The US economy added over 900,000 jobs in July, the most in 11 months and well above the market expectations. Part of the reason is the rapid pace of the COVID-19 vaccinations allowing the country to continue to re-open and promote businesses to hire more workers. This action has driven down the US Unemployment Rate to 5.40%, the lowest level since March 2020.In response to the bullish employment...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices fell on Thursday August 12, with end-user demand falling away due to heavy rainfall across large parts of the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,230 yuan ($803-808) per tonne, down by 30 yuan per tonneHeavy rain hit a large parts of China in recent days, interrupting construction activity and disrupting the transportation of rebar from warehouses.More h...Read More
A summary of the financial performance of Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) for the second quarter of 2020, according to its earnings report released on Tuesday August 10.In brief Total aluminium sales increased year on year during the second quarter amid a "consistent" recovery of Brazilian demand following the 2020 low caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, CBA said....Read More
The 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games will test China's resolve on decarbonization, with new pollution control measures likely to be imposed for the major sporting event, sources told Fastmarkets.Beijing and the surrounding area of Hebei, including Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, will host 109 sporting events in 15 disciplines on February 4-20 in 2022 for Winter Olympic Games and March 4-1...Read More
The United Kingdom Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended that anti-dumping duties on welded tube & pipe from Russia be revoked, but that measures against similar material from China and Belarus be extended, the TRA said on Monday August 9.The measures will be removed for products imported from Russia after January 30, 2021 - 30 days after the date the measure transitioned from the Europea...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
Battery supply chain participants have prioritized securing lithium in the second half of 2021, but nickel has also been a headache for sourcing directors, who are less concerned about cobalt supplies, a Fastmarkets survey has found.Fastmarkets conducted a survey of market participants in the battery supply chain - mainly battery materials producers -to assess which battery metals pose the biggest...Read More
Prices in the British market for steel scrap deliveries to domestic steelmakers have dropped for August 2021, snapping a run of gains in the past three months on lower demand and weaker export prices amid the seasonal summer slowdown, sources said on Thursday August 12.Prices for scrap supplied to British steelmakers were down in general by around ?5 ($7) per tonne in August, although some report...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices decreased in the month to Thursday August 12 following the trend in the international markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Apart from the decline in international scrap prices, the seasonal slowdown and stoppages across the European market also contributed to the domestic price drop.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
If any member was going to leave the London Metal Exchange ring trading floor, the exchange was probably hoping it wouldn't be Triland Metals Ltd.The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, is one of the exchange's longest serving Category 1 members, having joined in 1972 after being founded in the prior year. Having a unit of Japan's largest trading company as a ri...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
Chinese and overseas tungsten concentrate and downstream ammonium paratungstate (APT) price increases have been unusually robust despite the traditional summer lull.Building on the momentum, most Chinese and overseas tungsten market participants remain bullish into the second half of this year, Fastmarkets has learned. "[The domestic] market had been stalled from mid-April to mid-June, with conce...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices continued to increase in the cfr China market on Thursday August 12 and rose slightly in the fob market due to tight supply and good procurement demand, sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $222.37 per tonne, up $0.28 per tonneHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $196.16 per tonne, up $0.25 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $340.19 p...Read More
Iron ore prices fell on Thursday August 12, on weakening market sentiment prompted by limited demand and thin liquidity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $162.96 per tonne, down $2.52 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $163.19 per tonne, down $2.78 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $130.72 per tonne, down $3.56 per t...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices fell on Thursday August 12, with end-user demand falling away due to heavy rainfall across large parts of the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,200-5,230 yuan ($803-808) per tonne, down by 30 yuan per tonneHeavy rain hit a large parts of China in recent days, interrupting construction activity and disrupting the transportation of rebar from warehouses.More h...Read More
Most prices were down on the afternoon of Thursday August 12 on the London Metal Exchange, with zinc reporting the largest fall, while nickel's three-month price was the only metal to register a gain, of 1.6%. The three-month price of zinc fell to $2,992.50 per tonne on Thursday after reaching $3,043.50 per tonne on Wednesday. Its cash-to-three month spread was last at a $8.25 per tonne conta...Read More
Domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Europe were mostly stable in the week to Wednesday August 11 due to the seasonally slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel CRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?1,270-1,320 ($1,489-1,548) per tonne on August 11, widening upward from ?,?1,270-1,310 per tonne ex-works one week earlier.The corresponding weekly pr...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.The steady climb in copper prices since mid-2020 – and the more recent launch into the stratosphere – puts me in mind of Senator Gracchus in the film Gladiator. Specifically, his observation that fear and wonderment is a p...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.To quote Elon Musk, “We are running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.” What was once a heate...Read More