Cleveland-Cliffs has reached a definitive agreement to buy ArcelorMittal USA and its subsidiaries for around $1.4 billion, which will make it the largest flat-rolled steel producer in the country, the company said on Monday September 28.The deal included the steel making operations of Indiana Harbor, Burns Harbor, Cleveland, Coatesville, Steelton, and Riverdale, as well as finished steel units Col...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 24 that are worth another look.Brazilian ferrous scrap association Inesfa expects further decreases in export volumes from the levels seen in August, with demand rising among local steelmakers amid a heated steel market, the group's president, Clineu Alvarenga, said...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 28 that are worth another look....Read More
Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil across Europe continued to rise, but at a slower pace, over the week to Friday September 25, driven by reduced supply from domestic mills and a lack of competitive import offers.Fastmarkets calculated the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?488.02 ($567.46) per tonne on Friday, up by ?,?1.10 per tonne week on week and by...Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday September 28, rallying during afternoon trading to push firmly above the $2,400-per-tonne threshold.Tin, meanwhile, continued to recover after slipping below nearby support during the morning trading session.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,432 per tonne on Monday af...Read More
The CIS export market for steel billet has turned quiet at the end of September with a growing difference between mills' offers and customers' bids, Fastmarkets has heard.Mills continued to insist on offers within the range of $415-420 per tonne fob Black Sea on Monday September 28, according to market sources. There was reduced availability of material due to maintenance work at some assets, as w...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 28 that are worth another look....Read More
The three-month price of zinc on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer at the close of trading on Monday September 28, rallying during afternoon trading to push firmly above the $2,400-per-tonne threshold.Tin, meanwhile, continued to recover after slipping below nearby support during the morning trading session.Zinc's outright price on the LME closed at $2,432 per tonne on Monday af...Read More
The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was slightly improved during morning trading on Monday September 28, with price action moving 0.4% higher despite a fresh inflow of just over 30,000 tonnes into LME-registered warehouses in Rotterdam, while tin futures led on the upside with 1.6% increase to trade firmly above the $17,000-per-tonne support level. Copper's outright price on...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 analysts are ready to view.US flat-rolled prices began to recover in August, as we expected. The monthly average of our daily HRC index hit $473 per ton ($521/tonne), which was $3/t above our forecast.The upward momentum has since continued and has done so more quickly than we expected - sentiment has turned around dramatically on fundamental developm...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for hot-rolled coil have performed in line with our expectations over the past month, with US domestic HRC prices finding a floor in July in line with the forecast, before improving in August. US HRC prices averaged $473 per short ton in August, compared with our forecast price of $470 per ton.Our prediction that an i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices performed in line with our expectations in August, with US domestic HRC prices finding a floor in July as forecast before they rose in August. US HRC prices averaged $522 per tonne in August, which compares with our forecast price of $518 per tonne. Based on an improving demand outlook and ris...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.We do not consider the average iron ore fines price for September so far above $125 per tonne cfr Qingdao to be sustainable. The bullishness is not likely to last in the long term as we expect Chinese demand growth to slow down. A key factor boosting Chinese steel demand so far has been the stimulus policies from the authori...Read More
The takeaways from the latest edition of the Steel Raw Materials Market Tracker are ready to view.Iron ore prices remained relatively stable last week, signalling an end to the price spike. And for the first time since March, at the time of the Covid-19 lock-down in Hubei, we have seen a consistent downturn in utilization rates in China. Blast furnace utilization rates dropped for a fifth consecut...Read More
European buyers of hot-rolled coil have become more cautious about further price increases, while steelmakers continued to push for higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday September 28.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?486.79 ($566.03) per tonne on Monday, down by ?,?1.23 per tonne from ?,?488.02 per tonne on September 25.T...Read More
Here are the key takeaways from Fastmarkets' International Aluminium Conference that took place on Monday September 21-Wednesday September 23. Low-carbon aluminium Low-carbon aluminium is a huge talking point in the market right now and the conference dedicated a day to sustainability. Sustainability directors from Rio Tinto, Norsk Hydro, UC Rusal and Alcoa participated in a panel discussion discu...Read More
The spread between copper scrap and refined copper is at its widest since December 2019 due to ample availability after shipping lines stopped handling scrap cargoes bound for China this month. Fastmarkets assessed the copper scrap No2 copper (birch/cliff) imported into China 94-96%, LME/Comex discount, cif China at 34-40 cents per lb on Monday September 28, compared with 32-36 cents per lb a...Read More
Commodity trader Trafigura has formed a new company to invest in solar power, wind power and power storage projects across the world, the Geneva-based group said on Monday September 28.The new company, Nala Renewables, has targeted the construction of a portfolio of renewable energy projects with cumulative capacity for 2GW, to be operating within the next five years, the company said.Nala Renewab...Read More
Brazilian trade chamber Camex confirmed this week that the country's self-imposed quota for duty-free imports of aluminium had been exhausted, but it was expected to resolve soon upon an additional volume of around 30,000 tonnes, Fastmarkets has learnt.According to Camex data, the volume for which import licenses had been issued reached the full-year 2020 limit of 150,000 tonnes on September 9. Ma...Read More