Chinese automobile production and sales figures continued to fall in July 2021, on both a monthly and an annual basis, although figures for vehicle exports and new energy vehicles hit record highs, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has said.Carmakers in China produced 1.86 million units in July, down by 4.1% month on month and by 15.5% year-on-year. Sales came to 1.86 millio...Read More
Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States climbed again to all-time highs, with many buyers reporting persistent difficulty in finding sufficient spot volumes from domestic mills - potentially for the rest of the year.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US spiked to $107 per hundredweight ($2,140 per short ton) on Thursday August 1...Read More
The union at Escondida and BHP, the Chilean copper mine's majority shareholder and operator, have agreed to extend wage negotiations until Friday August 13, so a deal can be signed and a strike averted.The new labor contract has been accepted by the No1 Workers Union and ratified by its members and just needs to be signed, the miner said on Thursday.Members of the union, which represents workers a...Read More
Global ferrous scrap prices have continued to fall in the week to August 13 due to high freight rates, Covid-19 outbreaks in importing countries and poor downstream steel demand.Turkish scrap prices fell amid weak downstream demandUnited States scrap exports were poor due to high freight costsWeak demand for imports in Vietnam due to Covid-19China abstains from purchasing due to large bid-offer sp...Read More
Chinese automobile production and sales figures continued to fall in July 2021, on both a monthly and an annual basis, although figures for vehicle exports and new energy vehicles hit record highs, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) has said.Carmakers in China produced 1.86 million units in July, down by 4.1% month on month and by 15.5% year-on-year. Sales came to 1.86 millio...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday August 12 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Salzgitter plans to restart its 'C' blast furnace in November this year, a company spokesman told Fastmarkets on August 12.A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local...Read More
Battery supply chain participants have prioritized securing lithium in the second half of 2021, but nickel has also been a headache for sourcing directors, who are less concerned about cobalt supplies, a Fastmarkets survey has found.Fastmarkets conducted a survey of market participants in the battery supply chain - mainly battery materials producers -to assess which battery metals pose the biggest...Read More
China's stainless steel prices fell in both the domestic and export markets in the week ended Wednesday August 11 due to weakening demand and declines in nickel futures. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Wednesday at $18,902 per tonne, down by $983 per tonne (4.9%) from $19,885 per tonne on July 30.China's domestic stainless steel fu...Read More
All futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange were up on the morning of Thursday August 12, with most metals facing some form of supply headwinds - which bodes well for higher prices.Copper's three-month price was up to $9,601.50 per tonne on Thursday shortly after 9am, a 0.9% rise from $9,512 per tonne the previous day.The red metal was supported by the impending strike at Codelco's Andina m...Read More
Chinese and overseas tungsten concentrate and downstream ammonium paratungstate (APT) price increases have been unusually robust despite the traditional summer lull.Building on the momentum, most Chinese and overseas tungsten market participants remain bullish into the second half of this year, Fastmarkets has learned. "[The domestic] market had been stalled from mid-April to mid-June, with conce...Read More
Commodities - including nickel, cobalt hydroxide and fluorspar - are being held in China at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port's Meishan wharf after the facility was locked down due to a positive Covid-19 infection at the site, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday August 12.One person was confirmed as infected with Covid-19 on August 11 and the local government has implemented strict controls and ha...Read More
A strike at Codelco's Andina mine in Chile will start at 8am local time on Thursday August 12 after unions rejected the latest offer from the company.The two unions - the main worker's union and the labor integration industrial union, representing some 800 workers - rejected the latest wage offer on Wednesday evening. The Andina Division of the state-controlled Codelco produced 184,400 t...Read More
Prices in the British market for steel scrap deliveries to domestic steelmakers have dropped for August 2021, snapping a run of gains in the past three months on lower demand and weaker export prices amid the seasonal summer slowdown, sources said on Thursday August 12.Prices for scrap supplied to British steelmakers were down in general by around ?5 ($7) per tonne in August, although some report...Read More
The 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games will test China's resolve on decarbonization, with new pollution control measures likely to be imposed for the major sporting event, sources told Fastmarkets.Beijing and the surrounding area of Hebei, including Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, will host 109 sporting events in 15 disciplines on February 4-20 in 2022 for Winter Olympic Games and March 4-1...Read More
Turkish steel mills again stayed away from the deep-sea scrap market on Wednesday August 12, while finished steel prices edged lower, sources told Fastmarkets.No new deep-sea cargoes were heard on the market today, continuing a trend of silence, although falling finished steel prices are beginning to weigh on market sentiment and purchasing decisions. The price of rebar in Turkey's domestic...Read More
Italian domestic steel scrap prices decreased in the month to Thursday August 12 following the trend in the international markets, sources told Fastmarkets.Apart from the decline in international scrap prices, the seasonal slowdown and stoppages across the European market also contributed to the domestic price drop.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin,...Read More
Eight of the nine Category 1 members of the London Metal Exchange have indicated their support for continuing to trade official lunchtime prices in the open-outcry ring.Does this mean that one company does not support ring trading? And could one of the exchange's members be preparing to leave the trading floor?The exchange revealed on Monday August 9 that it had majority support for the ring, in a...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market pulled back on Thursday August 12, with market participants shifting their focus away from expectations of a drop in supplies after weak lending data sparked concerns over liquidity.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,790-5,810 yuan ($894-897) per tonne, down by 30-50 yuan per tonneThe most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange moved...Read More
A summary of Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB's financial results for the second quarter of 2021, ended June 30.In brief Iron ore output for the second quarter at LKAB was on a par with the previous year. Production was still suffering the effects of a seismic event at the Kiruna mine more than a year ago. At present, production in Kiruna is at around 90% of capacity, and recovery works...Read More
The United Kingdom Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended that anti-dumping duties on welded tube & pipe from Russia be revoked, but that measures against similar material from China and Belarus be extended, the TRA said on Monday August 9.The measures will be removed for products imported from Russia after January 30, 2021 - 30 days after the date the measure transitioned from the Europea...Read More