The cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies. Fastmarkets assessed cobalt standard grade, in-whs...Read More
Fastmarkets is proposing to increase the pricing frequency of its cobalt hydroxide index, 30% Co min, cif China to fortnightly from monthly at present. The cobalt hydroxide index 30% Co min, cif China is currently published on the last working day of each month. It was launched in February 2019, alongside Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, to provide trans...Read More
Key data from the Friday July 3 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Export price stable with offers falling within the published range.Market participants received sporadic inquiries from overseas buyers and noticed big discrepancies between the prices they offered...Read More
The UG2 chrome ore, charge chrome and Chinese domestic spot ferro-chrome markets all drifted lower in the week to Friday July 3 on weakening sentiment after the main Chinese stainless steel mills lowered their tender prices for July.Following the recent drop in chrome ore prices, Tiayun Iron & Steel (Tisco), Tsingshan Group and Baosteel all lowered their high-carbon ferro-chrome tender prices for...Read More
Turkish domestic scrap prices have gone down slightly over the past week in line with the downturn in imported scrap values, sources said on Monday July 6.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel scrap, auto bundle scrap, domestic, delivered Turkey was 1,660-1,870 lira ($242-273) per tonne on Monday, narrowing downward from 1,655-1,885 lira per tonne a week earlier.The movement in the assess...Read More
Codelco had demobilized staff and suspended construction at its El Teniente project in Chile to contain the rapidly spreading Covid-19 virus in the region, the company said on Saturday July 4. Some 4,500 workers at the mine are under "transitory demobilization" with the rest of the workforce working on a shift schedule of 14-day on and 14-day off, Codelco said. Chuquicamata is also functioning und...Read More
With the exception of China’s CSI 300, Asian-Pacific equities and pre-market major western equity futures were weaker this morning, Tuesday July 7, while base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed, although in general were holding up well. China’s equity markets are experiencing a retail investor rally that is being encouraged by state media - the market is up by almost 1...Read More
Gold Miners ETF (GDX) moved above $37.49 to an 8 year high extending an intermediate uptrend.CheckPoint Software (CHKP), a NASDAQ 100 stock moved above $112.96 extending an intermediate uptrend. Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday July 7thU.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 23 points in pre-opening trade.Apple (AAPL $373.85) is expected to open higher...Read More
Tata Steel has reached an agreement with trade union FNV Metaal over its Dutch assets, bringing an end to 25 days of industrial action, the company said on Friday July 3.There will be no redundancies at Tata Steel at IJmuiden and the parent company will invest in site's upgrade, FNV said.In addition, an employment pact for the company's Dutch workers has been extended by five years until Octo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday July 2 that are worth another look.European importers of long steel and hot-rolled coil have claimed that this week's definitive decision in the EU steel imports safeguard case review ignored the interests of independent buyers and focused protection only on steelmakers, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.Chilean...Read More
Most Turkish flat steel prices hit a monthly peak on June 12, following feedstock prices, before edging back down when buyers concluded their procurement activity, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 2. Turkish flat steel producers are fully booked until mid-September. Feedstock scrap prices fluctuated in June. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), U...Read More
The mining industry does a huge amount of good for local communities, to say nothing of its essential contribution to society through the materials it produces. Unfortunately, it all too often manages to give itself a bad name, worsening negative perceptions of the sector through accidents, spills and a failure to act as a steward of the environments in which it operates. In the past month alone,...Read More
The threat of Section 232 tariffs on aluminium imports from Canada into the United States has, like the great white shark following the Brody family in the universally panned film, 'Jaws: The Revenge,' returned - akin to a truly awful horror movie franchise. And that's how Neil Herrington, senior vice president for the Americas, US Chamber of Commerce, views reports that the US administration is c...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Capped by oversupplyA lack of a meaningful supply adjustment to the Covid-19 demand hit is keeping the aluminium physical market oversupplied and weighing on prices, limiting the success of more buoyant macro and technical forces on prices. Our premium forecasts are under review in light of threats from the U...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Poised for a technical breakoutFears over a second wave of Covid-19 continue to grow, forcing prices of aluminium and the other base metals to take a pause. Our base-case scenario is that countries will respond more efficiently to contain the virus spread, so economic activity and metal demand should continue to r...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Demand outlook revisedWe are not surprised to see aluminium prices retreat from last week's high after flagging up in recent reports that they had become overbought. 'Sell-the-rally' traders will be targeting the April high now, down at $1,534 per tonne. This week we have reviewed our aluminium demand forecasts fo...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Short-term upside targets achievedLME aluminium's price recovery to $1,600 per tonne has been driven by macro forces acting on all metals, and amplified for aluminium by technical factors after prices became so oversold at the double-bottom lows in April and May. With a 4-million-tonne supply surplus this year, al...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecast of global oil country tubular goods (OCTG) consumption paints a stark picture of the slowdown in demand from the energy industry in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent oil and gas retreat.For 2020, total global consumption is expected to amount to 13.2 million tonnes, a decline of nearly 3.5...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Depending on which market one looks at, prices of coated steels have either risen, fallen or remained roughly the same since mid-May. One crucial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept the world this year is the decoupling it appears to have created between global steel markets.In China, prices of most steel products...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US prices continue to hold Seamless oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe prices remained unchanged for the third straight month in June, and we expect them to remain stable through the summer before edging higher on the back of a measured rise in drilling rates.The lack of price movement in recent months does not i...Read More