The United States Midwest aluminium premium rose to a nearly six-month high on Tuesday February 9, with market participants increasingly bullish amid expectations that the Section 232 tariffs will persist after US President Joe Biden showed a willingness to invoke those tariffs last week.The Midwest premium is now at its highest level since mid-August 2020.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P...Read More

The global drive to a low-carbon economy will support new capacity growth, with aluminium and other industries restructuring and repositioning themselves, a senior executive at UC Rusal said.But whether this results in a premium or discount being paid for the material is not the key driver for this change, head of sales and marketing Roman Andryushin told Fastmarkets in an interview. "The supply s...Read More

Growth in China, the world's largest consumer of aluminium, may fluctuate over the coming months but is not expected to contract, according to the head of sales and marketing at UC Rusal. Roman Andryushin said he shares concerns that there may be pauses in Chinese growth, especially in the second half of the year, as the country works to rebalance its economy and prevent overinflation. At the same...Read More

UC Rusal is targeting sales of value-added products (VAP) to account for at least half of its total aluminium sales over the next 10 years, according to its head of sales and marketing. Roman Andryushin told Fastmarkets in an interview that the company may reach this sales level relatively soon and would then aim to boost the ratio even higher. "It's our priority for the next 10 years that we shou...Read More

South Korea's Public Procurement Service (PPS) has awarded a 1,500-tonne aluminium tender at a premium of $119 per tonne, which is about 2.5% lower than the premium for its previous tender a week ago. The awardee was once again Glencore International, according to the notice published by the state agency on Tuesday February 9. Glencore was also awarded the tender from PPS last week...Read More

Lower scrap costs in Turkey, along with a lack of demand for semi-finished steel, were the major reasons for falling billet export prices in the Commonwealth of Independent States on Tuesday February 9, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS was calculated at $527 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $538 per tonne on Monday. Several market sour...Read More

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Buyers of flat steel in Saudi Arabia expected prices to decrease because of the current low demand, while buyers in the United Arab Emirates were waiting for next week to see the direction of price movement, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 9.China and India are the main flat steel exporters to the Gulf region. China will be on its national New Year holiday February 11-17, and no new p...Read More

The uncertainty about new domestic prices for steel rebar in the United Arab Emirates continued during the week ended Tuesday February 9, with trading subdued and no imports heard, sources told Fastmarkets.Rebar producers in the UAE were expected to announce new prices next week, most probably after the Chinese New Year holiday (February 11-17).Importers of billet and rebar preferred to wait until...Read More

With the exception of tin, base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were firmer this morning, Tuesday February 9, as were the precious metals and oil, while the US dollar continued with its recent pullback.* Oil prices hits $61 per barrel, highest since January 2020, on production cuts* Bitcoin surges as Tesla shows support for the cryptocurrency* United S...Read More

Export prices for steel hot-rolled coil from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) softened further during the week to Monday February 8 on negative market sentiment and weak demand.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $690-715 per tonne on Monday, down from $695-725 per tonne a week earlier.One supplier from Russia was heard to reduce its offe...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Investors are waiting for news from the Trump impeachment trial starting at 1:00 PM EST today.Carnival slipped $0.22 to $21.39 after JP Morgan lowered its target price from $25 to $23Autodesk was unchanged at $302.81 after Stifel Nicolaus raised its target price from $285 to $342.Ford wa...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap import market remained quiet on the second working day of the week with no deep-sea bookings heard, market sources said on Tuesday February 9.The most recent bookings were heard on February 5 at $380 per tonne cfr for Baltic Sea-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) and $387 per tonne cfr for UK material, sending the daily scrap indices down by around $15 per tonne...Read More

The seaborne coking coal market was flat amid limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 9.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $154.04 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $217.23 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBCT: $133.57 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $203 per tonne, unchan...Read More

Iron ore prices pushed up on Tuesday February 9, supported by the expectation of a positive outlook for demand after the Chinese New Year holiday, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.10 per tonne, up $3.60 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $164.46 per tonne, up $3.66 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao:&nb...Read More

Australia's Port of Port Hedland shipped 4% more iron ore in January compared with a year earlier, though shipments were lower than those made in December, data from the Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) released on Tuesday February 9 shows.The port exported 42.2 million tonnes of iron ore last month. This is down by 9.2% compared with 46.5 million tonnes in December, however.Iron ore exports to China...Read More

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited (HKEX) has appointed Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin as its new chief executive officer, effective May 24, 2021. Aguzin will serve a term of three years until May 23, 2024, subject to the approval of the Securities and Futures Commission. Aguzin will also become an ex-officio member of the HKEX board of directors on the same day. HKEX is the owner of the London Meta...Read More

A lower dollar index supported higher base metals future prices on the London Metal Exchange in the morning of Tuesday February 9, with nickel gaining the most in percentage terms. Nickel's three-month price was up by 1.3% on Tuesday at 9am to $18,405 per tonne from Monday's closing price of $18,167 per tonne, starting its fourth straight day of gains. The metal reached $18,425 per tonne during e...Read More

With the exception of tin, base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were firmer this morning, Tuesday February 9, as were the precious metals and oil, while the US dollar continued with its recent pullback.Oil prices hits $61 per barrel, highest since January 2020, on production cutsBitcoin surges as Tesla shows support for the cryptocurrencyUnited States'...Read More

This year will be a turning point for network readiness and availability of 5G after some initial delay in last year caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets. More 5G smartphones, wearables and other consumer electronics have reached the mainstream market while the increase in remote working that has resulted from lockdown measures continues to underscore the need for greater band...Read More