Aluminium producer Hydro has reported a 42% drop in sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit and a 21% drop in rolled product sales for April-May, due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.The Norwegian company announced that its sales from its Extruded Solutions business unit were down 42% in April and May of this year, compared with the same months in 2019, due to weaker market demand fo...Read More
Equity markets started to show some weakness last week, although dips were being bought, but this morning, Monday June 15, the mood seems to have become more concerned about the rise in second waves of Covid-19 in many countries and the socio-economic implications of these. Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker, as were most on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Asian-Pacific equ...Read More
Nornickel's estimated $150-million cost to clean a company oil leak is "hugely preliminary", the Russian miner said in a press conference two weeks after the biggest oil spill in the Arctic Circle since the Exxon Valdez.And the company expects by June 26 a government assessment of penalties, from the Environment Supervision Agency (Rosprirodnadzor), Nornickel said during the teleconference on June...Read More
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a ?,?125 million ($140 million) loan to Belgium-based global material technologies and recycling group Umicore to partially finance the construction of a battery cathode material manufacturing facility in Poland.The EIB loan will cover approximately half of the project costs in the initial phase, with cathode materials produced supplying battery manuf...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
Workers at Tata Steel IJmuiden in the Netherlands will continue industrial action after negotiations with the company's management fell through, the trade union FNV Metaal said on Sunday June 14.A strike on the night shift started on Sunday June 14 at 22:00 local time and affected pickling, cold rolling, an annealing furnace, continuous annealing lines 11 & 12 and tinning lines."The entire pr...Read More
Exporters of hot-rolled coil in Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States have been redirecting volumes to Asia from their traditional markets such as Europe.Steel demand and prices in Asia, notably China, started to recover in April after a slump in consumption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This revival happened earlier than in the other regions, where sellers in both Turkey and the CI...Read More
Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States have again risen due to increased raw material costs, but demand remains weak, industry participants told Fastmarkets. On the hot-rolled side of the market, Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inch round 1000 series (carbon), fob mill US rose to $33.25 per hundredweight ($665 per shor...Read More
Egypt's ministry of trade and industry plans to raise import duties on steel billet and rebar, Egyptian sources told Fastmarkets on Monday June 15.Officials from the ministry will meet steel producers this week to discuss the duty changes, the sources said.In April this year, the Egyptian ministry of trade and industry postponed...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow increased in the week to June 15, supported by improving demand and bullish exports, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday June 15.Sentiment in the rebar market in the region improved amid rising construction activity and an uptrend in exports, sources said."Construction sites have gradually re-opened since mid-M...Read More
Trading activity in the seaborne iron ore concentrates and pellet markets was limited in the week to Friday June 12 after increases in line with rising iron ore fines prices. Fastmarkets' index for iron ore 66% Fe concentrate, cfr Qingdao, stood at $115.18 per tonne on June 12, up $2.55 per tonne from $112.63 per tonne a week earlier. Sources said concerns over supplies from Brazil trigg...Read More
Turkish steel producers remained active in the market for import scrap in the week ending Friday June 12, while prices for bulk scrap in Japan and Vietnam appear to hit a ceiling as activity slowed.Turkish mills continue to book deep-sea scrap Demand from Turkey has allowed US East Coast prices to keep increasing Trading activity falls in Vietnamese market as offer prices climb Buying activi...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 15 that are worth another look.Jaguar-Land Rover will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on June 15 in its financial results.Latin American steelmakers were operating at 42% capacity in April after at least seven blast furnaces were halted to balance sup...Read More
Saudi Arabia General Customs Authority has postponed its planned increase in duties on steel imports, it said on Thursday June 11. Import duties on several steel products were scheduled to increase on June 10, Saudi Arabian market sources told Fastmarkets on May 29. The customs authority now says the...Read More
China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output all rose to historical highs in May, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday June 15.These exceeded the previous highs set in May 2019.May outputCrude steel: 92.27 million tonnes, up by 4.2% from a year earlier, up by 8.5% from April Hot metal: 77.32 million tonnes, up 2.4% year on year, up b...Read More
Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) will cut up to 1,100 employees in the UK, while posting a pre-tax loss amid the coronavirus pandemic, it announced on Monday June 15 in its financial results.The company took the decision to reduce the number of contract-agency employees in its manufacturing plants over the coming months against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.A company spokesperson expects u...Read More
China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output all rose to historical highs in May, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday June 15.These exceeded the previous highs set in May 2019.May outputCrude steel: 92.27 million tonnes, up by 4.2% from a year earlier, up by 8.5% from April Hot metal: 77.32 million tonnes, up 2.4% year on year, up b...Read More
Workers at Tata Steel IJmuiden in the Netherlands will continue industrial action after negotiations with the company's management fell through, the trade union FNV Metaal said on Sunday June 14.A strike on the night shift started on Sunday June 14 at 22:00 local time and affected pickling, cold rolling, an annealing furnace, continuous annealing lines 11 & 12 and tinning lines."The entire pr...Read More
Saudi Arabia General Customs Authority has postponed its planned increase in duties on steel imports, it said on Thursday June 11. Import duties on several steel products were scheduled to increase on June 10, Saudi Arabian market sources told Fastmarkets on May 29. The customs authority now says the...Read More
China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output all rose to historical highs in May, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday June 15.These exceeded the previous highs set in May 2019.May outputCrude steel: 92.27 million tonnes, up by 4.2% from a year earlier, up by 8.5% from April Hot metal: 77.32 million tonnes, up 2.4% year on year, up b...Read More