The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Key ferro-alloy forecast highlights for the coming months:?EUR? A strong recovery in both bulk and noble alloys is expected in 2021 but the markets are unlikely to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen a quicker-than-expected recovery across various regions amid the economic fal...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for most ferro-alloys maintained their upward momentum into October, solidifying previous gains and reflecting the improved demand from steelmakers, the rebuilding of depleted inventories, and the supply-side concerns following both planned and unplanned outages. Gains were noted for ferro-silicon, silicon metal, mang...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloys forecast highlights:Prices across most ore and alloy markets trended higher in September, buoyed by improving demand from steelmakers with the end of the summer holiday season in Europe and the United States, as well as maintained demand from Chinese steel mills. Tightening of alloy inventories...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Prices across most ferro-alloy markets trended stable to lower in August as demand remained subdued in major markets, apart from China where steel output continues to rise at a rapid pace, supporting demand for ferro-alloys. As alloy makers seek to remedy supply/demand imbalan...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...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
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 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 is ready to view.Prices of stainless steel are generally set to reach highs for the year as 2020 comes to a close. For the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel, this upward trend is being driven above all by rising nickel prices, which themselves are hitting relatively high levels into the end of 2020.The price increases si...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While much commentary has been written about Asian economies performing far better than those elsewhere this year during the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is stainless steel markets in Europe and the United States that are ending the year in better shape than their Asian counterparts.We do not talk of demand levels or demand g...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While a world leader in many areas, the United States is a relatively small player when it comes to stainless steel. It produces a small amount of material, both in absolute and relative terms (i.e. compared to the size of its population), while a large share of its industry is in the hands of bigger European companies. Never...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Having found it easier to increase prices than their counterparts in Europe and the United States during the past few months, Asian stainless steelmakers now face a number of concerns.In the short term, Asian prices have moved down in recent weeks while those in Europe and the US are on the up. This is mostly a reflection of...Read More
The price of steel hollow sections in the European domestic market increased sharply because of rapidly rising feedstock hot-rolled coil prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 23. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?800-820 ($976-1,001) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?60-70 per tonne from ?,?740-750 per tonne a...Read More
Egypt's steel rebar consumption could fall to 3 million tonnes per year in 2021 if restrictions on construction are not eased further, Ramy Saleh, chief business development officer at El Marakby Steel said during Fastmarkets' Middle East Iron and Steel virtual conference on Thursday December 17. Speaking on the Egypt panel, Saleh said Egypt's steel sector has suffered from low consumption this ye...Read More
The US Department of Commerce has officially adopted the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis (AIM) system, which will publish data aggregated from licenses that US companies will soon be required to obtain before importing aluminium products."The new program will enable Commerce and the public to better detect potential transshipment and circumvention involving aluminum products - helping to e...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday December 23.Read More
Chilean state copper producer Codelco has increased the volumes sold into annual cathode supply contracts for 2021, its chief commercial officer Carlos Alvarado told Fastmarkets this week.Codelco produces around 1.7 million tonnes of copper per year - equivalent to 7% of the world's total. The company's regional offers to customers tend to set a benchmark for similar annual supply deals that...Read More
China will reduce the provisional import tariff on non-alloyed nickel, unwrought, with harmonized system code of 75021090, from January 1, 2021, the Customs Tariff Commission of China's State Council said on Wednesday December 23. The provisional import tax will be lowered to 1% from 2% at the start of 2021 in a bid to promote imports of the products to meet domestic demand, the commission said in...Read More
Base metals recovered some lost ground in non-descript trading on the morning of Wednesday December 23 on the London Metal Exchange, with zinc rising the most after two days of losses caused by the news of a new Covid-19 variant damaging sentiment.Three-month zinc was up by 1.37% from the Tuesday 5pm close at $2,813 per tonne. The metal had the biggest dip on Tuesday, ending 2% lower at $2,775 per...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly lower this morning, Wednesday December 23, while those on the London Metal Exchange were mixed.Metals and broader markets seem to be settling down and oscillating sideways ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, suggesting markets are content to consolidate while many cross currents muddy the waters. US President Donald Trump re...Read More