Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have continued to move higher, supported by tightening supply brought on by rising demand in face of still-constrained domestic production.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $33.39 per hundredweight ($667.80 per short ton) on Monday October 19, up by 0.7% from $33.17 per cwt on Friday October 16 and 3.2% higher...Read More
Further measures to increase transparency and investments for metal producers were required to expand the sustainable metal market, participants said on a sustainability panel during the London Metal Exchange's online LME Week seminars on Monday October 19.Harald Friedl, sector lead at Climate Champions, said that the issue of sustainable metals supply chains has continued to gain traction among t...Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil across Europe inched upward over the week to Friday October 16, with buyers expecting prices to rise further.Buyers expected that the mills would soon announce the next round of increases in offer prices.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?495.83 ($580.74) per tonne on October 16, up by ?,?2.33...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday October 19 that are worth another look....Read More
Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann, chief executive officer of German steelmaker Salzgitter, will retire in mid-2021, the company said on Saturday October 17. Fuhrmann will remain in the position of CEO until his employment contract ends on June 30, 2021, the company confirmed. "Chief executive officer Prof Dr-Ing Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann will have reached the...Read More
The world's largest ferrous scrap market is set to get a boost from the impending launch of a futures contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).The scrap futures contract will be based on shredded scrap, which is one of the key steelmaking raw materials for steel mills in China and can be used by all kinds of furnaces, DCE senior manager Yang Shuai said at an industry conference in south...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More
With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More
The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More
Spot demand for cobalt metal has remained at minimal levels in recent weeks, leading market participants to question the level of discount that would be achievable in the forthcoming "mating season."Sellers confirmed on Monday October 19 that consumers continued to take any additional requirements of metal from long-term contracts, enjoying discounted prices arranged last year.This has left only t...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday October 19, rallying by more than 2.5% against positive forward spreads and robust demand.Meanwhile, a firm contango for LME tin resulted in high trading volumes pushing the metal's outright price to a 14-month high.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,491 per tonne on M...Read More
Recycled copper and aluminium that meet China's standards for renewable metals instead of solid waste can be freely imported into the country starting from November 1, according to the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The customs commodity codes of recycled copper raw materials and recycled cast aluminium alloy raw materials are 7404000030 and 7602000020 respectively, the ministry said...Read More
With the caveat that he was making "a strange presentation in a strange year," ED&F Man's Ed Meir described the recent rebound in the London Metal Exchange three-month nickel as "stunning" during the LME Week metals debate on Monday October 19. LME nickel futures are currently trading up 40% on the $11,142-per-tonne year-to-date low hit on March 23 when Covid-19 industrial shutdown measures sent s...Read More
Canada-based Lundin Mining Corp is to suspend operations at its Candelaria copper mine in Chile after mediation talks with a second union at the site failed to result in an agreement .Around 550 workers represented by the Candelaria AOS Union can now legally strike from October 20. They will join around 350 members of the Mine Workers Union who began industrial action at Candelaria on Oc...Read More
The price of lead is down 23% year-on-year and its weak long-term outlook means it will continue to underperform going into 2021, Tom Mulqueen, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said.Speaking at this year's virtual LME Week, Mulqueen said the high level of London Metal Exchange stocks and a lack of strong speculative support are also pressuring the lead price."Long-term, lead lacks th...Read More
In the next 30 years, global demand for both aluminium and steel is likely to double. Against industry calls for a cleaner, more forward-looking supply-chain, however, the chairman and chief executive of GFG Alliance, Sanjeev Gupta, sees climate change as the key accelerator for a sustainability-led reinvention of the sector.Delivering his welcoming address at this year's virtual LME Week seminar,...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States held steady in a week that ended with SSAB Americas issuing its sixth price increase in five months.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US was unchanged at $29.50 per hundredweight ($590 per short ton) on Friday October 16. The assessment is down 7.8% in 2020 notwithstanding all the p...Read More
CIS export prices for steel billet inched upward on Monday October 19 amid higher costs for steelmaking raw materials, particularly scrap, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' daily steel billet index, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was calculated at $410 per tonne on Monday, up by $2 per tonne from Friday.Market participants reported offers within the range of $415-420 per tonne fob Black Sea, against...Read More
The mood in the Northern European hot-rolled coil market remained positive on Monday October 19, supported by good order books at domestic mills, a lack of competitive imports and solid end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?496.67 ($581.72) per tonne on Monday October 19, up by just ?,?0.84 p...Read More
Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann, chief executive officer of German steelmaker Salzgitter, will retire in mid-2021, the company said on Saturday October 17. Fuhrmann will remain in the position of CEO until his employment contract ends on June 30, 2021, the company confirmed. "Chief executive officer Prof Dr-Ing Heinz J??rg Fuhrmann will have reached the...Read More