The new issue of the Steel Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers key insights and forecasts into the long and flat products markets.This week's risks to our latest flat-rolled forecasts:The Chinese government is stepping up help to the economy, increasing banks' liquidity. But the spread of the coronavirus worldwide is likely...Read More
The increasing consumption of scrap and a potential shift toward the electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking route from the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) route in China are medium- to long-term threats to demand for steelmaking raw materials, while in the near team coking coal import volumes will continue to be affected by iron ore procurement strategies.This was the basis of Fastmarkets research team...Read More
Three more European car manufacturers are set to close and halt production in response to the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Fastmarkets learned on March 17.Car manufacturer Ford is set to close all continental European plants from Thursday March 19, "for a number of weeks," it said. Ford will close plants in Cologne and Saarlouis in Germany as well as Craiova in Romania while it's Valenci...Read More
Turkish steel producers continued to stay away from the deep-sea scrap market because of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, sources said on Tuesday March 17.Steel mills in Turkey resumed their deep-sea bookings at lower prices last week after a long period of silence.However, with the news of more confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, the trading in scrap and finished steel products came...Read More
A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema in the fourth quarter and full-year 2019.In brief Paranapanema had a 26-day maintenance stoppage in the fourth quarter at its Dias d'??vila unit, located in the Brazilian north-eastern state of Bahia, which significantly reduced output. The company raised its copper products sales volumes in line with its strategy to...Read More
Roughly 6 million tonnes per year of alumina refinery capacity in China has been curtailed due to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, opening opportunities for market participants in the West to sell extra material to the East asian country, a senior executive at Norsk Hydro has said.The shortfall has arisen with Chinese smelters continuing to produce material as normal despite the effects of the...Read More
Russian aluminium producer Rusal has allayed market fears about prices by vowing to maintain production output despite the global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).Rusal said it was introducing further safety measures for its head-office employees to curb the spread of the virus."Rusal has introduced unprecedented measures across the whole company to ensure the u...Read More
Cerro Verde, the world's fourth-largest copper mine in output, will suspend operations and enter a 15-day care and maintenance period following the Peruvian government declaring a national state of emergency, owner and operator Freeport McMoRan said on Tuesday March 17.The 15-day period started on Monday March 16, with Cerro Verde working with authorities to 'be prepared and restart operations as...Read More
Brazilian multi-metals producer Nexa Resources may need to suspend its operations in Peru after the local government declared a state of emergency and closed its borders due to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, the company said on Monday March 16.For now, the zinc-lead-copper producer is adopting preventive measures to follow authorities' health and safety recommendations, under a newly-create...Read More
ArcelorMittal Italia has decided to reduce its steel output and temporarily stop the operation of some equipment to secure the safety of workers during the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 17.ArcelorMittal and Italian trade unions Fim, Fiom, Uilm, Usb and Ugl have signed an agreement concerning the containment measures adopted by the company to contain...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has published guidelines for border management measures including goods transportation during the outbreak of 2019-nCoV coronavirus, now that logistics issues have begun to bite, the EC said on Monday March 16.The rapid spread across Europe of the Covid-2019 disease caused by the virus has forced governments to resort to strict measures, including border closures in so...Read More
ArcelorMittal Poland had decided to postpone the restart of its blast furnace (BF) at its Krakow plant, the company said on Tuesday March 17.The decision not to restart in the second half of March, as originally planned, was made amid the uncertainty resulting from the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Europe and related risks, the steelmaker said."We have observed that several customers...Read More
Domestic rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates have gone down over the past week amid concerns about the spread of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak, sources said on Tuesday March 17.Local rebar producers announced new monthly domestic prices on February 25. Emirates Steel was offering rebar at 1,897 dirhams ($516) per tonne ex-works last week, but the company lowered its price once again this...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia remained steady over the week, with market demand limited amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, sources said on Tuesday March 17.UAEChinese suppliers' offers for hot-rolled coil (HRC) were stable at $475-485 per tonne cfr this week, while Japanese suppliers continued to offer the same material at $480-485 per tonne.Fa...Read More
Ferrous scrap prices in the Mexican domestic market were unchanged in the week ended Friday March 13 amid growing uncertainty in raw material markets due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak and a massive devaluation of Mexico's currency.Prices were reported at stable levels last week, with market participants trying to anticipate the direction prices will take in the coming days."We will...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices remained largely stable on Tuesday March 17, amid subdued trading activity. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $163.74 per tonne, up $0.69 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $167.70 per tonne, up $0.93 per tonne.Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $146.01 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $152.50 per t...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices moved up on Tuesday March 17 with market participants highlighting rebar and iron ore as the star performers in China, with physical iron ore prices performing strongly during the day.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.20 per tonne, up $0.32 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $92.39 per tonne, up $0.25 per tone58% Fe fines high-grade...Read More
The publication of Fastmarkets China Domestic Coking Coal price estimate for Monday March 16 was delayed due to an administrative error.The Fastmarkets pricing database, MInD, has since been updated. Below are the details of the price.Price name: MB-COA-0001 Hard coking coal domestic China spot market, Shanxi-origin, delivered TangshanQuality:Volatile matter: 75Y value: >16Ash: <=11.5Sulfur:...Read More
The London Metal Exchange intends to suspend all ring trading and move to full electronic pricing from next week if the United Kingdom's current directives restricting the movement of people in a bid to stop the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) remain in place."If current trends continue, the LME anticipates that it will temporarily move to fully electronic pricing on Monday 23 March...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was lower during morning trading on Tuesday March 17, with its price action consolidating at 2016-lows amid a fresh 42,900-tonne inflow, while nickel futures similarly failed to gather momentum across Asian trading hours. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently seen at $5,237 per tonne, a drop of 0.8% against Monday's closing price...Read More