The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US flat product prices maintained momentum through November, with increases accelerating in early December in response to supply shortfalls, rising scrap prices, and improving demand.While we correctly forecast further pricing gains in November, actual prices surpasse...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese domestic and export flat steel prices surged in November 2020, with the export hot-rolled coil index rising to $592 per tonne during the month from $519 per tonne previously, and the monthly average increasing by 7.5% over October.Economic activity in China continued to expand, with manufacturing output rising by 7.5...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? Flat steel product prices in the United States moved largely in line with our expectations in October, although the increases slightly outpaced our projections. US hot-rolled coil prices averaged $655 per ton in October, exceeding our forecast price of $640 per...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Key ferro-alloy forecast highlights for the coming months:?EUR? A strong recovery in both bulk and noble alloys is expected in 2021 but the markets are unlikely to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen a quicker-than-expected recovery across various regions amid the economic fal...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
JP Morgan says an end to Chinese credit stimulus will result in price declines for copper, aluminium and zinc over 2021.Analysts at the bank led by Natasha Kaneva noted in a report on Wednesday December 16 that demand risks in main consumer China would likely outweigh the recovery expected across the rest of the world next year."While we think prices could have further to run in early 2021 as upsi...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
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
The London Metal Exchange recently announced the next steps in its sustainability drive, but En+ Group believes the plans "do not address the industry's concerns." The energy and metals company said on Wednesday December 16 the LME's plans "represent a lost opportunity to drive industry-wide meaningful change" at a time when the world looks to "build back better" in 2021 from the impact of the glo...Read More
London Metal Exchange tin's three-month price came to $20,000 per tonne during early trading while the rest of base metals made gains on Thursday December 17 morning on bullish market hopes of the passing of a US economic stimulus package to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.The LME three-month tin price came to a new year-to-date high of $20,035 per tonne during early trading on Thursday, its highe...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
The Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium price will maintain its upward momentum in the first half of 2021 due to strong demand before trending gradually lower in the second half of the year on increased supply, market participants and analysts told Fastmarkets.The aluminium front month contract demonstrated great resilience in 2020 by recovering quickly from the impact of Covid-19 on consumption t...Read More
Tight supply in the spot market has sent tin premiums in the United States back up to April 2019 levels while the London Metal Exchange price climbed toward its highest price of 2020 in the past two weeks.Renewed demand, scant domestic supply push US premiums 4-22% higherHigh freight, metal costs subdue European spot trade Chinese premiums flat amid few importsUS supply shortage boosts premiumsTin...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
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
Offers for billet exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States are being held at high levels this week amid a surge in scrap prices and long steel prices in Turkey.But with buyers largely quiet, the gap between offers and bids remains wide, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday December 17.Producers from Russia were heard offering billet at $580-600 per tonne fob this week.At the...Read More
Turkish billet prices have continued to increase over the past week with the support of improving scrap costs, sources said on Thursday December 17. Offer prices for steel billet originating in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to move up for Turkish customers due to surging scrap costs and tight supply. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North...Read More
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.It produced 533,000 tonnes of rolled steel between November 1 and December 15, or around 11,800 tonnes per day, up by 0.2% from the daily average in January-March this year and b...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