The iron ore seaborne market supply might lose 40 million tonnes in 2022 compared with 2021, the ferrous director at Brazilian mining company Vale, Marcello Spinelli, said on Friday October 29.This reduction follows from a trend that began this year of important iron ore suppliers - including Brazil, India and the Commonwealth of Independent States - focusing more on their domestic marke...Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...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
Treatment charges for both zinc and lead concentrates on a cif China basis were steady over the two weeks to Friday October 29, with little trade in either market.The zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China, was assessed at $75-88 per tonne on Friday, unchanged since one month earlier.Clean cargoes were mostly sold in a narrow range of $80-85 per tonne, with prime brands remaining at the bottom of the...Read More
Steel beam prices were flat in the United States' domestic and import markets on Thursday October 28 following three rounds of mill price increases over the summer and bringing a welcome pause to upward pressure in market that has been tightly supplied.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel beams 8- x 8-in, fob mill US was $68 per hundredweight ($1,360 per short ton) on Thursday October 28, unc...Read More
Copper smelters returned to the spot market this week with treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) relatively stable.For smelter purchases, clean tonnages for shipment in the fourth quarter and in January were seen with TCs in the low $60s. One extra clean cargo sold in the high $50s, while a lower-grade cargo of...Read More
The European market for hot-rolled coil remained calm on Friday October 29 with both producers and buyers holding back from trading, sources told Fastmarkets.European steelmakers have been focused on settlement of long-term agreements with big buyers, such as the automotive and white goods sectors. As a result, they have not been active in the spot market.Buyers, in the meantime, have been taking...Read More
IXM's head of zinc and lead trading Drago Sekularac left the Geneva-based trading house on Thursday October 28. Sekularac had been at IXM since mid-2011 as head trader of zinc and lead concentrates, having joined from Transamine, where he managed the copper concentrates and cathodes business. ...Read More
The price of silicon in China has dropped several times over recent weeks, after setting a then-record price of $9,000-10,000 per tonne on September 24. Downstream demand then fell through October, clouding market confidence, and offer prices went lower and lower.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for silicon, export, 98.5% Si min, fob China, dropped to $5,000-5,500 per tonne on Friday October 2...Read More
Secondary alloy prices in the United States climbed again sharply on Thursday October 28, with strong demand, low supply and soaring raw material prices, especially for silicon, combining to drive transactions higher."Silicon is expensive and supply is tight," one producer said simply. "Alloy is very firm due to [the] spike in silicon prices and increasing manufacturing cost," a second...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 29.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Copper smelters returned to the spot market this week with treatment and refining charges (TC/RC) relatively stable.For smelter purchases, clean tonnages for shipment in the fourth quarter and in January were seen with TCs in the low $60s. One extra clean cargo sold in the high $50s, while a lower-grade cargo of...Read More
A summary of production figures and financial results from Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas for the third quarter of 2021, as shown in its earnings report published on Friday October 29.In brief?EUR?Usiminas' strategy of buying third-party steel slab to be rolled at the Cubat??o mill was maintained, with a significant increase in purchases year-on-year in the third quarter to 502,000 tonnes, from 240...Read More
Prices for domestic and imported merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel in the United States were flat in October for the second consecutive month following two rounds of mill base price increases in July and August.Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US was $58.30 per hundredweight ($1,116 per short ton) on Friday October 29, unchanged fro...Read More
Battery-grade lithium prices in Asia nudged higher over the week to Thursday October 28 on lingering tightness in supply, costlier feedstock and monthly restocking among buyers. ?EUR? Chinese suppliers of seaborne battery-grade lithium hydroxide price succeed in translating higher offers into transactions in the Asian spot market.?EUR? Lithium prices in China's domestic market rise on month-end re...Read More
Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Indian domestic secondary billet prices increased slightly by end of the week to Friday October 29 on renewed buying interest and rising raw material prices.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel billet domestic, ex-works India was at 46,500-46,700 rupees ($620.03-622.70) per tonne on Friday, up by 200 rupees compared with the previous week's assessment of 46,300-46,500 rupees per tonne ex-works....Read More
A summary of Glencore's 2021 third-quarter production report for the coal sector, released on Friday October 29.In briefThe company's coal production for the year to September 30 was 76.3 million tonnes, some 7.2 million tonnes (9%) lower than the comparable period in 2020, reflecting a full period with its Prodeco operations in Colombia under care and maintenance, the progressive recovery from th...Read More