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.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 latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view. A look at stainless steel price movements through August reveals the ongoing battle being faced by stainless steelmakers in Europe and the United States while they try to pass on rising costs to consumers. In these regions, prices on most grades of stainless steel are little changed from July, rising by around 2% at most -...Read More
The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we enter the summer season across the northern hemisphere, almost half a year has passed since the Covid-19 pandemic began to seriously affect Europe and the United States.One would not really be able to tell that such a dramatic event had occurred by looking at stainless steel prices, however, because they are more or less...Read More
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
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe went up day on day on Tuesday December 1, due to a shortage of material, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at ?,?563.75 ($671.26) per tonne on Tuesday, up by ?,?2.60 per tonne from ?,?561.15 per tonne on November 30.The index was up by ?,?18.70 per tonne week o...Read More
Joel Adams has joined the copper team at Trafigura, Fastmarkets understands.Adams had worked at Glencore in Switzerland since 2010, most recently as a senior trader for refined...Read More
Goldman Sachs has predicted that copper's remarkable price surge is set to continue next year and could break records because of resurgent demand and capped supplies.Analysts led by Nicholas Snowdon project a 12-month price target of $9,500 per tonne next year, up from a $7,500 per tonne projection previously, with a 2021 average price forecast of $8,625 per tonne."This current price strength is n...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium, copper and nickel prices extended their rallies on Tuesday December 1, setting new year-to-date highs in the final month of 2020 with a low dollar index continuing to provide tailwinds to the prices. Copper's three-month price rose for a sixth straight day on Tuesday at 5pm, up by 1.5% to $7,694.50 per tonne from Monday's closing price of $7,580 per...Read More
Canada's Lundin Mining anticipates higher copper and zinc output over the next three years, with growth expected at its operations in Chile (Candelaria), Brazil (Chapada) and Portugal (Neves-Corvo) in particular. In its three-year production outlook, published on Monday November 30, Lundin's full-year 2021 copper production guidance was set at 275,000-299,000 tonnes, jumping to 281,000-305,00...Read More
Negotiations for first quarter 2021 supplies of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) have begun and the quarterly premium is expected to settle significantly higher than 2020 levels.The first deal was concluded on November 30, at a premium of $125 per tonne cif MJP, for 6,000-9,000 tonnes of aluminium ingot in total for January-March delivery. While there are also offers out in the market from t...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to launch low-carbon aluminium differentials to its existing European P1020 and value-added product (VAP) premium contracts in $ per tonne to meet market demand for a low-carbon aluminium pricing mechanism. The proposed differentials come after the completion of a two-month consultation and are the result of growing demand for price discovery for low-carbon aluminium...Read More
Copper and aluminium continued their uptrend on Tuesday December 1 and taking the complex on a morning of gains while the LME continues to react positively to Chinese and Eastern Asian economic data and a weaker US dollar index.Copper's three month price was up to $7,673 per tonne at 9:15am on Tuesday, a 1.2% increase from Monday's 5pm closing price of $7,580 per tonne. The volumes of copper...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has concluded its acquisition of Sider??rgica Latino-Americana (Silat), a long steel producer located in the northeastern state of Cear??, after gaining approval from anti-trust regulator Cade, the company said on Tuesday December 1.Silat has capacity for 600,000 tonnes per year of long steel products, mainly rebar and wire rod. Gerdau had first reached an agreement in...Read More
Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have increased over the past week because of globally strong demand, although this was moderated in the UAE because of a holiday, sources said on November 30 and December 1.The UAE has a national holiday on December 1-3, so the number of working days were limited in the country this week.UAEOffer prices for hot-rolled coil...Read More
Steel billet and rebar prices in the United Arab Emirates increased over the week to November 30 while demand was strong, sources told Fastmarkets.Domestic rebarThe country's steel producers were offering rebar at 1,984-1,985 dirhams ($540) per tonne ex-works orders to be produced in December, but only few producers had allocation for December production.Deals were heard made at around 1,950...Read More
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) is applying price increases to flat steel products with effect from Tuesday December 1, according to market sources.The company is applying price increases of 5% this month to hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), and has already announced to its clients an additional increase of 5% for January...Read More