The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As oil price stumbles, outlook for welded markets weakensIn February, oil prices, already hit by the economic slowdown in Asia, turned lower on the failure of OPEC+ to reach an agreement on production cuts. This was enough to shake oil markets, but the collapse of global demand due to the pandemic has driven Brent below $30/...Read More
The new issue of the Seamless OCTG & Linepipe Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers analysis of seamless OCTG and linepipe across international markets:Covid-19 underscores pipe outlookUnsurprisingly, the concern in the seamless pipe markets across the regions is the effect of the spread of Covid-19 on public health and econo...Read More
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 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 are ready to view.A 6% decline in the daily average 62% Fe iron ore fines benchmark last week contributed to the lowest quarterly price rise for the first quarter in five years, in spite of clear evidence of supply-side constraints. Although there were clear demand-related obstacles to iron ore suppliers raking in more typical, seasonal price...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
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the noble alloys markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More
The Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index dropped to its lowest level since the start of 2020 in the week ended Friday May 1. The benchmark index fell to $52.20 per tonne / 5.22 cents per lb on Friday, from $54.90 per tonne / 5.49 cents per lb a week ago. A Los Pelambres tender was awarded to a trader at TC/RCs in the low $40s per tonne during the week. Ahead o...Read More
Spot trading interest in blister copper was unusually high in April with both smelters and traders looking for units to fill a supply gap arising from delayed African shipments, sending the refining charge (RC) to the lowest level in over two years. Fastmarkets assessed the RC for 98-99% blister copper cif China at $117-132 per tonne on April 30, down from $130-140 per tonne at the end of Mar...Read More
The global tin market is experiencing a glut of supply entering the market amid coronavirus-related uncertainty, Fastmarkets understands.But even with global verifiable tin stocks now estimated to be at approximately seven days' consumption, many participants believe the industry's meagre demand conditions could cripple the tin market for the remainder of the year.Meanwhile, the prospective resump...Read More
Weda Bay Nickel, the Indonesia-based joint venture between French multi-metal miner Eramet, Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan and regional miner PT Antam went into the early stages of production on Thursday April 30, Eramet announced on the same day.Weda Bay, located on the country's Halmahera Island, will supply nickel to local ferro-alloys plants for stainless steel production and has an e...Read More
The sharp decline in emerging market currencies combined with a collapse in oil prices are providing a twin saving grace for many metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. For producers of energy-intensive metals like aluminium, and in particular the low-cost ones, the benefit is even greater. It's an emerging trend that is starting to be reflected in the earnings of corporates in...Read More
Aurubis' attempts to get regulatory approval for its takeover of secondary copper-tin smelter Metallo continue, Europe's largest copper smelter said, with the decision delayed in the midst of Covid-19 uncertainty.The Germany-based company has been attempting to gain antitrust regulatory approval for a ?,?380 million ($424 million) takeover of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo Chimique since May las...Read More
One day after dropping below $22 per hundredweight ($440 per short ton), hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have rebounded above $23 per cwt ($460 per ton) while domestic mills are reportedly staying firm on their latest price increase efforts.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $23.67 per cwt ($473.40 per ton) on Friday May 1, up by 8.1...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were largely stable day on day on Friday Monday 1, but sentiment in the market remains negative, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe, was ?,?425.63 ($463.83) per tonne on Friday May 1, down by ?,?0.08 per tonne from ?,?425.71 per tonne on April 30.Friday's index was calculated base...Read More