Typhoon In-fa made landfall in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Friday July 23, resulting in a serious drop in demand for steel products and disruptions to transport in coastal areas.Zhejiang and Shanghai have had heavy rain since Friday night, and the typhoon was forecast to reach Jiangsu and Shandong provinces in the next two days.Construction sites have gradually been stopping work since la...Read More
ArcelorMittal is to enter a partnership with Sekisui Chemical on a carbon capture project, and invest in a renewable energy storage company as part of its XCarb innovation fund, the steelmaker has announced.The project will be intended to capture and re-use carbon waste gases from the steelmaking process, contributing to the decarbonization of steelmaking and reducing dependence on fossil resource...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday July 26 that are worth another look.China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.Norway-based aluminium and renewable...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange rose to $9,809.50 per tonne at the close of trading on Monday July 26, an increase which led most other prices in the complex higher as well.The red metal closed near its intraday high of $9,826.50 per tonne, the highest for copper since June 15. Intense buying took its volumes on Monday to 24,000 lots traded by 5pm, also the highest since th...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil were fairly stable in Europe over the week ended Friday July 23 due to a seasonal demand slowdown and limited availability.Firm offers were still scarce in the Northern European HRC market. Mills in the region had good order books and could only offer fourth-quarter production HRC, with some of them claiming to be sold out until the year-end.The already short su...Read More
CIS slab exporters remained quiet this week, waiting for the return of Turkish customers from a week-long religious holiday, sources told Fastmarkets."I think sales will wait to see the reaction of Turkish market and prices this week," a Russian producer source said."[Ukraine's] Metinvest is looking for bids but not really offering a price," a trader said.Another trading source said that offers he...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday July 26 that are worth another look.China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.Norway-based aluminium and renewable...Read More
China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.This means that the share of total crude steel production by major steel producers will increase, leading to low-carbon steel production via unified research, development efforts for low-carbon technology and improved production e...Read More
Crude steel production cuts that are gradually being implemented in China have resulted in a switch in preference for iron ore brands among steelmakers in the country, sources told Fastmarkets.While the overall demand for iron ore has started to weaken, low-grade fines are generating more buying interest, sources said.A month ago, low-grade fines started to gain favor among mills amid weakening ma...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange rose to $9,809.50 per tonne at the close of trading on Monday July 26, an increase which led most other prices in the complex higher as well.The red metal closed near its intraday high of $9,826.50 per tonne, the highest for copper since June 15. Intense buying took its volumes on Monday to 24,000 lots traded by 5pm, also the highest since th...Read More
Iron ore prices edged up on Monday July 26 due to higher steel prices, while news of production cuts in China affected the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $202.74 per tonne, up by $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $203.93 per tonne, up by $1.07 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $167.65 per tonne, up b...Read More
China's domestic prices for hot-rolled coil increased on Monday July 26 due to early-hour futures gains, but the export market was inactive due to participants' concern about a possible export duty.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,900-5,910 yuan ($910-911) per tonne, narrowing upward by 40 yuan per tonneSome sellers raised prices following strong futures in the morning. The most-traded October...Read More
Seaborne manganese ore markets were quiet during the week to Friday July 23, with low-grade manganese ore prices remaining under pressure from heavy stocks of South African material in Chinese ports.Fastmarkets' calculation of the manganese ore index, 37% Mn, cif Tianjin edged down by 7 cents per dry metric tonne unit (dmtu) to $4.58 per dmtu on Friday from $4.65 per dmtu on July 16.The index...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials exports for June 2021.In brief Exports of cobalt tetroxide increased both month on month and year on year in June amid rising buying appetite from South Korea, the Netherlands and Belgium.Lithium carbonate exports fell slightly on a monthly...Read More
Rio Tinto is cutting production at its BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat, Canada, to just 35% of its annual capacity, after workers went on strike following failed labor contract negotiations.That would bring production at the 432,000-tonnes-per-year smelter to just over 150,000 tonnes."We will continue to look for longer-term solutions with the union and work closely with customers and suppli...Read More
Norway-based aluminium and renewable energy producer Norsk Hydro hopes to increase annual earnings by as much as 1.1 billion krone ($124 million) through investments into recycling and the use of post-consumer scrap, according to chief financial officer P??l Kildemo.Kildemo was speaking to Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Friday July 23, after Hydro announced its second-quarter results.The...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for June 2021.In Brief Imports of cobalt intermediates increased in June with improved logistics and buying appetite increased due to rising downstream cobalt salts prices. Imports of cobalt metal decreased month on month with most materials being purchased by overseas buyers driven by...Read More
Canada-based supplier First Cobalt has extracted nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, lithium and graphite from a "black mass" product recovered from recycled batteries, the company said on Thursday July 22.The extraction was done at the company's hydrometallurgical refinery located north of Toronto.Black mass represents the main chemical composition of the battery, and is obtained after removal of...Read More
The price of nickel ore narrowed upward amid limited supply in the week to Friday July 26 amid bad weather and increasing Covid-19 infections in southeast Asia, while the cargo liquefaction of nickel ores also concerned sources, Fastmarkets learned.Fastmarkets' latest assessment for the price of laterite ore with 1.5% Ni content, cif China was $78-80 per tonne on Friday July 23, up by $3 (1.0...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States shot up after three weeks of stability following a mill price hike, and market participants expect monthly increases from domestic steelmakers will continue through the second half of the year.Fastmarkets' weekly assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US reached an all-time high of $80 per hundredweight ($1,600 per short t...Read More