The United States will reintroduce Section 232 tariffs on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminium from Canada, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday August 6."Earlier today I signed a proclamation that defends American industry by reimposing aluminium tariffs on Canada," Trump said on Thursday, speaking at the at the Whirlpool Corp factory in Clyde, Ohio. "US Trade Representative Ro...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 6 that are worth another look.The United States will reintroduce Section 232 tariffs on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminium from Canada, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday August 6. The aluminium industry neither deserves nor can afford the shock that...Read More
Sometimes it is better to let a situation speak for itself. Alcoa, Rio Tinto Aluminium, Novelis, Constellium, Arconic, Kaiser Aluminum, Tri-Arrows Aluminum, American Metal Chemical Corp, Hydro Extrusion North America, JW Aluminum, Real Alloy, Reynolds Consumer Products, Scepter, Silberline Manufacturing Co, Smelter Service Corp and Wagstaff. The US Aluminum Association, which represents more than...Read More
The central bankers are mad...Chris Duane with Sean on SGTreportLongtime silver bull and creator of the Silver Shield series of coins, Chris Duane returns to SGT Report to discuss the madness of central bankers and the breakout of silver which is now threatening to break its Comex paper chains once and for all.Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday August 6, nearing resistance at $14,500 per tonne despite moderate turnover, while lead futures continued to rise against a positive forward curve.Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $14,478 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $14,290 per tonne, while turn...Read More
Once momentum takes hold, there's no telling where the price may go. Perhaps $50. It happened in 2011 (and 1980). It could happen again!by Keith Weiner of Monetary-MetalsRecently, we've been publishing updates after days when the silver price has spiked up. Now, after Tuesday's trading action, silver trades over $26. Its price moved up over two bucks (about 8%).The long pattern since the peak pric...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices were flat day on day on Thursday August 6 due to a lack of transactions, while market participants held that seaborne premium prices would be relatively stable short term, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $105.91 per tonne, down $0.10 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $116.38 per tonne, up $0.08 per to...Read More
Even though the silver price has surged over the past two months, we haven't seen anything yet. Step aside, Tesla... by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportEven though the silver price has surged over the past two months, we haven't seen anything yet. Step aside, Tesla. Watch what happens when investors begin to understand the true meaning of "STORE OF VALUE." I can assure you; Tesla is no...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were up on Thursday August 6 amid better weather conditions in eastern China and the return of demand from the construction sector, according to trader sources.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.27 per tonne, up by $3.17 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $121.18 per tonne, up by $2.84 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qi...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.Aluminium: Upside breakout last weekThe price of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange surprised us with a break to the upside in the week ended July 10, when prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange raced to three-and-a-half-year highs. While we think there is more short-term upside potential if technical and liquidity fact...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.?EUR? US domestic prices for hot-rolled coil have moved down in line with our expectations, averaging $508 per tonne in July compared with our forecast price of $519 per tonne. While we are forecasting coil price increases in August, we have revised our expectations downward. Although steelmakers are reporting improving dema...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The price for steel scrap in China has risen recently, amid high mill operating rates and at a time of heavy rain, but it remains at a premium to hot metal, we estimate. Heavy rains in China tend to increase the moisture content of iron ore stockpiles, which can cause issues during the sintering process, and this may have en...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Trading activity at a minimumWelded pipe trading activity has been slow globally over July 2020, and while the holiday-period slowdown is partly to blame in several countries, disruptions to projects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were obviously the main cause. In this context, substrate costs were driving much of the prici...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Global markets for coated steel continue to run at different speeds with regards to pricing at the start of the summer season in the northern hemisphere. In Asia, prices continue to rise although, as we note in our Asia analysis this month, much of this is merely cost inflation with steelmakers passing on higher substrate cos...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' teamof analysts are ready to view.Chinese crude steel production outperformed our expectations with its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Crude steel output was up by 2.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 503 million tonnes, and we have revised upward what was initially a more bearish forecast for this year. We now estimate that product...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prolonged flooding in China could limit the use of construction steel and drag down demand for steel rebar in the short term, which in turn could damp the demand for iron ore. So far, it has been reported that steel mills in the affected regions have continued to operate as normal. The floods have, however, caused a few days...Read More