The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.We spoke in our previous tracker of stainless steel prices ending 2020 on a high. That trend has continued during early 2021 and, in fact, the upward rally in prices has increased its momentum.Compared with the monthly price increase of some 5% seen at the end of 2020, prices for grade-304 stainless steel in al...Read More
European hot-rolled coil producers have remained in control of domestic prices despite mixed sentiment among buyers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 2.Tight supply and long lead times from European mills combined with limited access to overseas coil have been supporting the domestic prices. A majority of European producers were reported to be sold out of third-quarter-rolling coi...Read More
Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.By William Tankard, Principal Analyst and Hun Hao Chuah, Senior Research Analyst. Driven by a growing list of stakeholder requirements and an explosion in creative solutions, we expect the mining industry to accelerate its adopti...Read More
Nickel and zinc's three-month prices were the main metals to register small rises on June 2, while aluminium and copper futures contracts fell on a day of low volumes on the London Metal Exchange with the complex still finding its direction following a strong end to May. LME nickel's three-month price rose slightly to $18,236 per tonne on Wednesday from $18,130 per tonne on Tuesday, despite hittin...Read More
RAPAPORT... The trade group that supports India's domestic jewelry industry has asked the government and the central bank for urgent help amid the "major financial stress" resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.Companies in the sector have been forced to close and have lost out on revenue during the country's latest coronavirus wave, the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) stressed...Read More
The stainless steel scrap market in the United States firmed over the past week, with prices narrowing or strengthening across the board amid robust demand and continued tight supply."We are going to be cautious adjusting our buying prices to the upside until we get a feeling of how the processors are going to respond to the current market conditions," one dealer said.The intrinsic values for stai...Read More
Prices of lead scrap items in the Unites States did not display any significant week-on-week change, with the market trading in a narrow range amid limited spot activity.But price ranges widened upward on several assessments in response to volatility on the London Metal Exchange lead contract, rising freight costs and physical supply constraints."Smelters are running at capacity, and imports...Read More
RAPAPORT... India is experiencing a shortage of diamonds as rough supply has dropped and polished goods remain stuck at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).Traders are struggling to source rough, and face rising prices when buying from miners and at tenders, Indian manufacturers told Rapaport News this week. This has made it hard to meet strong demand from the US and China."[Buying] ro...Read More
Major non-ferrous scrap products such as insulated copper wire (ICW) and zorba will not be able to enter Malaysia under a newly proposed import guideline, an industry body said at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Convention 2021 on Wednesday June 2."Existing secondary investment will go down the drain if this guideline comes into force," Eric Tan, president of the Malaysia Non-Ferrous M...Read More
Chilean copper output fell 1.98% in April, compared to the same month of 2020, due to volume decreases from major producers like Codelco, Escondida and Los Pelambres, according to data published by the country's copper commission, Cochilco, on Wednesday June 2.The country produced 461,200 tonnes of copper in April, down from 470,500 tonnes a year before. Production also fell 5.63% from 488,700 ton...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Banks that lost money in a $770m gold and diamonds loan scam in India in 2013 have won a legal victory in their bid to trace the missing cash.A British judge yesterday restored four UK shell companies suspected of having laundered money lent to Indian-based Winsome Diamonds.The move may enable Standard Chartered Bank and other lenders to trace the assets of an Indian gold and diamo...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Hundreds of traders crowded the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) for the first Blue and White fair since lockdown restrictions were imposed more than a year ago.Among the 50 industry leaders exhibiting on the trading hall at Ramat Gan were Tache, Lili Diamonds, S. Schnitzer and Andre Messika.Almost all coronavirus restrictions have now been lifted in Israel after a vaccination program...Read More
Nickel premiums in the US rose while premiums in Europe and Asia were stable, sources told Fastmarkets.US briquette premium rises 9%Demand continues to bolster European premiumClosed arbitrage in Asia keeps premium flatStrong fundamentals boost seaborne sulfate premiumPremiums rise as higher offers gain traction Nickel premiums in the United States rose, with the premium for nickel briquette up by...Read More