A tight container freight market is making it harder to replenish molybdenum stocks in Europe, resulting in sustained wide premiums compared with prevailing prices in Asia, according to Fastmarkets' sources Prices for molybdic oxide have soared in both Asia and Europe over the past six weeks, but prolonged transit times caused by lengthy waits for a shipping slots; longer shipping times due to inc...Read More
Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk once described the ongoing use of fossil fuels and their generation of a vast carbon footprint as "the dumbest experiment in human history."Not everyone will agree with his assessment of the petroleum, gas and coal sectors, which have powered the world's growth for decades. Nonetheless, the twin goals of supply chain security and sustainability are now driving a t...Read More
Bill Gates has a theory about green premiums: He wants to eliminate them entirely. The American business magnate and philanthropist calls green premiums the additional cost of choosing a clean technology over one that emits a greater amount of greenhouse gases.In other words, the price that metals and mining companies are starting to charge their customers for producing low-carbon produc...Read More
Zinc showed the biggest increase, at 1.6%, at the close on Friday June 11, while all other prices on the London Metal Exchange ended a week of consolidation on firmer footing.Zinc's three-month price rose to $3,044.50 per tonne, rising from a $2,995 per tonne on Thursday, and up by 1.5% since the start of the week. Similarly, lead's price was up 1.4% on Friday to $2,205.50 per tonne, giving i...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.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
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
Iron ore prices were up slightly on Friday June 11 amid concerns over supplies of both iron ore and steel in the Chinese domestic market, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $219.26 per tonne, up by $2.42 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $221.25 per tonne, up by $2.21 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $192.78 per tonne, up by $0.8...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices were largely stable in cfr market on Friday June 11 amid low trading activity in North American coking coal cargoes. The fob market rose because of continuous buying interest for July-laycan cargoes from Australia, market sources said.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) surged upward in the cfr market in the week to June 11 due to continuing supply tight...Read More
Aluminium primary foundry alloy premiums in Europe and the United States were steady again on Friday June 11, without the price swings seen in other value-added product premiums.EuropeEuropean primary foundry alloy premiums (PFA) were flat on Friday, lagging behind other aluminium value-added products (VAP) such as billet.Market participants told Fastmarkets that lack of demand for the product fro...Read More
Metal held outside London Metal Exchange warehouses decreased for the second month in a row, by a slight 6% in April to 1.17 million tonnes, after falling 40% in March. The LME's latest off-warrant stock report showed a decrease of 74,358 tonnes over the fourth month of the year, following a decrease of 841,034 tonnes in March. The volume per metal dropped for five of the six main metal contingent...Read More
The domestic price of steel rebar remained stable in Brazil in June, but market participants were uncertain about the price outlook for the finished steel product, questioning the stability of the global price uptrend and noting lower scrap costs in the country.There were reports of one mill announcing a price increase for the month and others debating whether such rise was feasible, but the major...Read More
An overview of the aerospace materials markets and the latest price moves.Charlotte Radford and Michael Greenfield in...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
The market for pig iron exports from Brazil was quiet but firm during the week to Friday June 11.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $620 per tonne on Friday, stable week on week.No new sales were reported from the...Read More
Spot copper-concentrate processing charges remained stable in the week to June 11 amid sluggish market conditions, Fastmarkets heard.Major Chinese smelters were carrying out maintenance so spot buying interest was low, which kept Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index, cif Asia Pacific largely unchanged. A few spot parcels of...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
After a one-month consultation period, Fastmarkets has amended the timing specifications for its assessment of Italian SHG (special high grade) zinc premiums.The frequency of the assessments, which are currently weekly, will move to a fortnightly basis after the next assessment date on June 15. The change is due to the Italian zinc market being largely centered around long-term contracts...Read More
The emergence of an additional Wednesday deep-sea scrap purchase by a Turkish steel mill has helped to keep prices on a upward trend, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday June 10.The cargo from Canada was booked by a still mill in the Iskenderun region, comprising 9,500 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (95:5), 7,500 tonnes of rails and 12,000 tonnes of plate & structural (P&S) scrap at an average price of $...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday June 10 that are worth another look.The European Commission (EC) plans to set a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for imports of some goods, including steel and aluminium, to prevent the risk of carbon leakage, according to...Read More