Aluminium billet premiums mostly rose on Friday September 24, setting new record highs or being supported at such levels, as more expensive offers for 2022 negotiations advanced.EuropeFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,350-1,400 per tonne on Friday, up from $1,320-1,370 per tonne a week prior and from $1,220-1,270 per tonne a mon...Read More
Ford Motor Co is working in partnership with Redwood Materials to create a closed loop for recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) and a domestic supply chain for critical battery materials.Nevada, United States-based Redwood, founded by former Tesla chief technology officer Jeffrey Brian Straubel, said the US automotive manufacturer has invested $50 million in Redwood to help...Read More
Demand for steel, especially for flat products, in China could be hit by power supply constraints caused by the drive to reduce energy consumption and sustained coal shortages.Concerns among steel market participants have increased after reports by a major local information provider suggesting that some pipe mills in Hebei province's Tangshan and Tianjin have been required to suspend operations fo...Read More
Ford Motor Co is working in partnership with Redwood Materials to create a closed loop for recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) and a domestic supply chain for critical battery materials.Nevada, United States-based Redwood, founded by former Tesla chief technology officer Jeffrey Brian Straubel, said the US automotive manufacturer has invested $50 million in Redwood to help...Read More
Indian steel mills kept their prices for domestic cold-rolled coil and galvanized coil steady in the week to Friday September 24, even with traders selling such downstream flat steel products at significant discounts in the local markets, Fastmarkets has learnt.The price of steel hot-dipped galvanized coil, domestic, ex-whse India, was assessed at 80,500-81,500 rupees ($1,091-1,104) per tonne on F...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 24. Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and Sybil...Read More
The processing charge on spot copper concentrates increased in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting the return of smelters to market activity after the traditionally slow summer months.Clean tonnages were sold to Chinese smelters in the low-to-mid $60s per tonne, with interest being shown for material to be available in the first quarter of next year.A new round...Read More
Prices for slab exports from Brazil decreased sharply in the week ended Friday September 24 after a quiet few weeks, with buyers resisting offers and prices for material from other regions dropping.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel slab, export, fob main port Brazil was $780-800 per tonne on Friday, down by $80-90 from $870-880 per tonne the previous week. Producers had been insisting on $8...Read More
Base metals mostly registered declines in inventories at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses during the week to Friday September 24, with nickel and copper falling the most, by 18.7% and 17.9% respectively; zinc stocks were up by 15.9%.Traders reported a more active nickel spot market; the uptrend in SHFE prices eased right prior to the Chinese public holidays. This provided buying opp...Read More
Aluminium billet premiums mostly rose on Friday September 24, setting new record highs or being supported at such levels, as more expensive offers for 2022 negotiations advanced.EuropeFastmarkets assessed the aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region) at $1,350-1,400 per tonne on Friday, up from $1,320-1,370 per tonne a week prior and from $1,220-1,270 per tonne a mon...Read More
South American flat-rolled steel import prices ended the week to Friday September 24 on an unclear trend amid more aggressive bidding from customers and slightly higher offers from traders due to soaring freight rates.Chinese material remained a rarity on the continent, with firm offers being scarce due to lower allocation from mills. Uncertainties regarding a potential export tax introduction in...Read More
Most flat steel prices decreased in Turkey during the week to Friday September 24, with demand weak because buyers wanted to see prices hit a market bottom, sources told Fastmarkets.In addition to the falling prices, low demand from the automotive sector because of the semiconductor chip shortage also affected buying in Turkey. Several carmakers in the country were undergoing temporary shutdowns d...Read More
The impact of China's new "Two High" energy and emissions policy is likely to continue in the iron ore market into the first quarter of 2022, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Sentiment for the coming six months has turned increasingly bearish since the guidelines, coupled with winter production restrictions, were announced in September. New guidance on 'Two-High' projectsThe "Two-High" poli...Read More
Coated steel coil producers in Turkey gave more discounts to buyers during the week to Friday September 24 to encourage sales amid weak demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Lower prices for hot-rolled coil in the country this week also contributed to the drop in coated coil values.Fastmarkets' assessed steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Turkey at $890-920 per tonne on Friday, a $10 decrease week on...Read More
LME zinc's three-month price was just $2 away from setting a new year-to-date high, while aluminium's three-month price was the only one to close lower in the afternoon session on Friday September 24. The intraday high for zinc's futures contract was of $3,138 per tonne, just a couple of dollars short of its previous 2021 high of $3,140 per tonne from September 17. The metal was spurred on by news...Read More
September has been a very eventful month so far for the Chinese silico-manganese and ferro-silicon markets. In the first three weeks, the futures prices for both products kept rising to new heights against market expectations.Market participants have grown antsy in the absence of any indication of a slowdown in this upward momentum. They believe the unprecedented price rally has gone far beyond ma...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United States nudged higher week on week amid healthy domestic and overseas demand and a continued upward trend in futures prices on the London Metal Exchange. Solid demand in the non-automotive side of the sector, such as consumer products, has helped to mitigate some of the impact from sluggish volumes into automotive suppliers, who continue to face disruptions driv...Read More
Prices moved up in several major Asian import scrap markets in the week to Friday September 24, reflecting moves to replenish stocks at mills in Taiwan and Vietnam as well as fresh domestic scrap price increases in Japan.Turkey stays largely quiet following last week's bookingsUS exporters struggle to source shredded materialVietnam returns for Japan-origin scrap amid demand uptickChina import scr...Read More
General Motors will double production in two of its Brazilian plants by introducing a second work shift, despite an ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage, the United States-based company's local branch said on Wednesday September 22.The automaker's unit in S??o Caetano do Sul, a city in Brazil's southeastern S??o Paulo state, will begin a second work shift on September 27. A second unit in Gr...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil dropped in Northern Europe and Italy on Friday September 24 on limited trading, sources told Fastmarkets.Buyers have mostly been taking a "wait-and-see" strategy in anticipation of further price falls. In addition, market participants said most buyers already have sufficient stocks to last until the end of the year.Lower demand for steel from the automotive indu...Read More