Aluminium prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit fresh multi-year lows this week amid persistently weak demand from consumers in China and abroad and a worsening novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic - a dynamic that market participants expect will continue in the coming quarter.The front-month aluminium contract on the SHFE closed at 11,310 yuan ($1,593) per tonne on Monday March 23, down b...Read More
LME three-month base metals prices staged a partial rebound at the close on Tuesday March 24, seemingly buoyed by news that China has moved from 'total lockdown' to the 'recovery phase' in the fight against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic.The news looks to have increased market confidence in LME base metals to a certain degree, although the complex still ended the day mixed at the...Read More
Aluminium stocks on the London Metal Exchange have risen by 16% over the past week, with market participants taking a risk-off approach due to weak physical demand and concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.On-warrant aluminium stocks on the LME now sit at 929,675 tonnes, up from 798,200 tonnes at this time last week. More than 120,000 tonnes were delivered between March 19 and March 24.The major...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices strengthened on Tuesday March 24 after a massive drop of nearly $7 per tonne the previous day, with market participants awaiting clarity on the impact of the 21-day lockdown in South Africa on iron ore operations in the country. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.97 per tonne, up $2.90 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.50 per ton...Read More
India is entering a 21-day lockdown period to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, but the production of essential commodities will continue.In an address to the nation, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said that the lockdown was effective from midnight local time, 18:30 London time."For the past two days, many parts of the country have been locked down. From m...Read More
LME three-month base metals prices staged a partial rebound at the close on Tuesday March 24, seemingly buoyed by news that China has moved from 'total lockdown' to the 'recovery phase' in the fight against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic.The news looks to have increased market confidence in LME base metals to a certain degree, although the complex still ended the day mixed at the...Read More
The Midwest aluminium premium in the United States fell on Tuesday March 24 to its lowest level since early February 2018, pressured by heightened uncertainty and manufacturing disruptions as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, market participants said.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 11.5-13.5 cents per lb on March 24, down by 2 cents on the low en...Read More
European Aluminium is contesting the launch by the United States of an anti-dumping investigation into common alloy aluminium sheet from various European countries and has instead called for the European Commission to address subsidized Chinese overcapacity. The investigation concerns Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey and was opened earlier this month. "W...Read More
Aluminium stocks on the London Metal Exchange have risen by 16% over the past week, with market participants taking a risk-off approach due to weak physical demand and concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.On-warrant aluminium stocks on the LME now sit at 929,675 tonnes, up from 798,200 tonnes at this time last week. More than 120,000 tonnes were delivered between March 19 and March 24.The major...Read More
The ramping-up of copper production at First Quantum Minerals' Cobre Panama project may be slower than expected, with output in the first half of this year likely to be affected by the health protocols designed to prevent the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic.Cobre Panama, the only major greenfield project in the copper industry, has been specifically authorized by the government of Pan...Read More
US hot-rolled coil prices have been eerily stable because sources along the supply chain fear that lower tags would not increase activity in a market paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic.Fastmarkets daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.06 per hundredweight ($561.20 per short ton) on Tuesday March 24, up by 2 cents from $28.04 per cwt on Monday March 23 and down b...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has temporarily halted operations in Argentina and Peru following lockdowns in both countries to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic.Gerdau's activities in Brazil have been affected, but have not been suspended so far, the company said on Tuesday March 24.Capital expenditure initiatives around the globe have been put on hold to reduce on...Read More
Austrian steelmaking group Voestalpine will enforce shorter working hours across its operations in Europe as part of short-term work model amid the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, the company said on Monday March 23.The coronavirus pandemic has already hit the heart of the European economy. Widespread closures of car-manufacturing sites across Europe, as well as shutdowns and capacity cuts in th...Read More
German steelmakers Saarstahl and Dillinger, both part of Stahl Holding Saar (SHS), have cut production amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, although blast furnace (BF) and coking plant operations will both be maintained, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday March 24.The increasingly tough market situation in Europe, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, has forced regional steelma...Read More
The export market for flat steel exports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell during the week ended Monday March 23 on the pervading uncertainty in the global economy.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $435-445 per tonne on Monday, down from $455-460 per tonne a week before."Prices are falling but they're...Read More
Production cuts, closures and weak steel trade resulting from the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) sent Turkish scrap import prices sharply down again on Tuesday March 24.News of a trade from March 19 emerged today, when a steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked a UK cargo of 15,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $226 per tonne cfr.That was substantially lower than&nbs...Read More
Metals scrap processor Sims UK has stopped taking in material at its Sheerness processing plant near London due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 24.Sims is the second-biggest ferrous scrap company in the UK, with around 42 metal recycling plants in the country, and has the capacity to process about 300,000 tonnes of scrap metal at th...Read More
Mining giant BHP has seen no decline in demand for its products despite the continuing spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, and the company will remain resilient to any future drop in consumption or commodity prices, its chief executive officer has said.As the pandemic situation evolves, Mike Henry said, the company will take even stronger measures to protect its workforce, the communitie...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices strengthened on Tuesday March 24 after a massive drop of nearly $7 per tonne the previous day, with market participants awaiting clarity on the impact of the 21-day lockdown in South Africa on iron ore operations in the country. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $83.97 per tonne, up $2.90 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $85.50 per ton...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices dropped further on Tuesday March 24 amid bearish sentiment among traders and consumers based on the bleak global economic outlook due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Chinese customs clearance hurdles and a narrowing spread between seaborne and Chinese domestic coking coal prices also added to the downbeat market mood.Fastmarkets IndicesPremium ha...Read More