Brazil's iron ore exports increased by a third in December compared with a year earlier, according to statistics from the country's economy ministry.It shipped 33.17 million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last month, compared with 24.99 million tonnes in December 2019.Strong demand for steel in in China has...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday January 6 that are worth another look.The import price for cargoes of steel billet to Southeast Asia started the new year flat even after sellers sought to raise offers to the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Read More
Nickel premiums were steady across the globe in the week to Tuesday January 5, while China's nickel sulfate market strengthened amid demand support and limited spot supply. Inquiries in the Shanghai nickel plate market grew with the narrowing import arbitrage loss following China's nickel import tax cut, but premiums have thus far been unchanged due to the closure of the arbitrage window...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States rebounded on Wednesday January 6, but talk of lower deals remained in the market. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $51.54 per hundredweight ($1,030.80 per short ton) on January 6, bouncing back up by 2.22% after falling to $50.42 per cwt on Tuesday January 5 and 0.57% higher than $51.25 per cwt on December 30,...Read More
All Turkish flat steel prices increased sharply in December 2020, and the market was expected to remain steady in January because of globally strong demand for steel products, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday January 6.Turkish hot-rolled coil producers were fully booked until April, and market participants believed that buying would remain strong in January, provided that prices remained firm.Global...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday January 6 that are worth another look.The import price for cargoes of steel billet to Southeast Asia started the new year flat even after sellers sought to raise offers to the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Read More
Now is not the time for Freeport-McMoRan to be thinking about mergers and acquisitions, the mining company's chief executive officer says.According to Richard Adkerson, the company - which is just over half-way through a mega-project to transform its giant Grasberg copper-gold mine in Indonesia from an open-pit to an underground operation - is on the verge of creating huge shareholder value."I jus...Read More
Copper and nickel hit multi-month and multi-week highs respectively on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday January 6, spurred by factors such as export delays in Peru, positive sentiment about electric vehicles and a weak US dollar. Three-month copper peaked at $8,169 per tonne, its highest since February 19, 2013, when it topped out at $8,153.50 per tonne. "Copper is the star base metal going...Read More
Iron ore registered increases across the board on active seaborne trading on Wednesday January 6, with lump prices surging due to tight supplies, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $168.72 per tonne, up $0.86 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $168.75 per tonne, up $0.75 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&nbs...Read More
Markets seem to be anticipating a Democratic win in the Georgia Senate run-off this morning, Wednesday January 6, and that could be bullish for commodities because a Democratic-controlled US Congress could push through larger fiscal stimulus packages.A Democratic-controlled Congress could, however, cause some headwind for some sectors of the equity markets, although those involved in the rollout o...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: SHFE tailwind for LME pricesAs we are entering the traditional strong demand season, we expect Chinese aluminium demand to show further recovery, and we expect demand from existing end-user sectors, new infrastructure projects and the export sector to show some increases. As a result, we believe that S...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.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US flat product prices maintained momentum through November, with increases accelerating in early December in response to supply shortfalls, rising scrap prices, and improving demand.While we correctly forecast further pricing gains in November, actual prices surpasse...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese domestic and export flat steel prices surged in November 2020, with the export hot-rolled coil index rising to $592 per tonne during the month from $519 per tonne previously, and the monthly average increasing by 7.5% over October.Economic activity in China continued to expand, with manufacturing output rising by 7.5...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? Flat steel product prices in the United States moved largely in line with our expectations in October, although the increases slightly outpaced our projections. US hot-rolled coil prices averaged $655 per ton in October, exceeding our forecast price of $640 per...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Flat product prices in the US moved largely in line with our expectations in October, posting impressive gains across the product range, and slightly exceeding our forecasts for coil products.Domestic hot-rolled coil prices averaged $722 per tonne in October, exceeding our forecast of $705 per tonne forecast price.Although w...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Key ferro-alloy forecast highlights for the coming months:?EUR? A strong recovery in both bulk and noble alloys is expected in 2021 but the markets are unlikely to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen a quicker-than-expected recovery across various regions amid the economic fal...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for most ferro-alloys maintained their upward momentum into October, solidifying previous gains and reflecting the improved demand from steelmakers, the rebuilding of depleted inventories, and the supply-side concerns following both planned and unplanned outages. Gains were noted for ferro-silicon, silicon metal, mang...Read More