UK suppliers of steel scrap to domestic consumers have reported a decrease in their prices in the latest monthly settlements in April, following poor market conditions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, market sources told Fastmarkets on Friday April 17.Fastmarkets assesses the prices of trend-indicating grades in the UK such as HMS 1&2 (old steel) and OA plate and structural (P&S) scrap.The pr...Read More
Prices paid for Brazil-origin steel slab in export deals have narrowed in the week ended on Friday April 17, with recovering demand in Asia and Europe resulting in increased numbers of deals, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price of steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil narrowed to $320-345 per tonne on Friday, from $310-355 per tonne a week before.New bids and orders for Bra...Read More
Trading activity in the CIS export billet market was limited in the week to Friday April 17, with customers in most outlets preferring to take a wait-and-see approach amid a lack of clarity over the future price trend.Market sentiment has not been helped by the approaching religious holidays in the Middle East and the weak demand for finished steel products resulting from the global response to th...Read More
Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market were stable on Friday April 17, despite an upturn in global ferrous scrap prices, with demand in the region remaining weak.Market participants were doubtful that suppliers could push through price increases for sales to Southeast Asia due to lackluster billet demand with most countries in the region still under restrictions imposed by their respective...Read More
The price of vanadium pentoxide in Europe jumped by more than 25% in the week ended Friday April 17 due to concerns over obtaining the material during the continued lockdown in South Africa. Fastmarkets assessed the vanadium pentoxide 98% V2O5 min, in-whs Rotterdam price at $6.90-7.45 per lb on Friday, up 25.3% from the previous week's assessment of $5.2-6.25 per lb and at a three-month high....Read More
Volvo Cars announced on Friday April 17 that it will restart production at its plant in Torslanda, Sweden, on April 20 after several weeks of suspended activity under lockdown measures brought in to help stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.The company closed three sites in Sweden on March 26, which it originally planned to reopen on April 14.Volvo's plant in Ghent, Belgium, will also reopen o...Read More
Sales of passenger cars in the EU tumbled by 55.14% year-on-year in March 2020, making it the third consecutive month to show a decline.New car sales in Europe totalled 567,308 vehicles in March 2020, down from 1,264,569 units sold in the corresponding month of 2019, the European Automotive Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Friday April 17."The EU passenger car market recorded a...Read More
Prices for flat steel in Turkey were mixed in the week to Friday April 17, with some prices moving higher and others lower, while demand improved slightly from last week, market participants said.Demand strengthened because stocks among buyers were low, Turkish sources said.Scrap prices continued to increase during the week on reduced availability. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2...Read More
China's crude steel output edged up in the first quarter while finished steel production fell slightly, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday April 17.January-March output Crude steel: 234.45 million tonnes, up by 1.2% from a year earlier Hot metal: 199.74 million tonnes, up by 2.4% year on yearFinished steel: 267.42 million tonnes, down by 1.6%...Read More
Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) raised their steel and hot-metal output rates in early April from the preceding 11 days, while the pace of decline for their finished steel inventories slowed down, according to data released on Friday April 17April 1-10 outputCrude steel: 1.95 million tonnes per day, up by 6.5%Finished steel: 1.82 million tpd, down by...Read More
Steel mills in India have kept the price for hot-rolled coil stable for April sales while starting shipments to direct users despite the nationwide lockdown intended to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic."We have been using railways since late last week to transport HRC to our direct customers and to warehouses closer to the point of consumption," an official from a private sector mill sa...Read More
The inter-merchant spot price for light iron scrap in the United Kingdom inched up over the past week following an ongoing shortage of supply and rising global markets, sources said on Friday April 17. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK moved up by ?5 per tonne to ?50-60($62-75) per tonne on April 17, up from ?45...Read More
An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More
Prices paid for Brazil-origin steel slab in export deals have narrowed in the week ended on Friday April 17, with recovering demand in Asia and Europe resulting in increased numbers of deals, sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price of steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil narrowed to $320-345 per tonne on Friday, from $310-355 per tonne a week before.New bids and orders for Bra...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic is a unifier in that it impacts all. But sub-Saharan Africa is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis that threatens to throw the region off its stride, reversing the development progress of recent years and hitting the mining sector hard.The mineral-rich region - which comprises 46 of the 54 countries in the continent below the Sahara - is expected to see its eco...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly hit global electric vehicle (EV) production and sales, and so the broadly anticipated reshuffle of China's EV battery supply chain is likely to speed up in 2020. Many already believed the EV subsidy policy in China that had been scheduled to end in December 2020 would squeeze out some companies in the EV battery supply chain, including producers of precursors, cat...Read More
The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange finished strong on Friday April 17, closing at $1,958 per tonne after steadily gaining through the week.The zinc price briefly touched a high of $1,962.50 per tonne on a day that saw 5,270 lots traded. The rally in the zinc price is significant given that the galvanizing metal's price was at $1,793 per tonne on March 25.Global LME refined zin...Read More
The were declines across the complex for deliverable stocks of base metals in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses in the week ending Friday April 17, with aluminium stocks down by 5% amid a demand recovery, Fastmarkets understands.SHFE aluminium stocks declined by 25,450 tonnes or 5% on a weekly basis to 485,802 tonnes, with the largest outflow of 7,478 tonnes coming from the Central-Chi...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer during morning trading on Friday April 17, pushing beyond the $12,000-per-tonne threshold for the first time in a month, while copper tested resistance at $5,200 per tonne. Nickel's outright price on the LME was recently at $12,035 per tonne, gaining $280 from Thursday's closing price of $11,764 per tonne and push...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