Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 7 that are worth another look.The Labor Day holiday in the United States meant that three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed at the close of trading on Monday, with trading volumes thin. LME nickel futures showed the biggest losses over the afternoon.In Asia, Vietnamese buyers remaine...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were little changed at the close of trading on Monday September 7, with trading volumes across the day thin because of the Labor Day national holiday in the United States, while LME nickel futures topped losses over the afternoon.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $15,186 per tonne on Monday afternoon, dipping from an intraday h...Read More

Fastmarkets' seaborne premium hard coking coal cfr index increased on Monday September 7, after the latest transaction, with market participants agreeing that demand from China will be the key factor in any further spot market price increases. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $110.05 per tonne, up $0.05 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $115.88 per t...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view, including an upgrade to our aluminium price forecasts.Aluminium: Price forecasts raisedWe correctly expected the macro reflationary theme to raise the prices for all base metals but, with it being the base metal with by far the weakest fundamentals, we had expected the price of aluminium to underperform relative...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.These include an increase in our copper mine disruption estimates, upgrades to our production outlook for Indonesian nickel pig iron (NPI), a smaller refined zinc surplus, and an upgrade to our zinc price forecasts.Aluminium: Big disconnect between price and fundamentalsAluminium has extended its uptrend on the London Metal...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. We also review our price forecasting accuracy for the second quarter 2020.Q2 2020 price forecast performance review According to the results of Fastmarkets' Apex for the second quarter of 2020 published this week, Fastmarkets' base metals research team was the second most accurate price forecaster for nickel (99.06%), lead...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Comfortable consolidationAluminium appears comfortable consolidating for the moment, and this will leave prices in a stronger position to challenge overhanging long-term trend-line resistance from the May 2018 high, which stands at $1,670 per tonne currently.Copper: Consolidation unlikely to lastCopper reached its...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US market under pressureUS prices for welded pipe products were under pressure because market participants, especially distributors, have started to take steps to generate cash and were moving material if they were able to do so, even if it meant selling at low prices.We expect more such "fire sales" in the coming months, bu...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.August 2020 has seen the prices of most steel products move up in tandem around the world, in contrast to recent months when steel prices have moved in different directions depending on the market.This dynamic has been seen in most coated steel markets as well, with the prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), pre-painted...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US market at risk of slidingPrices for pipe products were at a floor in the United States in mid-August, and have been broadly stable at that level since the start of the second quarter, but they are at risk of declining further in the coming months.Drilling rig counts have yet to find a floor and have fallen below most esti...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil moved down in line with our expectations, averaging $461 per ton in July versus our forecast price of $460 per ton. Although domestic HRC prices slipped to less than $450 per ton in late July/early August, we maintain the view th...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Prices across most ferro-alloy markets trended stable to lower in August as demand remained subdued in major markets, apart from China where steel output continues to rise at a rapid pace, supporting demand for ferro-alloys. As alloy makers seek to remedy supply/demand imbalan...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Numerous ore and alloy markets enjoyed upward pricing momentum in the first half 2020, with supply-side constraints supporting prices despite collapsing demand from steelmakers and other key end users. While supply side issues related to Covid-19 lockdowns have been resolved,...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In previous reports, we noted that upside risks to our forecasts existed. These were based on Chinese steel production, and in turn alloy consumption, outperforming our expectations.Chinese crude steel production is rising each month in a year-on-year comparison, prompting our revised view that Chinese alloy consumption will...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the year 2020 to date in late August, the Fastmarkets 62% Fe iron ore benchmark has powered along and reached six-year highs, supported by Chinese demand, and despite the global economic uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Iron ore demand has weakened almost everywhere except in China, where it has continued to...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.There has been an increasing bullishness in Chinese steel market sentiment recently, with rising post-Covid-19 optimism about the country's economy for the second half of 2020, especially after the government announced an infrastructure spending boost. Although we believe that high prices are justified, they remain far from...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Heavy rains in China, which can negatively affect iron ore supplies and pig iron production, and bolster demand for scrap, continued in July 2020. Although this was more an upside risk to our bearish base case one month ago, Chinese scrap prices remained strong. The firm prices gained support from the rains and from a more g...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This year has come with several unexpected events which increased the bullish case for iron ore prices, while the Chinese government's spending on infrastructure is likely to boost iron ore demand and add upside support to prices. But supply disruptions and a demand surge which caused price spikes are now easing. We do not e...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. A look at stainless steel price movements through August reveals the ongoing battle being faced by stainless steelmakers in Europe and the United States while they try to pass on rising costs to consumers. In these regions, prices on most grades of stainless steel are little changed from July, rising by around 2% at most -...Read More