The London Metal Exchange recently reiterated its willingness to facilitate spot trading of low carbon aluminium. While not a new concept for the exchange, it would serve two important purposes. First, it would provide more transparent, digitalized data on the specification of its aluminium brands and determine whether people are actually paying more for low carbon metal. Second, it would pro...Read More
Just over a year ago, US Section 232 tariffs against imports of aluminium from Canada were removed. Now there are calls to reintroduce them.The American Primary Aluminum Association (APAA), which represents US producers Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7, says that Canadian imports have "surged" since the tariffs were removed and are threatening the viability of the US primary aluminium industry.&nb...Read More
An expected shortfall in Brazilian supply of high-grade iron ore will likely result in 2020 becoming a boom year for Australian miners.While Brazilian miner Vale, a key producer of high-grade iron ore fines and pellets, is maintaining its production guidance despite a suspension of operations at its Itabira mining complex, many market participants in Asia are expecting a shortage of Brazil-origin...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.Aluminium: Consolidation needed after technical gainsDespite structural oversupply, the London Metal Exchange aluminium price has enjoyed a technical rebound since the mid-May lows, which was in line with our short-term forecasts. But technical indicators now look overbought and the price must consolidate its recent gai...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: Early signs of post-lockdown demand recoveryWith major economies outside China reopening after the easing of their Covid-19-related restrictions on movement and industrial activity, last week's jump in the number of cancelled aluminium warrants on the London Metal Exchange may be an early sign that the post-lockdo...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As we anticipated, rebar prices in Eastern China (ex-warehouse basis) rose in May, coming within 0.6% of our forecast. Strong demand at home meant that Chinese producers were largely absent from the export market, maintaining their offers near $450 per tonne, while import prices into Singapore were set near $400 per tonne cf...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.US demand shrinksDemand projections call for a continued retreat in US electric-resistance welded (ERW) line pipe and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) consumption as drill rigs and the number of wells drilled per rig are cut. Project demand in the large-diameter line pipe market is also shrinking with deferred or canceled pro...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.A couple of months into the global Covid-19 pandemic, the sell-off in steel markets appears to be abating.In parts of Asia, where the outbreak first occurred, steel prices - including those for coated steels - have rebounded since late April. The same is true of the US market as well. As we detail in our Americas analysis thi...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.US flat product prices outperformed our expectations over the past month. In an attempt to lend the market confidence that sheet prices had reached a floor, US steel mills announced price increases of $50-60 per ton at the end of April. In the announcement, mills cited the expectation of higher scrap prices, tight domestic s...Read More
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
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 are ready to view.Ferrous scrap consumption rates of Chinese integrated mills appear to have declined this year on a per-tonne basis. This year has seen the ratio of pig iron to steel output tighten, leaving increasingly less room for scrap consumption. Over the first four months of 2020, the pig iron-to-steel ratio has been above the pr...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Lockdowns and restrictions of movement in several cities in Brazil have increased worries about the potential impact on iron ore export volumes. The situation has already had an impact on the market sentiment. These concerns, combined with strong demand from China, have boosted iron ore prices. The fall in shipments from Bra...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
Equity markets started to show some weakness last week, although dips were being bought, but this morning, Monday June 15, the mood seems to have become more concerned about the rise in second waves of Covid-19 in many countries and the socio-economic implications of these. * Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were weaker, as were most on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. * Asian-Pacific...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 57 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the June Empire State Manufacturing Survey at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was -35.0 versus -48.59 in May. Actual was down 0.2MMM dropped $4.31 to $151.00 after the company announced a 20% drop in May sales.Shopify gained $32.99 to U...Read More
The proposed changes to existing EU safeguard measures for hot-rolled coil would result in a drop in import volumes and consequently injure independent distribution in Europe, Italian steel distributors' association Assofermet said in a letter to the European Commission (EC).In late May, the EC presented a draft of the new safeguard measures to the World Trade Organization, which will go into effe...Read More
The European Commission (EC) has initiated an anti-subsidy investigation into hot-rolled coil imports from Turkey, it said on Friday June 12.The EC concluded that the European steel association, Eurofer, had provided sufficient evidence that Turkish HRC producers have been benefiting from a number of subsidies. Eurofer lodged a complaint to the EC on April 30 this year."The alleged subsidy pr...Read More