Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 6 that are worth another look.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 $2...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

Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) cut their crude steel and hot metal production rates in late August compared with the preceding 10 days, according to data published by Cisa on September 3.The finished steel inventory level in the mills also dropped sharply in late August compared with the level in mid-August. August 21-31 outputCrude steel: 2.05 million tonnes...Read More

Will this September be one to remember in the markets? It is often characterized by rising volatility heading into the fall. September also often ushers in a period of seasonal strength for precious metals markets.U.S. stocks opened the month heading back up to record levels. Meanwhile, gold and silver traded with little fanfare. Prices bounced around quietly ahead of Friday’s big jobs repor...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 6 that are worth another look.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 $2...Read More

The latest data for the global manganese ore market for theweek ended Monday September 6, 2021.Read More

Base-metals prices on the London Metal Exchange moved in different directions at the close of trading on Monday September 6, with aluminium continuing to reach new highs, while metals such as lead and tin ended the day on the back foot.Lead's three-month price was $2,275.00 per tonne on Monday at 5pm, dropping from last Friday's price of $2,310.50 per tonne.The metal reached a year-to-date peak of...Read More

US home prices are surging, increasingly raising worries about inflation. Could gold follow houses? If so, why?Home price growth in the US has accelerated even further, reaching a new record. The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose from 255.3 in May to 260.9 in June, boosting the annual percentage gain from 16.8% to 18.1%, as the chart below shows. That’s the largest jum...Read More

The European manganese alloys markets, currently trading around 13-year price highs, were likely to rise further - at least in the short term - due to firm fundamentals of tight availability and strong demand, Fastmarkets heard on Monday September 6.Other factors such as an acute shortage of shipping containers and record high freight rates were also making replacement costs very expensive, while...Read More

Inflation has risen, but bond yields have declined. Such a divergence is strange — beware gold bulls!Would you like to see something mysterious? If yes, please look at the chart below. It shows the yields on 10-year US Treasuries (red line) and CPI annual inflation rates (blue line) in recent years. As you can see, a huge divergence emerged this year: while inflation surged above 5%, nominal...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 6 that are worth another look.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 $2...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

London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More

High-carbon ferro-chrome output in Inner Mongolia, China's leading ferro-alloy producing region, has retreated in the first eight months of the year, while that in the rest of the country has risen, according to market sources.This comes amid a push by Chinese authorities to reduce emissions in energy-intensive industries, as part of the country's pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.Operat...Read More

Base-metals prices on the London Metal Exchange moved in different directions at the close of trading on Monday September 6, with aluminium continuing to reach new highs, while metals such as lead and tin ended the day on the back foot.Lead's three-month price was $2,275.00 per tonne on Monday at 5pm, dropping from last Friday's price of $2,310.50 per tonne.The metal reached a year-to-date peak of...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices across the board in both fob and cfr markets jumped on Monday September 6 on sustained tight supply and good overseas demand, reaching new highs since Fastmarkets established its coking coal indices. And the ninth round of Chinese domestic coke price hikes since the start of August was fully executed.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $450.61 per...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Monday September 6, due to Chinese authorities taking a stricter stance against steelmakers on steel production curbs and the start of sintering restrictions, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $132.38 per tonne, down $12.33 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $133.02 per tonne, down $12.28 per tonne58% Fe fines high-gra...Read More

Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we approach the end of the first half of 2021, steel markets in Europe and the United States continue to heat up. This six-month period is largely unprecedented, with both steel prices and steelmakers' margins hitting a number of new record highs throughout.The rally is likely nearing its end, however, with global steel ou...Read More