The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operating on 70-90% of its usual demand strength due to the pandemic, with huge portions of previously high-demand g...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday August 3 that are worth another look.The year 2020 has been the ultimate stress test for commodity market participants and will stay challenging amid significantly impaired consumer demand trends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chief executive officer of Concord Resources. Mark Hansen said the economy is operatin...Read More
Amid a hot market for copper, China's smelters are jumping in on a profitable niche business dominated by traders.Eight major copper smelting and mining companies - China Gold, China Copper, Baiyin, Daye, Yantai Guoxing, Jinchuan, Minmetals and Nanguo - are lobbying for licenses to import and process complex concentrate, Fastmarkets has learned. In a race to receive final approv...Read More
Three-month base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were higher at the close of trading on Monday August 3, with positive manufacturing data prompting an afternoon surge in buying.Aluminium led the charge in a 2% rise at the 5pm close, against standout turnover.Aluminium's outright price closed at $1,752 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its highest closing price since February 13, while turno...Read More
Aluminium premiums in Rotterdam are on an upward trend for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of Europe, with benchmark P1020 premiums at four-month highs. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam at $90-95 per tonne on Friday July 31, up from $85-90 per tonne the week before. The midpoint of $92.50 per tonne is the highest since April 3 - the...Read More
Seaborne premium hard coking coal prices remained relatively flat on Monday August 3 on a lack of transactions in the spot market, while most Chinese market participants can only stand by due to the country's stringent import restrictions on seaborne materials. Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $108.36 per tonne, down $0.13 per tonne Premium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $11...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
A look at hot-rolled coil prices around the globe.Blip or paradigm shift? Prices for hot-rolled coil in the United States last month fell below those in China for the first time since at least 2013. The reversal of normal trends - Chinese prices are typically well below US levels - resulted from US domestic tags plummeting in July while Chinese prices recorded a third consecutive month o...Read More
Prices for carbon steel plate in the United States have continued to hold steady after neither producers nor distributors reported any impetus to offer cheaper prices or to book bigger tonnages.Buyers saw no urgency to book large inventory buys from the mills at the moment, because there is plenty of material on the ground at various service centers that can sell to each other at competitive price...Read More
Three-month base metals price on the London Metal Exchange were higher at the close of trading on Monday August 3, with positive manufacturing data prompting an afternoon surge in buying.Aluminium led the charge in a 2% rise at the 5pm close, against standout turnover.Aluminium's outright price closed at $1,752 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its highest closing price since February 13, while turno...Read More
Fastmarkets is extending its consultation on the launch of new copper material price and the potential discontinuation of its monthly assessment of the No2 copper scrap discount on a cif China basis. Fastmarkets is extending its consultation on the launch of new copper material price and the potential discontinuation of its monthly assessment of the No2 copper scrap discount on a cif China basis....Read More
A summary of Brazilian copper producer Paranapanema's financial results for the second quarter of 2020, as stated in its earnings report published on Friday July 31. In brief The company increases copper cathode exports to offset the negative impact of a weaker domestic market for manufactured products in both Brazil and Latin America as a whole, it said. Capacity utilization was reduc...Read More
A brief fire outbreak at one of Russian multi-metal miner Nornickel's Arctic power plants had led to the death of one worker, the company said on Monday August 3. Fastmarkets understands that the fire, caused by a short circuit, was confined to six square meters and was extinguished quickly, having no material impact on production at the plant. The fire is the latest in a line of incidents at the...Read More
The US automotive industry's recovery is a tale of two trends - production and sales - and while a strong rebound in production has a more immediate impact on demand for steel, so far the bounce back has been greater in sales.This has translated into a slower rebound in steel demand, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) chief economist Timothy Gill said. "The auto market situation has certainl...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe were stable day on day on Monday August 3 due to a seasonal market slowdown, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at ?,?412.50 ($485.77) per tonne on Monday August 3, unchanged from Friday July 31.Monday's index was based on "workable" prices heard at ?,?410-415 p...Read More
Ferrous scrap sellers in Brazil were expecting to raise their prices in new negotiations with steelmakers, with domestic consumption starting to recover and with increases seen in international prices for scrap and local prices for steel rebar, according to national ferrous scrap association Inesfa.After a lackluster first half of the year in terms of scrap demand, which led in turn to higher expo...Read More
Export flat steel product prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region surged by as much as $45 per tonne in the week to Monday August 3.Some suppliers managed to achieve higher sales prices because of rising raw materials costs and limited availability of material in the region.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $435-...Read More
Prices for domestic and imported merchant bar quality (MBQ) steel in the United States were again flat in July while demand was generally stable and modest gains in sales volumes were seen in some markets. Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel bar 2 x 2 x 1/4 -inch angle merchant products, fob mill US was $33.80 per hundredweight ($676 per short ton) on Friday July 31, unchanged since...Read More
British Steel has regained control of port facility Immingham Bulk Terminal (IBT), the company said on Monday August 3. British Steel has agreed a deal with Associated British Ports (ABP) for operational control of IBT, according to the release. The terminal is an important logistics hub for the company because it can handle up to 9 million tonnes per tonne of raw materials to feed steel productio...Read More
Turkish steel mills made no moves in the deep-sea scrap markets on Monday August 3 due to the Eid al-Adha religious holiday in the country.Turkey has been out of the market for the eid since Thursday of last week, when the latest known purchases were heard on the market. The holiday will...Read More