Steelmakers in Bangladesh returned to the market for imports of bulk steel scrap cargoes in the week ended Friday September 10 despite very high freight costs, sources told Fastmarkets.Bangladesh removed its Covid-19-related lockdown in early August 2020, leading to a re-opening of the steel retail markets and easing the movement of scrap across the country.The decision also allowed induction furn...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:US prices for hot-rolled coil moved in line with our forecasts in August, averaging $1,910 per ton, within 1% accuracy of our forecast of $1,925 per ton. The market has achieved much-needed stability in recent weeks, with prices fluctuating in the range of $1,900-1,94...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in London on Friday September 10th.Key drivers: There is market talk of factory closures in Lengshuijiang, Hunan Province due to high antimony content in Zijiang River, which is located there. The central government has ordered all metal refineries in...Read More
The latest data for the global manganese ore market for the week ended September 13, 2021.Read More
China's leading copper producer, Jiangxi Copper, will develop the Mes Aynak copper mine in Afghanistan with Metallurgical Corp of China (MCC) when conditions allow, the company said.Due to the unstable situation in Afghanistan, there has not yet been any substantial construction at the mine, but the two companies are monitoring the situation and will push forward with the project when they...Read More
Prices for most metals fell on Monday September 13, except for aluminium, which set a new 13-year high of $3,000 per tonne on Monday.Monday's price drops came after most metals reached year-to-date highs on Friday September 10.Nickel's three-month price was down to $19,870 per tonne on Monday morning, a 2.6% decrease from its closing price of $20,392 per tonne on Friday.The stainless-steel metal r...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at 5pm on Monday September 13, after coal prices continued to trade downward and strength was seen in the US dollar.The US Dollar Index reached a high of 92.89 on Monday, the highest level seen for more than two weeks and shoring up the current weakness across the base metals complex.The three-month nickel price came under...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices inched down on Monday September 13 due to weak buying interest from end users, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.84 per tonne, down $5.87 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.16 per tonne, down $6.09 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $97.99 per tonne, down $6.13 per tonne65% Fe Br...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 13 that are worth another look....Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:?EUR? Impressive advances in ore and alloy prices persisted in March, with most markets posting significant price gains. Strengthening demand from steelmakers along with supply shortages and depleted inventories in numerous markets, as well as freight and transportation...Read More
Fastmarkets proposes to change the frequency of its iron ore value-in-use indices from weekly to daily.Fastmarkets' iron ore value-in-use adjustments for iron, silica, alumina and phosphorus are currently weekly indices with a data inclusion cut-off time each Friday at 6pm Singapore local time, and a publication time each Monday at 6.30pm Singapore local time. The chemistry adjustments represent t...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
Coking coal prices in the fob market jumped on Monday September 13 due to tight supply; domestic coking coal supply in China was also tight, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $487.33 per tonne, up $6.68 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $446.56 per tonne, up $2.52 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $362.10 per tonne, up $28.98 per...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at 5pm on Monday September 13, after coal prices continued to trade downward and strength was seen in the US dollar.The US Dollar Index reached a high of 92.89 on Monday, the highest level seen for more than two weeks and shoring up the current weakness across the base metals complex.The three-month nickel price came under...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices inched down on Monday September 13 due to weak buying interest from end users, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $123.84 per tonne, down $5.87 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $124.16 per tonne, down $6.09 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $97.99 per tonne, down $6.13 per tonne65% Fe Br...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
The recovery of the Brazilian domestic flat steel market appears to have peaked in recent weeks, but it is expected to continue strong through 2022, according to ArcelorMittal Brasil chief executive officer Benjamin Baptista Filho."We saw since last year a very strong recovery of the Brazilian manufacturing activity, especially from the agribusiness sector, and demand for steel rose in a sustained...Read More
China's nickel sulfate prices softened in the week to Friday September 10 amid an increase in the supply of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), though strong nickel prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange kept the spot market quiet.Fastmarkets assessed prices for nickel sulfate min 21%, max 22.5%; cobalt 10ppm max, exw China at 36,500-38,000 yuan ($5,663-5,896) per to...Read More