Arconic has resumed operations at its Massena, New York facility in the United States since Monday April 20 and expects to ramp back up operations at its Tennessee facility this week, the company said. It had previously temporarily idled the Tennessee facilities from Monday April 6 and its New York operations from Tuesday April 7 due to weaker automotive demand for aluminium products stemming from...Read More
Taiwan was the sole active buyer of ferrous scrap in the week ended Friday April 24 amid limited demand from other key markets.Turkey still out of spot marketUS recyclers pay more amid domestic shortageVietnamese buyers keep focus on Japanese scrapTaiwanese buyers pursuing containerized cargoesIndia lockdown still affecting market TurkeySteel mills in Turkey did not make any bookings for deep-sea...Read More
Metals prices were consolidating during morning trading on Tuesday April 28 after the promising start to the week faded on Monday, but talk that Chinese provincial governments are offering to subsidize inventory accumulation could well turn out to be a supportive factor. The mixed performance this morning is widespread with Asian-Pacific and pre-market western equity indices on divergent paths, wh...Read More
U.S. equity index futures moved higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 37 points in pre-opening trade.Pfizer gained $0.77 to $39.10 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings.Merck dropped $1.58 to $82.40 after lowering sales and earnings guidance for remainder of the year. UPS fell $3.58 to $99.00 after reporting lower than consensus first quarter revenues and earnings...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 24 that are worth another look.Anemic demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in another round of import price decreases for flat-rolled steel in South America, with the majority of customers reported as skipping orders for June shipments, market sources said.When the oil price fell into negative price territory at...Read More
Metals prices were for the most part stronger this morning, Monday April 27, as were Asian-Pacific equity indices, while gold prices were slightly weaker and US treasury yields were firmer - all suggesting a broad risk-on mood.Market participants seem to be focused on and optimistic about the plans for the gradual reopening of economies while countries get a handle on the Covid-19 pandemic. * Pre-...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures advanced 29 points in pre-opening trade. Facebook added $4.23 to $194.38 after Stifel Nicolaus increased its target price from $200 to $230. MasterCard gained $3.84 to $262.60 after Wedbush raised its target price from $250 to $300.Visa advanced $1.68 to $169.00 after Wedbush increased its target price from $170 to $200. Ameri...Read More
German steelmaker Salzgitter has downgraded its full-year earnings forecast for 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said in its preliminary report for the first quarter on April 24."We anticipate a negative pre-tax result in a significant, with a high probability, triple-digit million euro range for the financial year 2020. The scope of feasible scenarios is so extensive that precise qu...Read More
British Steel is set to restart production at its North Yorkshire special steel mill, on Monday April 27, following a three-week shutdown the company announced on April 24.In addition to the 240,000 tonnes-per year special steel mill at Skinningrove in Redcar & Cleveland, the company said it also plans to reopen its Lisburn service centre in Northern Ireland."Whi...Read More
Crude steel production in Germany fell by 10.36% year on year in March due to production cuts made to meet a drop in demand, the German steel federation, WV Stahl, said on April 23.Germany's crude steel production totaled 3.29 million tonnes in March 2020, down from 3.67 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2019.A large number of end users, particularly automotive manufacturers, have stop...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic may well provide Freeport-McMoRan with a silver lining it had never expected. The US copper producer is discussing with the government of Indonesia what should be done with the planned smelter in the Gresik region in the province of East Java. It has been forced to delay the completion timeline of December 2023 for the plant, due both to Covid-19-related disruptions to the wo...Read More
When the oil price fell into negative price territory at the start of the week ended April 24, it fueled fears that a similar situation could materialize in metals. The good news for users of the London Metal Exchange is the exchange's delivery mechanism that makes it virtually implausible, while its contract structure makes it even more unlikely. Here's why. The reason the West Texas In...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: 4-million-tonne surplus for 2020We have made further downward revisions to our aluminium demand expectations for 2020 and, although there have been smelter capacity reduction in China too, the net effect is that our forecast for the global surplus this year has swelled to 4 million tonnes, from 2.7 million tonnes...Read More
Global markets are contracting in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the prices for flat steel products continue to retreat, with prices for coated steels down by a further 5% since late March in most of the markets that Fastmarkets tracks.The latest edition of Fastmarkets' Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Market Tracker, for April 2020, is now available to view.Further price falls are almost cer...Read More