The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.We spoke in our previous tracker of stainless steel prices ending 2020 on a high. That trend has continued during early 2021 and, in fact, the upward rally in prices has increased its momentum.Compared with the monthly price increase of some 5% seen at the end of 2020, prices for grade-304 stainless steel in al...Read More
The prices of most base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed lower week-on-week on Friday March 5, coming off highs realized at the end of February.The nickel three-months LME Daily Official price closed at $16,425 per tonne in Friday's session and showed the steepest decline, down by 11.5% compared with the corresponding time last week.Supply-side nickel issues helped to stoke bearish senti...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) fell sharply to fresh multi-year lows on Friday March 5 due to smelters competing with traders for direct-from-mine cargoes. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
China's production of refined zinc and concentrates will increase in 2021, with new mining projects and a recovery in existing domestic production boosting its capacity, attendees at an International Zinc Association (IZA) virtual panel discussion heard on Wednesday March 3.Fewer production interruptions caused by environmental inspections at domestic smelters, new projects coming online and a ram...Read More
Spot copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) fell sharply to fresh multi-year lows on Friday March 5 due to smelters competing with traders for direct-from-mine cargoes. Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Europe, Asia and the United States for the week ending Friday March 5. China High-grade seaborne ore prices rose after miners raised their offers for April shipment. Some buyers accepted the elevated offers, while others showed resistance given the current portside prices and persistently high port inventories. Low-grade prices continued upwards aft...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
The spot cobalt market was treading water on Thursday March 4 while market sources mulled whether falls in copper, nickel and Chinese cobalt futures prices could spill over to hit benchmark cobalt metal prices, sources told Fastmarkets Fastmarkets' benchmark price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam stood at $24.75-25.65 per lb on Thursday, unchanged from the previous day b...Read More
Steel scrap prices continued to surge this week due to sustained demand from buyers in all markets, with the exception of India. Downstream steel prices have supported raw material price increases in Asia, with buyers melting scrap to feed demand for billet and long steel products.Turkey books Canadian, Baltic Sea scrapUS export prices to go higherVietnam buys deep-sea bulk cargoesTaiwan chases co...Read More
Prices for shredded steel scrap imported into India and Pakistan were largely unchanged over the week to Friday March 5 on lackluster interest among mills, sources have told Fastmarkets.IndiaFastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $460.86 per tonne on Friday, only slightly up from $459.75 per tonne one week earlier.A deal was heard at $455 per to...Read More
The recent rally in the light iron steel scrap market in the UK extended into a third week amid a persistent tightness of supply into yards and firm demand for exports, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 5.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?150-165 ($209-230) per tonne on Friday, up from ?145-160 per tonne...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
The spot cobalt market was treading water on Thursday March 4 while market sources mulled whether falls in copper, nickel and Chinese cobalt futures prices could spill over to hit benchmark cobalt metal prices, sources told Fastmarkets Fastmarkets' benchmark price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam stood at $24.75-25.65 per lb on Thursday, unchanged from the previous day b...Read More
China's domestic battery-grade lithium hydroxide price surged by 19.8% to a 19-month high on Thursday March 4, driven by tight spot supply and higher offering prices from most producers - conditions that have supported bullish market sentiment across the other global regions.The ex-works China battery-grade lithium hydroxide price hit a 19-month high after producers offered aggressively in respons...Read More
Flat-rolled steel import prices continued to trend upward in South America during the week ended Friday March 5, with China and Japan raising their offers for May-shipment material and freight costs remaining elevated.The price increases were taking into account costlier bulk freight rates in addition to the potential export tax rebate cut in China, market participants said. The pot...Read More
Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, along with key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia.Read More
Some hot-rolled coil producers closed their orderbooks for June production during the week ending Friday March 5 and have started to offer product in Turkey for July production at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets. Russia, one of the main import sources for HRC to Turkey, sold two cargoes during the week and stopped accepting new orders. The offer prices from Ukraine and China were also high...Read More
Fastmarkets' Ferrous Analytics report helps subscribers keep track of hot metal costs and steel production spreads in China, along with key pricing components of the steelmaking raw materials supply chain in Asia.Read More