The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making a huge push to further develop its mining sector and will hold an auction of several blocks next year, according to a government official. The move is part of the country's Vision 2030 programme, which aims to drive economic diversification away from oil and gas, with the kingdom identifying mining as the third pillar for the Saudi Arabian economy. The go...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey, Dalila Ouerghi and Michael Greenfield in London, Susan Zou and Amy Lv in Shanghai and Carrie Shi in Beijing contributed to this article.Fastmarkets has reworked the market reports it previously published for the minor metals, noble alloys and battery raw materials sectors to align them with end-use sectors. C...Read More
An overview of the specialty steel raw materials markets in Europe and their latest price moves.Charlotte Radford, Cristina Belda and Declan Conway contributed...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 2. Key drivers The ferro-titanium jumped to a peak last seen in September 2018 amid a jump in renewed demand from steel mills.Steelmakers have been looking for ferro-titanium both on a spot basis and for shipment out as far as the early second quarter of 2021, suppliers say....Read More
With European scrap metal supply still falling short of pre-Covid-19 levels, the "high-volume, low-margins" model adopted by giant recyclers could be out-of-date, industry executives said."Due to Covid-19-led lockdowns, we were at 30% of the normal capacity back then, now we are probably back to three-quarters but actual supply of copper scrap is not actually as high as it was," said Susie Burrage...Read More
An overview of the consumer electronics markets and their latest price moves.Ewa Manthey, Dalila Ouerghi and Michael Greenfield in London, Susan Zou and Amy Lv in Shanghai and Carrie Shi in Beijing contributed to this article.Fastmarkets has reworked the market reports it previously published for the minor metals, noble alloys and battery raw materials sectors to align them with end-use sectors. C...Read More
It has been almost one year since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak and global economies are still recovering from the fallout. Fastmarkets analyzes the effects of the pandemic on global cobalt supply and trade flows.Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday December 2 that are worth another look.Liberty Steel Group's move to acquire the steel unit of German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp has moved to the due diligence phase, the UK-based steel company told Fastmarkets on December 2.The...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have held above $40 per hundredweight ($800 per short ton) while the availability of spot tons remains limited, according to sources.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $40.50 per cwt ($810 per ton) on Wednesday December 2, little-changed from $40.44 per cwt on Tuesday December 1 and an increase of 3.85% from $39...Read More
All Turkish flat steel prices increased in November 2020 with demand being strong throughout the month because of low stock levels, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday December 2.Turkish flat steel producers are now fully booked until late March, with trading sources reporting that the market was strong during November because of a global shortage in some flat steel products and strong demand in Asia,...Read More
Prices for hollow steel sections in Europe moved up again during the past week with feedstock costs continuing to rise on a lack of supply, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 2.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?680-700 ($816-840) per tonne on Wednesday, up from ?,?660-680 per tonne one week before.The availability of...Read More
The price for steel H-beams in Europe has remained stable over the past week, but producers remained confident that further price increases could be achieved before the Christmas holiday break, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday December 2.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?550-580 ($660-696) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week o...Read More
Steel wire rod producers in the south of Europe increased their prices sharply in the week to Wednesday December 2, amid a shortage of material and increasing rolling costs, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?510-520 ($612-624) per tonne on Wednesday, up by ?,?20-25 per tonne from ?,?490-...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday December 2 that are worth another look.Liberty Steel Group's move to acquire the steel unit of German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp has moved to the due diligence phase, the UK-based steel company told Fastmarkets on December 2.The...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has lowered its iron ore production guidance for 2020 to 300-305 million tonnes from 310-330 million tonnes due to the supply disruptions seen throughout the year, the company said on Wednesday December 2 in a filing to the country's securities and exchange commission, CVM.Previously, the company was expecting to deliver the bottom end of the estimated range for 2020, given ad...Read More
Iron ore prices surged on Wednesday December 2, supported by concerns over supply shortages in the first quarter of 2021, and some futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed at seven-year highs, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $136.29 per tonne, up $4.16 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $135.80 per tonne, up $3...Read More
Iran's export prices for steel billet and slab kept increasing over the week to Wednesday December 2, with new slab deals heard at the higher prices, Fastmarkets has heard.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, export, fob ports Iran, was $470-490 per tonne on December 2, rising from $440-445 per tonne on November 25.No deals were heard this week. Mills...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday December 2. Key drivers The ferro-titanium jumped to a peak last seen in September 2018 amid a jump in renewed demand from steel mills.Steelmakers have been looking for ferro-titanium both on a spot basis and for shipment out as far as the early second quarter of 2021, suppliers say....Read More
The market for UG2 chrome ore in China fell in the week ended Tuesday December 1 after stainless steel mill Tsingshan lowered its ferro-chrome tender price for December delivery.Fastmarkets' chrome ore South Africa UG2 concentrates index, basis 42%, cif China, fell for the fourth consecutive week to $131 per tonne on Tuesday, down by $2 per tonne (1.5%) from $133 per tonne the preceding week. The...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