The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...Read More
Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese prod...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent announcement about Vale's resumption of operations in Brazil, along with new concerns about a slump in demand because of heavy rainfall in China, has resulted in the end of the iron ore price rally. There has also been pressure from tight steel spreads, with the operating margins for Chinese steel mills shrinking...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices climbed further last week and we expect the elevated levels to remain into the next month. In particular, further upside will come from blast furnace (BF) capacity, which was reduced in Europe, Japan and the United States and has now come back online after restrictions started to be removed. With Covid-19 spr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron oreSentiment in the iron ore market continues to be dominated by concerns about supply disruptions in Brazil. Prices spiked above $100 per tonne after reports that there had been a recent surge of Covid-19 cases at Vale's three mines in Itabira. A...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More
The new issue of the Seamless OCTG & Linepipe Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers analysis of seamless OCTG and linepipe across international markets:Covid-19 underscores pipe outlookUnsurprisingly, the concern in the seamless pipe markets across the regions is the effect of the spread of Covid-19 on public health and econo...Read More
Tin premiums in the United States and Europe were subject to pressure in the two weeks to Wednesday July 1, with a wide backwardation in the metal's forward curve on the London Metal Exchange limiting business while a narrowing arbitrage window to import tin into China supported current levels. Covid-19 resurgence hinders US marketRenewed spot interest fails to stop falling Rotterdam premiumStrong...Read More
Industry associations up and down the steel and metals supply chain applauded the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact going into effect on Wednesday July 1.The update to the North American Free Trade Agreement - which previously governed trade between the three nations - should increase demand while also assuring that essential cross-border supply chains remain intact, the Ame...Read More
Zinc concentrate treatment charges rose from an 18-month low in June 2020, with market shorts facing less of a rush to cover positions on the spot market.Fastmarkets' price assessment for zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China, was $160-180 per tonne on Friday June 26, up from $155-170 per tonne at the end of May.Spot supply of concentrates remained limited to just a few mines, predominantly in Austr...Read More
The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was slightly higher at the close on Wednesday July 1, with high turnover and strong demand from Asia keeping price action firmly above nearby support levels, while lead futures lagged behind over the day. LME copper's outright price closed at $6,061 per tonne on Wednesday, climbing from an intraday low of $5,995 per tonne, while daily turnover bre...Read More
A summary of London Metal Exchange warrant premiums from across the globe for the week to Wednesday June 24.Please click...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
European producers of hot-rolled coil have achieved a transaction price increase supported by the lack of import offers and a degree of demand improvement, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.The definitive decision in the EU's safeguard measures review on June 30 will also support domestic prices, market sources said. The European Commission has decided to replace yearly country-specific...Read More
Domestic prices for steel mesh-quality wire rod in Europe were largely unchanged in most regions over the past week, supported by improving demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, remained at ?,?420-440 ($472-494) per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.The assessment was b...Read More
Domestic steel rebar prices have ticked upward in the south of Europe, supported by improved buying activity, but were steady in the north, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 1.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was ?,?420-435 ($472-488) per tonne on July 1, compared with ?,?410-425 a week earlier.Italian producers i...Read More