Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese prod...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The first quarter continued the trend of 2019 - for China to actively import relatively cheap metallics and semi-finished steel - but can this be sustained? The answer to this question will come down to the price competitiveness of the products, we believe. One additional incentive to continue to import metallics this year -...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent decline in Chinese scrap prices - to their lowest in a couple of years - even as demand rises, suggests that Chinese scrap supply is increasingly sufficient. In terms of scrap demand, the question is more about price attractiveness. Mini-mills were reducing demand in February, largely because steel margins on scra...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.While downward pressure mounts on the steelmaking raw material markets, premiums for higher-grade iron ores have been sustained despite narrowing operating margins at Chinese steelmakers. Chinese mills are operating with shrinking margins since the end of last year but the premium for high-grade ores remains high. Historical...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This week Fastmarkets' analysts and price reporters shared their views and recent findings in a webinar revealing some distinct fundamental tensions for steel, refining alloys and, of course, steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore.While the outlook for chrome and manganese ores and alloys is balanced, as far as market pa...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
Most domestic ferrous scrap prices in the Mexican steelmaking regions of Monterrey and Baj?-o increased week on week after reduced availability of material led some mills to accept higher offers in order to secure supply.Low scrap availability led one mill in Mexico's Bajio manufacturing hub to announce a price increase of around 100-200 pesos last week. Other scrap buyers avoided announcing...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday May 12.Please click...Read More
The recovery of zinc metal prices is set to continue with stronger Asian demand outpacing supply cuts, and there are no expectations for a review of annual zinc treatment charges (TCs) due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nexa Resources chief executive officer Tito Martins said on Tuesday May 12."We are seeing a market adjustment in Asia," Martins told analysts and investors in the company's first-quarte...Read More
Troubled oil trader ZenRock owes at least $615 million to banks, suppliers and customers, it said in Singapore court filings seen by Fastmarkets.ZenRock has $116.1 million in secured financing owed to the banks HSBC, Natixis, BCP, Bank of China, Credit Agricole and ING Bank, the company's president, Xie Chun, told Singapore's High Court in an affidavit.The company has $448.9 million in unsecured o...Read More
Low inventories should help limit stock builds in copper, zinc and nickel that may materialize due to the decline in demand resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Glencore. The company estimates that 4% of global copper supply for this year forecast prior to the virus has been lost due to shutdowns and cuts created by the virus, excluding smelting/refinin...Read More
London Metal Exchange base metals prices were down at the close on Tuesday May 12, while the previous day's rally abated with the complex absorbing market optimism for a global commercial restart."There were a lot of the positive dynamics that led to yesterday's price rebound, from a recovery in global equities markets, to the reopening of China and the easing of lockdowns in Europe," Fastmarkets...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices have held steady in the United States because both buyers and sellers are leery of pushing tags lower for limited spot volumes.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $24.92 per hundredweight ($498.40 per short ton) on Tuesday May 12, little-changed from $24.89 per cwt on Monday May 11 and up by 1.9% from $24.46 per cwt a week earlier on...Read More
Brazilian automakers are slowly resuming production after more than a month of idling due to Covid-19 brought the country's car output to near zero in April.General Motors (GM) reopened its engine plant in Joinville, in the southeastern state of Santa Catarina, on May 12, a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets. The other units owned by the company in Brazil have been preparing for the past four w...Read More
Workers at ArcelorMittal Spain are preparing a series of token strikes in response to the company's decision to apply a new plan for temporary layoffs (known as ERTE), sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 12.The employees planned a series of strikes between May 20 and June 30, a spokesman for ArcelorMittal told Fastmarkets. The workers were reported to have plans for a four-hour strike every da...Read More
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) steel slab exporters turned to the Chinese market for sales in mid-May because customers in this market accepted higher prices than any in other destinations, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel slab, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $335-340 per tonne on May 12, up from $325-335 per tonne fob a week earlier.Over 100,000 tonnes of...Read More
A summary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp's financial results for the first half and second quarter of its 2019/2020 financial year up to March 31, 2020. In brief Thyssenkrupp's performance was significantly affected by the initial effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It cites the weak automotive market as well as price and volume losses in the materials businesses. Its steel Eur...Read More
The price of steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was unchanged week on week on Tuesday May 12, while buying remained slow due to Covid-19-related restrictions and public holidays, sources told Fastmrkets.Market participants said that construction activity, the key rebar consuming sector, remained limited last week."[Most] construction sites have been closed sin...Read More