Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday June 4 that are worth another look.Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has halted part of the railroad it uses for exports following a warning from an authority about tailings dam risks, causing a production stoppage at its Timbopeba plant and...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: SHFE tailwind for LME pricesAs we are entering the traditional strong demand season, we expect Chinese aluminium demand to show further recovery, and we expect demand from existing end-user sectors, new infrastructure projects and the export sector to show some increases. As a result, we believe that S...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday June 4 that are worth another look.Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has halted part of the railroad it uses for exports following a warning from an authority about tailings dam risks, causing a production stoppage at its Timbopeba plant and...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly lower this morning, Monday June 7, after the rally sparked by Friday’s worse-than-expected US employment report ran out of steam.* China’s imports climbed 51% and exports were up 28% year on year in May.* The US Dollar Index weakened after Friday’s disappointing employment report in the United States.Base metalsLME three-mo...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The upward momentum in United States' flat product prices is yet to show any signs of slowing, with US HRC prices hitting new record highs during April. Steel supply is forecast to remain short of demand due to no improvement in underlying supply and demand fundamentals, which is propelling US flat product prices higher...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Recent weeks have largely been a repetition of the weeks leading up to our previous tracker in mid-April. A flurry of price increases have been announced, and largely obtained, by leading steelmakers in both Europe and the United States while buyers struggle to secure spot tonnages.Although steel output is rising in both reg...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...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
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade.Visa gained $2.44 to $232.58 after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight.Biogen added $8.96 to $297.10 prior to news later today from the FDA on the company's application for approval of its Alzheimer's drug.Nutrien added $0.47 to US$65.00 after announcing a 500,000 ton...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. We also review our price forecasting accuracy for the second quarter 2020.Q2 2020 price forecast performance review According to the results of Fastmarkets' Apex for the second quarter of 2020 published this week, Fastmarkets' base metals research team was the second most accurate price forecaster for nickel (99.06%), lead...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday June 4 that are worth another look.Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has halted part of the railroad it uses for exports following a warning from an authority about tailings dam risks, causing a production stoppage at its Timbopeba plant and...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:Unprecedentedly high flat steel product pricing in the United States was forecast to persist through the current quarter and well into the second half of 2021.Actual US hot-rolled coil prices in April slightly outpaced our forecasts, with Fastmarkets' US HRC index ave...Read More
Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has halted part of the railroad it uses for exports following a warning from an authority about tailings dam risks, causing a production stoppage at its Timbopeba plant and Alegria mine, the company said on Friday June 4.The disruption will result in a production loss of 33,000 tonnes per day of iron ore fines at Timbopeba and 7,500 tpd at Alegria, it said. Both un...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday June 4 that are worth another look.Brazilian iron ore producer Vale has halted part of the railroad it uses for exports following a warning from an authority about tailings dam risks, causing a production stoppage at its Timbopeba plant and...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
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