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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.United States sheet prices hit record highs again in May, with upward momentum carrying into June. Actual US HRC prices averaged $1,712 per tonne in May, largely in line with our forecast of $1,698 per tonne. Strong underlying supply-and-demand conditions both in the US and globally are supporting prices as well as long lead...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Global welded pipe prices surged in May as strong demand and still-insufficient supply lifted flat steel prices.The biggest jumps were seen in China, which was hit by the unexpected announcement of the elimination of export rebates on welded pipes in April. Chinese seaborne prices reached $1,570 per tonne fob for longitudina...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together 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
All the world's major coking coal importers reduced their purchases in 2020 amid steel production cuts and lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and India imported a total of 217.76 million tonnes of coking coal last year, down by 10.1% from 2019....Read More
Prices rose in the Commonwealth of Independent States' export billet market in the week to Wednesday July 7 on limited offers from major suppliers and high deals in the week, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants reported offers from Ukrainian mills at $650 per tonne fob Black Sea, up from $630-640 per tonne one week previously.Russian mills, particularly large mills, held back on exporting...Read More
The stainless steel scrap market in the United States started July with further price gains, with supply showing little improvement and demand continuing to be very strong."One thing is clear, the [stainless] mills continue to be busy, and the summer doldrums will either be late arriving or will decide to take this year off as the [Covid-19] pandemic recovery continues," one dealer source sai...Read More
The entire batch of 50,000 tonnes of reserved aluminium put up for sale by auction from Chinese state reserves was sold within seconds of bidding being opened at 8am local time on Monday July 5, sources have told Fastmarkets.This was only the first batch to be made available for purchase, and comprised only 10% of the amount expected to be sold.Bidding began at a price of 15,952 yuan ($2,465) per...Read More
EN+ Group has announced that its Rusal metals production division has gone into partnership with Ball Corp to produce aerosol cans and other containers made from low-carbon aluminium.The aluminium will be made with new inert anode technology, which Ball uses to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of its aluminium slugs, cans and bottles."Our partnership with Ball Corporation represents the f...Read More
Premiums in the United States and Europe continued to rise in the week ending Tuesday July 6 with news that the Russian government will impose export duties continuing to fuel bullish sentiment.US Midwest at new all-time highRussian export tax pushes Rotterdam up againWait and see approach in AsiaUS Midwest premium sets new high againFastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest U...Read More
Global nickel premiums were generally well supported, with premiums rising in Europe and Asia while strong fundamentals and expensive logistics kept US premiums stable, sources told Fastmarkets.Open arbitrage drives Shanghai premium up Strong demand boosts European nickel briquette premium High logistics costs supports US nickel premiums Open arbitrage pushes up Shanghai nickel prem...Read More
Chinese spot trading interest in copper cathode was minimal in the week to July 7 after the state held its first ever public auction of nonferrous metals. Since July 5, China sold 100,000 tonnes of non-ferrous metals at discounts via a public tender only open to fabricators, as part of the state's ambition to rein in the rally in commodity prices and rising procurement pressure.The Chinese governm...Read More
Turkish long steel producer Ekinciler Demir ve ??elik San AS is one step closer to being a value-added steel producer with its new billet caster, the company told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 6.The new billet casting line will enable the company to produce higher-quality billet to be used for high- and low-carbon wire rod, seamless pipe, angles, IPN- and HBN-grade sections production. These ar...Read More
Italian steelmaker AFV Beltrame will invest ?,?300 million ($355 million) in a greenfield steel rebar and wire rod facility in Romania that will focus on limiting the environmental impact of its steelmaking activities, the company said on Wednesday July 7.Specifically, the project is hoped to have the lowest emissions of any steel plant in the world in terms of greenhouse gases and suspended dust...Read More
Automotive production in Brazil rose by 69.58% in June over the corresponding month in 2020, on the industry's recovery from stoppages called during the Covid-19 pandemic last year, automakers' association Anfavea said on Wednesday July 7.The figure was lower month on month, however, and supply disruptions have led Anfavea to reduce its estimate for the sector's full-year 2021 performance.Vehicle...Read More
Domestic steel wire rod prices in the south of Europe remained largely flat in the week to Wednesday July 7, with buyers reluctant to accept higher prices and postponing purchases, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices are not expected to fall in the short term, sources said, because supplies are still tight and feedstock costs continue to rise.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (me...Read More
Rebar prices in the south of Europe widened upwards in the week to July 7, moved by bullish offers from Spanish producers, while the Italian market was generally flat and digesting previous rises, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?760-830 ($900-983) per tonne on Wednesday, widening from&n...Read More
A lack of apparent upside for secondary scrap in July's domestic trade has taken the wind out of the sails of the US export market, with Turkish and South Korean buyers securing cargoes at $3.00- to $21.50-per-tonne discounts compared with the last-reported sales to these regions.Before official negotiations opened, US mills warned scrap sellers that any price increases in this month's domestic fe...Read More
Turkish steel mills returned to the deep-sea scrap import markets with a flurry of bookings from the Baltic Sea and the United States, market participants told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 7.A steel mill in the Izmir region booked a cargo from the US, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $498 per tonne cfr.And in the Marmara region, a steel mill also booked a US cargo, comprising HMS 1&...Read More