet imports was not strong, market sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers did not accept any offered price for imported billet since locally produced billet was enough to meet rebar producers' demand.Demand for rebar and billet has been sl...Read More
Steel reinforcing bar prices in the United States have continued to rise following recent mill price increases, Fastmarkets has learned. Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), fob mill US at $34.50 per hundredweight ($690 per short ton) on Wednesday December 16, up by 1.47% from $34 per cwt the previous week.US marketFastmarkets' current assessment indicates that al...Read More
Turkish domestic long steel prices continued to climb up over the past seven days to Thursday December 17 on the back of improving scrap costs. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Turkey was $5,550-5,650 lira ($711-724) per tonne on Thursday, up from the last week's 5,200-5,250 lira per tonne, including 18% VAT. ...Read More