Fastmarkets rounds up the key discussion points on lithium battery chemistries, sustainability and ESG from its Lithium 2021 conference that took place over September 20-22.Lithium price spikes key to chemistriesThe price of lithium will be key in determining battery chemistries, according to market participants. Sustained high prices would cause use to shrink, although few expect lithium to be re...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Read More
The market for pig iron exports from Brazil was stable during the week to Friday October 1 because suppliers have full order books until late December-January.Fastmarkets' price assessment of pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil was $480 per tonne on Friday, stable week on week."We are sold out till January, so right now we are not...Read More
Alcoa Corp has announced plans to enter the high-purity alumina (HPA) market with the signing of a binding term sheet between Alcoa of Australia (AoA) and Western Australia-based FYI Resources.In a news release, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Alcoa said it intends to enter the HPA market "to address increasing demand for sustainable products through a joint development project."According to the te...Read More
Turkish steel mills ended the working week with additional deep-sea cargo deals for November shipments, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo comprising HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $443 per tonne and shredded and bonus at $458 per tonne cfr. Although, the cargo composition was not yet confirmed, the seller source said. And a steel mill...Read More
Rising demand led to higher ferrous scrap prices for material imported into Turkey in the week to Friday October 1, while prices in most other markets were comparatively lackluster. Turkish mills were increasingly active in the market over the week, leading to an uptick in regional import prices United States sellers were able to sell at higher levels amid an increased appetite for scrap in Turkey...Read More
Secondary aluminium alloy prices in the United States have soared due to sharp gains in silicon prices, and tight availability of the metal crucial to alloy production. "It's already having a huge impact on us," one US alloy producer said. Tightness in silicon markets has already led to alloy price spikes in Europe. The price rise is pushing up costs, but could also potentially significa...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United States continued to be underpinned by robust demand domestically and overseas, while futures prices on the London Metal Exchange remained high.Healthy business activity, particularly in the non-automotive side of the sector, pushed up some secondary smelter grades week on week, with the Fastmarkets assessment of 1-1-3 sows edging a penny either side to a range...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel imported into South America were steady in the week to Friday October 1, with the bulk of November-shipment negotiations ending and with a week-long holiday in China drying up market liquidity.Most traders and mills were out of the market in the week, and deals were rarer. Chinese export allocations, which have already been low in recent months due to planned output cu...Read More
Tata Steel officially separated its operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on Friday October 1 after an agreement was reached a day earlier, the company said.Under the new structure, Tata Steel Europe will no longer exist as an operational organization; Tata Steel Netherlands and Tata Steel UK will operate as two independent companies.Tata Steel started national-level consultations t...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were fairly stable on Friday October 1 because buyers held back from making new deals, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers have paused purchases because they anticipate that domestic mills will soon accept lower prices. In addition, the stocks of European distributors were sufficient so they felt no pressure to get additional volumes in the short run, sour...Read More
European steel companies must scale up their decarbonization technologies within the coming decade or risk exhausting their allocated emissions allowances early, according to a report released on Tuesday September 14.The report, "Steeling for Net Zero," by climate researcher Industry Tracker, found that selected European steel companies have less than 26% of their carbon budget remaining and must...Read More
The import pig-iron market in the United States was calm in the week to Friday October 1 because steel makers - the key buyers - preferred to wait and see in an unclear scrap market, which is a strong indicator for them.Fastmarkets' assessment of the price of pig iron, import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US was $530-540 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.Steelmakers, who are the key pig...Read More
Since mid-September, a swathe of provincial governments in China have imposed power cuts and rationing on local industrial users, which could cast a bigger influence on downstream fabricating sectors than previous curbs, sources said.This is the second time that industrial users have received power rationing orders in the year. The first was in July, when hot weather strained the country's grid. P...Read More
The purchase of NatSteel Holdings in Singapore by trader Toptip Holding from India's Tata Steel could result in the city state exporting rebar to China eventually, market sources told Fastmarkets this week."This is due to the production cuts in China, which could result in further steel shortages in the future," a trader in Singapore told Fastmarkets on Friday October 1.Toptip Holding purchased 10...Read More
The liquidation of Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) will continue after the high-profile arrest of the provisional liquidator appointed by former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu.Milingo Lungu, the lawyer appointed to run Zambia's biggest integrated copper producer, has been arrested and charged with money laundering, according to a statement from the Zambian government on Wednesday September 29.&n...Read More
Spot interest in copper concentrate has been minimal in the week to Friday September 30, ahead of China's National Day holiday. Clean tonnages for smelter purchase were in the mid-$60s, below the Copper Smelters Purchase Team's fourth quarter pricing floor of $70 per tonne. A community blockade at MMG's Las Bambas complex in Peru, which started two weeks ago, could...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in the fob market eased slightly on Friday October 1 on a cargo that was transacted at a lower-than-expected price, market sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $603.28 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.14 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $391.50 per tonne, down by $8.70 per tonneHard coking...Read More
The downtrend in Poland's domestic market for steel rebar continued in the week to October 1; prices dropped amid weak daily demand and a bearish outlook, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was 3,700-3,800 zloty ($928-953) per tonne on Friday, down by 50-100 zloty per tonne from 3,800-3,850 zloty per tonne the previou...Read More