Resource nationalism is one of the key risks miners will face in the increasingly volatile macroeconomic environment worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, global law firm White & Case told Fastmarkets this week. This is due to the stretched national budgets that governments are facing after supporting their economies through monetary and fiscal policies amid the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as increase...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 30 that are worth another look.Brazil's largest flat-rolled steel producer by capacity, Usiminas, is looking to correct the current domestic price discount to imports in the short term, commercial vice-president Miguel Homes said on July 30....Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been fairly stable day on day on Thursday July 30, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at ?,?412.95 ($486.87) per tonne on July 30, up by just ?,?0.45 per tonne from ?,?412.50 per tonne on Wednesday July 29.Thursday's index was based on a deal heard at ?,?41...Read More
Long-term uncertainty among consumers over end-user demand in Italy benefits downstream distribution network Metal Link who aims to serve consumer needs more quickly than producers who need consumers to have a clear order outlook for around 10 weeks.In an interview with Fastmarkets this month, the aluminium products distribution network said the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19 offers busin...Read More
The price of steel scrap imported into Turkey rose further on Thursday July 30 on new bookings, continuing the trend started on July 29.A steel mill in the Iskenderun region booked two cargoes, one from the Baltic region and one from Western Europe.The first comprised 27,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $276 per tonne, 5,000 tonnes of bonus scrap at $286 per tonne and 3,000 tonnes...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 30 that are worth another look.Brazil's largest flat-rolled steel producer by capacity, Usiminas, is looking to correct the current domestic price discount to imports in the short term, commercial vice-president Miguel Homes said on July 30....Read More
Long-term uncertainty among consumers over end-user demand in Italy benefits downstream distribution network Metal Link who aims to serve consumer needs more quickly than producers who need consumers to have a clear order outlook for around 10 weeks.In an interview with Fastmarkets this month, the aluminium products distribution network said the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19 offers busin...Read More
The state of the global iron ore supply remains a key risk factor for market participants in 2020 due to mining operations being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, sources said.Market sentiment is mixed about whether the tight supply situation will persist in the second half of 2020, especially after Vale said its output for this year was likely to reach just the lower end of its forecast range."I...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower at the close of trading on Thursday July 30, with LME nickel's 1.3% price dip leading the complex-wide decline, while a tightening of copper's forward curve led to thin volumes and a negative close on the day.Weighing equally heavily on the base-metals complex, the US economy shrank by 32.9% over the second quarter...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were subdued during morning trading on Thursday July 30, with thin volumes indicating bearish sentiment, while a low dollar and continued outflows did little to stop copper futures from leading on the downside. Copper's outright price on the LME was recently trading at $6,419.50 per tonne, sliding by just under 1% from Wednesday's closing...Read More
Base metals prices were for the most part firmer this morning, Thursday July 30, while broader markets were more mixed.The United States Federal Reserve provided more liquidity to international markets at its meeting that ended on Wednesday, but did not make any major changes. It also said that the path of the US economic recovery would depend on the course of Covid-19 in the country. Given the la...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.Aluminium: Comfortable consolidationAluminium appears comfortable consolidating for the moment, and this will leave prices in a stronger position to challenge overhanging long-term trend-line resistance from the May 2018 high, which stands at $1,670 per tonne currently.Copper: Consolidation unlikely to lastCopper reached its...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This year has come with several unexpected events which increased the bullish case for iron ore prices, while the Chinese government's spending on infrastructure is likely to boost iron ore demand and add upside support to prices. But supply disruptions and a demand surge which caused price spikes are now easing. We do not e...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' teamof analysts are ready to view.Chinese crude steel production outperformed our expectations with its recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Crude steel output was up by 2.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 to 503 million tonnes, and we have revised upward what was initially a more bearish forecast for this year. We now estimate that product...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower at the close of trading on Thursday July 30, with LME nickel's 1.3% price dip leading the complex-wide decline, while a tightening of copper's forward curve led to thin volumes and a negative close on the day.Weighing equally heavily on the base-metals complex, the US economy shrank by 32.9% over the second quarter...Read More
ED&F Man's Ed Meir clinched the top spot on the base metals predictions leaderboard for the second quarter of 2020 with 98.87% accuracy while ING's Wenyu Yao took the top spot for precious metals predictions over the period with a 98.75% accuracy rating.For steel raw materials, Casper Burgering of ABN Amro topped the leaderboard with a 90.89% accuracy score. Click on the image below to download th...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale is expecting copper prices to remain at high levels through the remainder of 2020, because it sees strong signs of demand resilience amid expectations of reduced supply, especially from South America, the company's top executives said on Thursday July 30."We are firm believers in the copper price uptrend," chief executive officer Eduardo Bartolomeo told analysts and investors...Read More
The declining quality of global zinc concentrate has left Noranda Income Fund's (NIF) residue handling section at capacity despite ongoing work to optimize its electrolytic processing facility in Quebec, Canada, the company said.Two belt filters will be added to the handling section as part of a recently announced expansion project. They are expected to help improve production capacity and overall...Read More
A summary of Brazilian mining company Vale's financial results for the second quarter of 2020, as stated in its earnings report released on Wednesday July 29.In briefFerrous division: Iron ore fines' realized price - after adjustments on both a cfr and fob basis - was $88.90 per tonne in the second quarter, down by 6% from $94.60 per tonne a year before. Pellet's realized price was $129.40 per ton...Read More