The offshore yuan is near record lows against the dollar while diplomatic tensions between the United States and China rise, which could lower the price of Chinese-produced metals and minerals.In offshore markets, which are less tightly controlled than markets in mainland China, the yuan briefly hit a record low of 7.20 to the dollar on Thursday May 28. The following day it was trading slightly ab...Read More
Key data from Friday May 29 pricing session in Shanghai.Key drivers Market strengthens amid persistent tight spot supply; limited number of plants in China are producing tellurium and supply of foreign brands remains...Read More
Prices in the European high-carbon and low-carbon ferro-markets increased in in the week ended Friday May 29.In high-carbon trading, industry sources reported deals agreed for more than 1,000 tonnes of alloy that raised the upper end of the price assessment. And deals for about 350 tonnes of more refined-grade material were reported, which had the same effect on the price range in that market.In a...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points in pre-opening trade.PayPal added $1.62 to $156.15 after Deutsche Bank raised its target price from $147 to $183.Visa gained $1.20 to $195.55 after SunTrust RH increase its target price from $200 to $220.Shopify advanced $7.00 to $765.00 after KeyBanc Capital raised its target price from $775 to $805.Lululemo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
Brazilian crude steel production dropped by 39% year on year in April, according to figures released by national steel association A??o Brasil early this week.Output totaled 1.81 million tonnes, down from 2.97 million tonnes in April 2019.At least a dozen blast furnaces in the country are currently halted due to weak demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Finished steel output reached 1.23 million tonn...Read More
Turkey has told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it is planning to impose import duties on certain steel products from the European Union.On Monday May 25, Turkey informed the WTO that it plans to impose an additional duty of 9-17% on steel product imports from EU. The products to be affected are hot-rolled flat steel under HS code 7208, cold-rolled flat steel under HS code 7...Read More
The annual sitting of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - widely known as the 'twin sessions' - in Beijing released a series of stimulus packages for the development of China's economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Market participants harbor mixed sentiment over the impact of the policy measures. Here are eight...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 29 that are worth another look.Slab export prices in Brazil increased in the week to May 29, with multiple deals and negotiations taking place in Asia.Consumers are starting to pay a premium for low-carbon aluminium - a practice that will grow more widespread over time, the former chief executive officer of Norwegian aluminium p...Read More
How long it will take the global economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic is anyone's guess right now.Could the world's major economic regions be in for an "LUV" recovery similar to the one they saw after the global financial crisis of 2008-09?That was the format of recovery that was expected in 2009 by former Rio Tinto chief executive officer Tom Albanese, who was at the helm of the mining g...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to another casualty: the mega mine. The volatility created by crises like Covid-19 is adding a layer of uncertainty to the development of large-scale projects that take a decade or more to progress and are highly capital intensive, according to Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.This means that mining projects are likely to be deve...Read More
Alcoa Corp has called on the aluminium industry to assess the cost effectiveness of its smelting capacity and make cuts where appropriate - or face a ratcheting up of inventories and a protracted period of low prices. Roy Harvey, the US producer's chief executive officer, said that while curtailments were costly, both financially and in terms of job losses, they were more than necessary at this mo...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.Aluminium: 'Sell the rally' mentality here to stayAlthough the London Metal Exchange aluminium price has managed to recover modestly from recent lows, we suspect this is mostly short-covering. The lack of producer restraint, growing exchange inventories, a weak demand outlook and the 7 million tonnes of oversupply forecast f...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: 4-million-tonne surplus for 2020We have made further downward revisions to our aluminium demand expectations for 2020 and, although there have been smelter capacity reduction in China too, the net effect is that our forecast for the global surplus this year has swelled to 4 million tonnes, from 2.7 million tonnes...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Average LME aluminium price down by 2.5% week on weekAlthough LME aluminium began this week on the rebound, prices extended their recent downtrend further last week, approaching the $1,400-per-tonne level. The weekly average LME aluminium cash price was down 2.5% last week to $1,432.50 per tonne from previous week's $1,469.6...Read More