Plunging steel futures and physical prices in China kept buyers away from the import markets on Friday March 5, industry sources told Fastmarkets.Overnight price falls in rebar, hot-rolled coil and iron ore futures have dampened buying interest, with bids at $500-502 per tonne cfr China for imports of HRS101-grade heavy scrap (HS).Offers from sellers were at $510 per tonne cfr China. Key market pa...Read More

Spot prices in the key Vietnamese scrap import market increased in the week to Friday March 5, with key buyers setting eyes on bulk deep-sea HMS 1&2 (80:20) cargoes over Japanese H2 cargoes due to the thin premium the former is commanding. Two transactions for bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) cargoes were concluded on Thursday at $474 per tonne and $477 per tonne cfr Vietnam. One cargo was from Australia, whi...Read More

Strong demand for containerized ferrous scrap into the key import market of Taiwan has continued to push prices higher, sources told Fastmarkets during the week to Friday March 5.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), United States material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $433-440 per tonne on Friday, unchanged from Thursday, but up by $8-10 per tonne...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday March 5. China  High-grade seaborne ore prices rose after miners raised their offers for April shipment. Some buyers accepted the elevated offers, while others showed resistance given the current portside prices and persistently high port inventories. Low-grade prices continued upwards aft...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday March 5. United States  Limited availability continued to provide the fuel for price gains this week.  Mills are reportedly hard pressed to find uncommitted prompt material amid major domestic production cutbacks and slowed imports.  Vessels continue to be difficult to obtain for US s...Read More

In northern Nevada, the gold mining industry has dominated for decades. Now Nevada lawmakers want to tap into that vein of wealth to ease the pandemic-induced budget crunch.Read full newsRead More

Prosper Gold Corp. CEO Clips:CEO Clips is the largest library ofRead full newsRead More

The stock market is often seen as one entity, and it is, for the most part. When it crashes, almost every company is affected. When the recession hits, most businesses suffer the consequences. But as you can see from the recovery from the 2020 crash, not every sector, industry, and individual companies recover at the same pace. Even within an industry, there might be a whole spectrum of recovery.S...Read More

While it’s true that gold, as a precious metal and even as a commodity, has lived off its “golden days.” Even though it’s known as hard cash around the globe and it holds its value no matter where you take it, the shiny metal doesn’t hold power and sway it used to when kingdoms used to wage war over it.But every once in a while, when the stock market crashes or goes t...Read More

Warren Buffett’s entry into the Canadian gold market by taking a position in Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:GOLD) came as quite a surprise for many, especially given the fact that Buffett was previously very vocal about his dislike for gold as an investable asset class. But I assume Buffett now sees the distinction between gold and gold mining, and hence, his newfound interest.While some may qu...Read More

The turmoil surrounding a creditor of UK-based conglomerate GFG Alliance has raised concerns in the European steel market, Fastmarkets heard on Friday March 5.On March 3, German financial watchdog Bundesanstalt f? 1/4 r Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) imposed a moratorium on Greensill Bank, which is the key funding facility for GFG Alliance, Fastmarkets heard.In particular, BaFin has ordered...Read More

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Odisha, India to build an integrated steel plant in Odisha with a capacity for 12 million tonnes per year, it announced on Thursday March 4.The plant will be set up in the Kendrapara district and the investment is reported to be 500 billion rupees ($6.87...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 3 that are worth another look.A crackdown on industrial activity in Tangshan, China's steelmaking hub, is sending jitters throughout the sector. Fastmarkets examines what it means for the steel industry.Glencore has appointed BMO...Read More

A key topic reverberating around the Asian steel market over the past month has been the possibility of China reducing steel export rebates to 9% from the current 13%, or possibly axing them altogether.Market chatter on this topic has grown increasingly louder, with industry sources in China hearing more and more details about these plans from late January onward."This is likely in line with China...Read More

A shortage of containers to ship commodities around the world and the consequent soaring in associated freight rates have led to a revival of interest in breakbulk cargoes. Producers and physical traders of metals, agricultural, chemical and timber products have been starting to book shipments in breakbulk vessels, which cost far less and doesn't require vast amounts of equipment in port. On the m...Read More

The Biden administration's focus on US manufacturing and domestic supply chains will benefit established and developing minerals and metals sectors, including steel, rare earths, graphite and lithium.US President Joe Biden's executive order on the strengthening of American manufacturing, which he signed during his first week in office, is expected to have a direct effect on demand for US-produced...Read More

The strength of the economic recovery in China in 2020 defied the expectations of most market observers. According to estimates by Fastmarkets, apparent consumption in the country rose by 9% in 2020 compared with a 12% fall in the rest of the world.Crucially, this increase in supply was a response to a boom in steel demand in the East Asian nation. In the first quarter of 2020, demand (or real con...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese export prices for seamless oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and linepipe barely moved in February 2021, after rallying in January, because the holidays to celebrate the Lunar New Year curbed market activity sharply.With the holiday now ended, we have seen some sharp jumps in round billet prices and we expect there to...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US hot-rolled coil prices moved in line with our forecasts in January, with actual prices modestly exceeding our forecasts for the month. Fastmarkets' US HRC index averaged $1,099 per ton in January, slightly above our forecast price of $1,075 per ton for the month. W...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The uptrend in European flat steel prices continued in January 2021 as expected, with the prices for hot-rolled coil in the North and South of the region averaging ?,?698 and ?,?686 ($840 and $826) per tonne respectively, within 1% of the Fastmarkets research forecasts.With European HRC prices climbing to their highest level...Read More