An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed...Read More
The cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday June 17.Key driversEuropean ferro-titanium and scrap markets drop amid quiet demand, resuming losses after briefly stabilizing last week. Market sources expect to find a floor at present price levels until the third quarter when scrap arisings - which have been falling for several weeks while international lockdowns due to...Read More
At 5,500 meters above sea level, a team of four from a major Chinese zinc smelter was driving up a snowy mountain in the summer of 2018, on their way to the country's largest known zinc-lead deposit - the Huoshaoyun deposit southwest of Hotan County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.But the field trip came to an abrupt end when the team was just two hours away from the site. "We...Read More
Markets were mixed again this morning, Thursday June 18; equity indices were weighing up the possible impact of second waves of Covid-19 against the supportive measures governments continue to provide and pledge. * Asian-Pacific equity markets were mainly weaker this morning, as were pre-market major western equity index futures; the exception was China’s CSI 300 Index. * Developing Asian cou...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus the June Philly Fed Index was -23.0 versus -43.1 in May. Actual was +27.5.Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 1.3 million versus 1,566 last week. Actual was 1.508 million.The Bank of E...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 16 that are worth another look.Swedish stainless steel producer Sandvik is to cut 429 jobs from its Sandvik Materials Technology division later this year because of the negative impact on business of the Covid-19 pandemicFerrous scrap prices have ticked up slightly in Mexico, although overall steel production and industrial ac...Read More
The unveiling of the US Federal Reserve's corporate bond purchase program late in the European trading day on Monday June 15 revived investor confidence in commodities on Tuesday, boosting LME three-month base metals prices. Donald Trump's administration is currently considering a potential infrastructure bill valued at nearly $1 trillion, fueling risk-on sentiment across the LME base metals compl...Read More
China has released a minimal amount of quotas in its eighth announcement in 2020 to allow importers to source copper and aluminium scrap from overseas, Fastmarkets understands. An extra 1,570 tonnes of copper scrap and 5,840 tonnes of aluminium scrap could be allocated for import into the country this year, the environmental ministry said on Tuesday June 16.So far...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 16 that are worth another look.Swedish stainless steel producer Sandvik is to cut 429 jobs from its Sandvik Materials Technology division later this year because of the negative impact on business of the Covid-19 pandemicFerrous scrap prices have ticked up slightly in Mexico, although overall steel production and industrial ac...Read More
The electric vehicle (EV) sector will continue to find support in the medium term despite the overall impact of Covid-19 on global automotive output in 2020, according to battery materials manufacturer Umicore. The Belgian company anticipates a 25% decline in total global automotive production this year, but while the coronavirus and its impact on the global economy have clouded the outl...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 16 that are worth another look.Swedish stainless steel producer Sandvik is to cut 429 jobs from its Sandvik Materials Technology division later this year because of the negative impact on business of the Covid-19 pandemicFerrous scrap prices have ticked up slightly in Mexico, although overall steel production and industrial ac...Read More
China has released a minimal amount of quotas in its eighth announcement in 2020 to allow importers to source copper and aluminium scrap from overseas, Fastmarkets understands. An extra 1,570 tonnes of copper scrap and 5,840 tonnes of aluminium scrap could be allocated for import into the country this year, the environmental ministry said on Tuesday June 16.So far...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap import market, but the current firm prices could soon start to rise if demand for rebar grows, sources said on Tuesday June 16.After booking nine deep-sea cargoes, totalling 250,000 tonnes last week, the Turkish steel producers have been quiet since the start of this week.They are still expected to book more cargoes,...Read More
Markets were stronger across the board this morning, Tuesday June 16, reversing the weakness seen at the end of last week and during early trading on Monday.The Federal Reserve's action to extend buying to a wider base of corporate debt suggests the central bank will "do whatever it takes" to support market sentiment, and indeed markets, if it can. Base metals prices on both the London Metal Excha...Read More
The electric vehicle (EV) sector will continue to find support in the medium term despite the overall impact of Covid-19 on global automotive output in 2020, according to battery materials manufacturer Umicore. The Belgian company anticipates a 25% decline in total global automotive production this year, but while the coronavirus and its impact on the global economy have clouded the outl...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR?On the back of US steelmakers' $50- to $60-per-ton price hikes in late April, domestic hot-rolled coil prices improved to a monthly average of $493 per ton in May, up from $488 per ton in April. In contrast, both cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet p...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR?On the back of US steelmakers' $50- to $60-per-ton price hikes in late April, domestic hot-rolled coil prices improved to a monthly average of $493 per ton in May, up from $488 per ton in April. In contrast, both cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized sheet p...Read More
Steel rebar and billet prices in the United Arab Emirates increased this week despite only moderate demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday June 16.It came as no surprise, however, as market participants in the country were expecting prices to rise.Domestic rebarThe country's biggest producer, Emirates Steel, is offering rebar at 1,773 dirhams ($483) per tonne ex-works from June 16, up fr...Read More