The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...Read More
Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Bulk and noble alloys both moved largely in line with our price forecasts globally over the past month, though several markets surprised to the upside, exceeding our forecast gains. Stronger-than-forecast pricing momentum was primarily triggered by supply shortages in numerous...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we approach the end of the first half of 2021, steel markets in Europe and the United States continue to heat up. This six-month period is largely unprecedented, with both steel prices and steelmakers' margins hitting a number of new record highs throughout.The rally is likely nearing its end, however, with global steel ou...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
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
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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? US sheet prices hit record highs again in May, with upward momentum persisting into June. Actual US hot-rolled coil prices averaged $1,553 per ton in May, largely in line with our forecast of $1,540 per ton. Prices remain supported by strong underlying sup...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Cristina Belda, Dalila Ouerghi...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in Europe, China and the United States on Friday September 10.China The Chinese ferro-silicon market edged slightly higher while the main ferro-silicon production hubs - including Ningxia and Inner Mongolia - conducted production cuts to meet the dual control targets of energy consumption. Those output cuts have kept spot availability tight, with many pr...Read More
A bullish mood overtook the London Metal Exchange decisively on Friday September 10, with zinc, aluminium and nickel setting new year-to-date highs on a day that also saw copper volumes exceed 20,000 lots for the first time in three weeks.Aluminium's three-month price set a new 2021 peak of $2,937 per tonne, rising by 3.4% from Thursday's closing price and by 5.9% since the start of the week, when...Read More
The light-iron scrap market in the United Kingdom was steady during the week to Friday September 10, stabilizing losses from the week prior on persistent tight availability, despite slower export markets to deep-sea destinations, trade sources said.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C loose old light domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK was ?170-185 ($235-255) per tonne...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 10.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
The zinc concentrate market remained broadly stable in the fortnight to Friday September 10, with smelters and traders reporting a quiet period but also a continued uptrend on treatment charges since August.Zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China was assessed at $75-92 per tonne on Friday, with the top end of the range rising by $2 since August 27.Smelters had reserved enough concentrate for the...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 10.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Base metals prices were higher on both the LME and the SHFE this morning, Friday September 10, with the broader markets also up. Additionally, metals that were previously looking vulnerable now look less vulnerable, suggesting traders are still comfortable being exposed to the metals.United States president Joe Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping are meeting in an effort to improve relationsThe Eu...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imports into Pakistan inched upward in the week to Friday September 10, supported by healthy demand, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices in India showed small week-on-week rises but have fluctuated in narrow ranges through the week, with trading activity limited.PakistanFastmarkets calculated its weekly steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Port Qasim, Pakistan, at...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves in the week to Friday September 10.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
The zinc concentrate market remained broadly stable in the fortnight to Friday September 10, with smelters and traders reporting a quiet period but also a continued uptrend on treatment charges since August.Zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China was assessed at $75-92 per tonne on Friday, with the top end of the range rising by $2 since August 27.Smelters had reserved enough concentrate for the...Read More