Russia-based steelmaker NLMK's US subsidiary has reached a settlement with the United States government on a lawsuit regarding Section 232 tariffs on steel imports.NLMK filed a suit in the US Court of International Trade on February 2020, challenging a decision from the Department of Commerce to deny the company's exclusion requests to the Section 232 tariff of 25% against steel imported from most...Read More
China's crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output continued to grow on a year-on-year basis in October, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics on Monday November 16.October outputCrude steel: 92.2 million tonnes, up 12.7% from a year earlier, down 0.4% from SeptemberHot metal: 76.17 million tonnes, up 9.4% year on year, up 0.5% month on month Finished stee...Read More
Tata Steel has initiated discussions with Swedish steelmaker SSAB over the sale of its IJmuiden plant in The Netherlands, the company said on Friday November 13.Tata Steel has also initiated the process of splitting its main European operations - Tata Steel Netherlands and Tata Steel UK - with the aim of pursuing separate strategic paths for the two businesses. "Tata Steel...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday November 17 that are worth another look.Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have increased over the past week because of a shortage of hot-rolled coil and globally strong demand, sources said on November 17.Alvance, the...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States held steady while more service centers tried and failed to enter the spot market for January 2021 shipments, with some buyers now unable to supply customers with enough tonnage to fulfill downstream needs. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $36.31 per hundredweight ($726.20 per short ton) on Tuesday November 17,...Read More
A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday November 17. Please click...Read More
Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was among the best performers at the end of trading on Tuesday November 17, with prices stabilizing after a bullish trading session on Monday. The three-month price for the light metal rose by 1.36% from Monday's closing price, to reach $1,977.50 per tonne on Tuesday. A price above $1,970 per tonne for aluminium has not been...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday November 17 that are worth another look.Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have increased over the past week because of a shortage of hot-rolled coil and globally strong demand, sources said on November 17.Alvance, the...Read More
Now is not the time for Freeport-McMoRan to be thinking about mergers and acquisitions, the mining company's chief executive officer says.According to Richard Adkerson, the company - which is just over half-way through a mega-project to transform its giant Grasberg copper-gold mine in Indonesia from an open-pit to an underground operation - is on the verge of creating huge shareholder value."I jus...Read More
Plans for a London Metal Exchange spot trading platform have sparked intense debate within the aluminium industry. But opponents and supporters don't necessarily fall into the camps that one might expect. For starters, a decision by the LME not to change its futures contract, establish a new green aluminium contract or set thresholds to define what constitutes low-carbon metal is proving key in st...Read More
Sometimes it is better to let a situation speak for itself. Alcoa, Rio Tinto Aluminium, Novelis, Constellium, Arconic, Kaiser Aluminum, Tri-Arrows Aluminum, American Metal Chemical Corp, Hydro Extrusion North America, JW Aluminum, Real Alloy, Reynolds Consumer Products, Scepter, Silberline Manufacturing Co, Smelter Service Corp and Wagstaff. The US Aluminum Association, which represents more than...Read More
Iron ore prices increased further in both the futures and seaborne markets on Tuesday November 17, supported by hot-rolled coil and rebar futures prices that hit new annual highs, although physical prices at ports remained stable. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $125.44 per tonne, up $1.37 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $125.99 per tonne, up $1.64 per tonn...Read More
The London Metal Exchange base metals prices stabilized in morning trading on Tuesday November 17 after a euphoric trading session on Monday, when the markets were boosted by Chinese economic data and news of another successful Covid-19 vaccine trial. Copper, aluminium, zinc and tin all had gains of 1% or more on Monday morning, while on Tuesday morning there were no gains above 0.8%. Vaccine news...Read More
Markets were generally buoyant this morning, Tuesday November 17, following news that a second coronavirus vaccine is showing good results, which is underpinning many equity indices at or near record highs, although the base metals on the London Metal Exchange were consolidating. Asian Pacific equities were mainly higher, following gains on major western equity indices on Monday......but major wes...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view, including an upgrade to our aluminium price forecasts.Aluminium: Price forecasts raisedWe correctly expected the macro reflationary theme to raise the prices for all base metals but, with it being the base metal with by far the weakest fundamentals, we had expected the price of aluminium to underperform relative...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.These include an increase in our copper mine disruption estimates, upgrades to our production outlook for Indonesian nickel pig iron (NPI), a smaller refined zinc surplus, and an upgrade to our zinc price forecasts.Aluminium: Big disconnect between price and fundamentalsAluminium has extended its uptrend on the London Metal...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? Flat steel product prices in the United States moved largely in line with our expectations in October, although the increases slightly outpaced our projections. US hot-rolled coil prices averaged $655 per ton in October, exceeding our forecast price of $640 per...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Flat product prices in the US moved largely in line with our expectations in October, posting impressive gains across the product range, and slightly exceeding our forecasts for coil products.Domestic hot-rolled coil prices averaged $722 per tonne in October, exceeding our forecast of $705 per tonne forecast price.Although w...Read More