The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are relatively stable this month, showing little change since our previous tracker. Such stability masks growing issues for stainless steelmakers, however, who are increasingly unable to pass on rising costs to consumers and are, thus, facing cuts to their margins.In general, this is due to an excess of...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for late July and August shipments, although prices slipped back after spiking on Friday, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 6.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo, comprising 14,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $253 per tonne and 1,000 tonnes of shredded at $258 per tonne cfr late on Friday July 3. ...Read More
The export market for flat steel products from the Commonwealth of Independent States was quiet during the week ended Monday July 6, on low trading activity.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $400-415 per tonne on Monday, unchanged week on week.Both suppliers and buyers were inactive during the week, sources said."Everyone [in Turkey] se...Read More
The Shanghai Futures Exchange nickel price continued its gains on Monday July 6 after a strong performance last week, with positive macro sentiment supporting the price despite quiet spot demand, sources told Fastmarkets. SHFE's July nickel contract finished the day at 106,070 yuan ($15,022) per tonne, up by 1,170 yuan per tonne, or 1.12%, from 104,900 yuan per tonne on July 3. "It's a macro-...Read More
We are only a few days into the third quarter of 2020, but no benchmark premium has yet been set for the supply of aluminium ingots to Japan for the July-September period.Market participants remain at loggerheads, unable to agree on a fixed number for this quarter. This means that the MJP aluminium quarterly premium cannot yet be published by Fastmarkets.Typically, negotiations for the MJP quarter...Read More
Copper prices are poised to move above the $7,000-per-tonne level next year as the supply impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic last well beyond this year and the market enters a prolonged period of structural undersupply, the chief executive officer of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) said. According to Benedikt Sobotka, around 700,000 tonnes of mined copper output has been lost to date due to disruptio...Read More
Zinc and lead miner Trevali has delayed the restart of its suspended Santander mine in Peru after more workers tested positive for Covid-19.Out of a total of 298 workers, 82 have now been infected according to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the company said on Friday July 3. The Canada-based miner halted mining and milling operations at the Santander...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan has beaten its revised copper sales target for the second quarter of this year by 8%, although its Cerro Verde and El Abra operations continue to operate in line with forecasts modified in April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.In April, the company amended its second-quarter copper sales forecast to 690 million lb or 313,000 tonnes. Before the pandemic, the company had forecast total...Read More
Brazilian vehicle manufacturers' association Anfavea recorded a 57.5% year-on-year decrease in production during June 2020, with plants still reopening from temporary idle periods while they readjusted to the fall in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it said on Monday July 6.Output totaled 98,708 units in June, down from 233,150 units a year before. But it was up by 129% from 43,080 units produ...Read More
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) export slab prices remained unchanged over the week, with offers to foreign customers being limited because some mills were in no hurry to sell their allocations, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $370-375 per tonne on July 6, unchanged week on week.A large cargo of Russia-origin slab was, howev...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow were broadly stable in the week to Monday July 6, supported by good demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday July 6.Demand for rebar in the region was good over the assessment week, but still slower than last July, sources said."Volumes are healthy, construction is performing well, but we are still below the levels of...Read More
Domestic transaction prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe inched upward day on day on Monday July 6 with steelmakers insisting on further price rises, sources have told Fastmarkets."The mills are stubborn when it comes to price negotiations [and are] targeting higher prices. And the prices have been slowly moving up," a Northern European distributor said.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolle...Read More
Domestic sheet steel prices in Russia's Central Federal district around Moscow widened upward in the week to Monday July 6 due to higher offers from producers, although buying activity remained moderate, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday.Trading activity in the flat steel markets in the region was moderate because most buyers had enough material in stock. But producers remained bullish and intend...Read More
A deadly border clash which began in the cold and windy highlands of Ladakh, in northeastern Kashmir, has spilled over into steel trading between China and India.The market has been rife with chatter indicating that India will stop importing Chinese steel substrate, or that it will stop sending steel cargoes to Chinese buyers which had been actively purchasing India-origin hot-rolled coil (HRC) an...Read More
Brazilian ferrous scrap exports increased 1.7% in June, compared to the same month in 2019, due to lower domestic consumption that has lead to yards shipping more material to South Asia, data from the country's ministry of economy showed on Monday July 6.The country exported 76,649 tonnes of ferrous scrap last month, up from 75,344 tonnes a year before. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were the main...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Judging by a recent webinar we conducted on Asian ferroalloys last week, many market participants believe the steel and steelmaking raw materials' world - outside of China - will record an 'L' shaped recovery, effectively failing to recover. With crude steel production outside of China falling close to a third in April and o...Read More