TAIPEI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan's central bank said on Friday it is watching inflation and there is no cause for alarm, but added it will adopt "appropriate" monetary policies if needed.In a Facebook post, the central bank said that major institutions predict Taiwan's consumer price index, or CPI, will not exceed 2% for all of this year, and will decline next year."There should be no worry about...Read More

The price for grade 18/8 alloy steel scrap increased due to higher nickel costs, while underlying market fundamentals remained stable, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 22.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids domestic, delivered merchants UK was ?1,340-1,440 ($1,850-1,988) per tonne on Friday, up by ?10-40 per tonne from ?1,330-1,400 per tonne the...Read More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Two new interest rate benchmarks will replace the Swiss Libor rate and the Euro Overnight Index Average (EONIA) in contracts and financial instruments from next year, the European Commission said on Friday.They will be replaced by new "risk free" rates, which are compiled by central banks.Both the Swiss Libor and EONIA, which form the basis for a range of financial contracts su...Read More

(Reuters) - China Evergrande Group has rapidly become Beijing's biggest corporate headache as it wrestles with debts of more than $300 billion and the fate reut.rs/3jrfpZG of the country's second-biggest property developer is keeping global markets on tenterhooks.A string of Beijing officials have tried to reassure investors the crisis will not spiral out of control and that creditors' interests...Read More

Large volumes of steel billet position cargoes held by traders have been offered at lower prices to buyers in Southeast Asia in recent days amid China's continued price decline, sources told Fastmarkets.Closures at Chinese rerolling mills amid power rationing and environmental measures, together with spiraling ferrous futures markets, have badly damaged steel billet demand in the country this week...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - A key market gauge of euro zone inflation expectations rose on Friday to 2%, the ECB's inflation target, for the first time in seven years, putting pressure on the central bank as it weighs how to proceed with stimulus when its pandemic-era support ends.The five-year, five-year forward inflation swap, a key market gauge of long-term euro zone inflation expectations, jumped four...Read More

A sharp drop in domestic billet and rebar prices over the past few days in China resulted in a change of mood in the Commonwealth of Independent States' export billet market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment of steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was 5,300-5,350 ($828.46-836.28) yuan per tonne on Friday October 22, down by 330 yuan per tonne day on da...Read More

FRANKFURT, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Only 10 major European banks may need to raise capital as a result of the rollout of new global rules and their shortfall could be smaller than 27 billion euros ($31.43 billion), according to draft European Union regulation seen by Reuters.The impact would be much smaller than the 52.2 billion euros estimated by the European Banking Authority (EBA) last year, a sigh o...Read More

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The new Democratic leadership of the U.S. securities watchdog has a message for Corporate America's highly paid executives: if your company screws up, your pay is at risk.Clawing back compensation is shaping up to be a key part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) agenda as it cracks down on corporate misconduct, raising the stakes for thousands of...Read More

Kickingthe can down the road is the new national pastime. Every time the government’sbills come due, officials at the Treasury Department find creative ways ofpaying them with money they don’t have.Onemeasure of just how overextended the United States has become financially isthe debt to GDP ratio. For most of the country’s history, excluding temporarywartime blips, net general g...Read More

Inflation accelerated again in September, and gold prices (finally!) reacted positively. Bad news: the rally was short-lived.Unfortunately, I was right. One month ago, when commenting on the CPI readings for August, I wrote that inflation “doesn’t have to go away anytime soon” and that the economic developments suggest that “inflation isn’t disappearing just yet.&rdqu...Read More

Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Ltd (JSHL) has commissioned a new strip mill as part of the first phase of the latest brownfield expansion at its Specialty Products Division (SPD), the company said on Wednesday October 20.The new 26,000-tonnes-per-year precision strip mill takes JSHL's capacity to 48,000 tpy from 22,000 tpy previously, the company said.The capacity expansion further strengthens the compa...Read More

Mexico's Altos Hornos de M?(C)xico (Ahmsa) is considering seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its Minera del Norte thermal coal subsidiary, after a Mexican commission canceled state supply contracts, the company said on Thursday October 21.Minera del Norte - also known as Minosa - is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican steelmaker and has the capacity to produce 6.6 million tonnes per...Read More

Russia's Metalloinvest plans to construct the world's biggest hot-briquetted iron (HBI) facility, to help speed up the transition to green steel production, the company said this week.Technology provider Midrex Technologies and engineering company Primetals will supply the new HBI Plant (HBI-4) at Lebedinsky GOK (LGOK), Metalloinvest said. The plant will be built at Gubkin in west Russia, and will...Read More

Rio Tinto will invest $7.5 billion to reduce emissions and meet its carbon targets earlier than planned, the company announced on Wednesday September 20.Following more ambitious climate targets by governments, Rio Tinto is revising its emissions reduction targets. Its new target is to reduce its Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions of the greenhouse gas (GHG) Protocol by 50% by 2030, more than triple...Read More

Fastmarkets has corrected its trioxide grade and standard grade antimony prices, in warehouse Rotterdam, which were incorrectly published on Friday October 22 due to a reporter error.The price for MB-SB-0001 Antimony, max 100 ppm Bi, in-whs Rotterdam, has been changed to $12,900-13,500 per tonne, from an incorrectly published price of $13,300-13,500 per tonne.And the price for MB-SB-0002 Antimony...Read More

European trade groups warned about the potentially "catastrophic impact" of a Chinese magnesium supply shortage on metals producers in the region, calling on the European Commission and national governments to take immediate action to mitigate the risks to industry.The groups - European Aluminium, European steel association Eurofer, European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, European metals a...Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in India, Europe, China and the United States on Friday October 22.China Higher port prices and the likelihood of fewer shipments arriving in the coming months supported buying sentiment in the seaborne manganese ore market. Portside low- and high-grade manganese ore markets extended their rallies amid firm sentiment among suppliers, but buying appetites...Read More

An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday October 22.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More

The three-month copper contract is trading near record highs on the London Metal Exchange, cash prices are rising even faster, and inventories are descending toward zero. Try running a hedge book in those conditions.It's been a very real quandary facing the physical trade and industry, which awoke on Tuesday October 19 to find copper's cash to November spread had flared to a backwardation of more...Read More