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

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

Hot-rolled coil markets across Europe remained quiet on Monday September 6, with sentiment was increasingly bearish because of the decline in demand from the automotive sector, sources told Fastmarkets.Opinions differed between mills and buyers on the future direction of HRC prices, with trading activity in both Northern Europe and Italy remaining slow on Monday.Buyers were expecting prices to dro...Read More

Export rebar and wire rod prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region continued to decrease in the week to Monday September 6, pressured by competition with Turkish mills, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers of Turkey-origin rebar for foreign customers have slid $10-20 per tonne over the past two weeks, to $670-675 per tonne fob Black Sea.Wire rod was available at $770-790 per tonn...Read More

Continued low demand for aluminium in Japan, unchanged since August, has weighed on fourth-quarter negotiations for the main Japanese ports (MJP) aluminium premium, which started around August 24.Multiple sources reported on Monday September 6 that the first producer to extend the offer of $230 per tonne has put back its quarterly negotiation deadline by one week to September 10, but it will not l...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's Murowa mine aims to more than double production as it migrates from open pit to underground operations. Owners RioZim plan to invest $400m in the switch, and say the deposit, 450km from the country's capital Harare, should increase ore processing from 190,000 tonnes per month to 500,000. "It's a massive investment that bodes well with the government's...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamcor Mining says prices exceeded expectations as it sold just over $1m of rough at three tenders in July and August.The Canadian junior miner acquired Krone-Endor, at the Venetia deposit in South Africa, from De Beers in February 2011, and has a long-term strategic alliance and first right of refusal with Tiffany & Co's Canadian subsidiary.In the three months to Septemb...Read More

Surging primary aluminium premiums are heightening the risks for consumers and suppliers, producers and market analysts said at Fastmarkets' virtual International Aluminium Conference last week.Representatives from Vedanta, Rusal and McKinsey joined a discussion panel on Thursday September 2 to debate market drivers, high premiums and sustainability, among other topics. Billet premiums have r...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Unique specimens of Aquaprase, the world's "newest" gemstone, are being donated to the American Museum of Natural History.The bluish-green chalcedony was discovered in 2013 by veteran gem explorer Yianni Melas at an undisclosed location in Africa, as the first "new" gemstone of the century.New York-based jewelers Le Vian is gifting examples of its own trademarked classificatio...Read More

The union representing 300 workers at the Caserones copper mine in Chile and its operating company Minera Lumina Copper Chile reached an agreement on a three-year labor contract on Saturday September 4, bringing to an end a four-week strike.The agreement was made when 98% of the union's members approved the latest offer presented by the company, which was also signed on Saturday, Minera Lumina sai...Read More

Aluminium's three-month price set a new year-to-date high of $2,775.50 per tonne during early trading on Monday September 6, with political turmoil in Guinea - the world's top bauxite exporter - lending further supply-side support to the metal.The metal's three-month price was $2,755 per tonne on Monday morning, a 1% rise on the previous Friday's closing price of $2,727 per tonne, with more than d...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were on divergent paths on the morning of Monday September 6, after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report on Friday sent out mixed signals.But base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were generally stronger this morning while they tracked the gains seen on the LME on Friday, which came despite the disappointing data from the United States...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe and Italy were broadly flat during the week ended Friday September 3 amid subdued trading activity, with buyers holding back from making deals and mills refusing to accept lower prices, Fastmarkets has learnt.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?1,138.38 ($1,352.19) per tonne on Fri...Read More

As competition in the global steel markets remains fierce, Fastmarkets provides an update on the new, progressing and closed trade cases from around the world in August 2021.The case list below includes only updates. For other continuing cases this year, see the updates for January, February, March, April,...Read More

Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in China extended their gains on Monday September 6, with the latest data showing a further drop in supply despite the advent of the September-October peak demand season.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,800-5,850 yuan ($899-906) per tonne, up by 40-50 yuan per tonneThe China Iron & Steel Association said on Saturday that the daily crude steel output of its member...Read More

Import prices for rebar in Singapore continued to trend downward in the week to Monday September 6 amid ample spot supply and weak demand among buyers.A trader offered a position cargo of Indian rebar at $720 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis during the week.Turkish rebar was offered at $720-725 per tonne cfr Singapore on a theoretical weight basis following a recent drop in sc...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices continued to rise on Monday September 6 following the release of data from the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) showing a drop in steel production rates in the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,280-5,310 yuan ($818-823) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneCisa reported that its member mills' daily crude steel output over August 21-31 was 2.05 million tonn...Read More

The company reported a 39% increase in measured, indicated and inferred resources to 308.9 million tonnes at 1.14% lithium oxide, 105 parts per million tantalum pentoxide and 0.Read More