The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Falling demand, cheaper imports to put pressure on US domestic prices Prices at the start of May were essentially unchanged from April in the seamless OCTG and linepipe markets in the United States, amid minimal market activity. Mills were cutting output rather than prices. Demand, however, was deteriorating faster than supp...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 15.China Domestic prices remained stable in an active spot market, with sentiment strengthening after the majority of steel mills raised their tender prices for May deliveries. Hesteel, China's second-largest...Read More
China's crude steel output was largely flat in April, but finished steel production significantly increased to exceed 100 million tonnes, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday May 15.Steel outputAprilCrude steel: 85.03 million tonnes, up by 0.2% from a year earlier and up by 7.7% month on monthHot metal: 72.02 million tonnes, down 1.2%...Read More
The price of ferrous scrap imported into India moved upward on Friday May 15 with sentiment becoming more positive while production slowly restarts in the country, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated the steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India, at $265.50 per tonne on Friday, up from $257.98 per tonne on May 7.Despite trade activity remaining on pause due to t...Read More
Prices of bulk scrap cargoes sold to South Korea jumped over the last seven days to Friday May 15, but market participants also told Fastmarkets that such high prices are unlikely to persist in the coming weeks.South Korean scrap demand among electric arc furnace (EAF) mills has increased in the past few weeks after construction projects restarted following an easing of the country's Covid-19 lock...Read More
The price paid for heavy melting scrap (HMS) imports in Taiwan continued on an upward trend over the week to Friday May 15, sources said.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for containerized cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), US material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $230 per tonne cfr on Friday, increasing by $1-5 per tonne from Thursday May 14 and by $5-7 per tonne from May 8.Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 14 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's major long steel producer, has decommissioned the first section of its blooming plant as a part of a strategy for sustainable development, the company said on May 14.The European Commission's (EC) prior surveillance of imports of certain aluminium products orig...Read More
The three-month price of lead on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday May 14, with buying momentum pushing the metal's outright price above the $1,600 per tonne threshold, while the LME nickel price held above $12,000 per tonne despite a 1.4% downturn over the afternoon.Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,619 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, climbing...Read More
Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama edged down 0.4% month on month at the end of March 2020, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.Total aluminium stocks at the three ports totaled 297,100 tonnes on March 31, down by 1,300 tonnes or 0.4% from the end of January, figures released on Friday April 3 showed. T...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 14 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's major long steel producer, has decommissioned the first section of its blooming plant as a part of a strategy for sustainable development, the company said on May 14.The European Commission's (EC) prior surveillance of imports of certain aluminium products orig...Read More
Daye Nonferrous has maintained its mission to construct a brand new copper smelting facility despite the uncertain outlook for commodity demand and price volatility, Fastmarkets understands.The Hubei-based company officially started the construction of a 400,000 tonne-per-year 'double flash' copper smelter on Tuesday May 12.A ceremony was held on the day, joined by representatives of its parent co...Read More
Newmont is to begin ramping up operations at its Pe??asquito lead-zinc-silver mine in Mexico on Monday May 18 following the government's designation of mining as an essential activity. The start-up of Pe??asquito is expected to take roughly two weeks to reach stable production levels, the Colorado, United States-based producer said. "As we begin to ramp up, Newmont will provide an update on the co...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 14 that are worth another look.ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's major long steel producer, has decommissioned the first section of its blooming plant as a part of a strategy for sustainable development, the company said on May 14.The European Commission's (EC) prior surveillance of imports of certain aluminium products orig...Read More
Cobalt metal prices in China continued to rise during the first half this week following strength in local cobalt futures, which are partially being supported by an upturn in the cobalt sulfate market and fresh buying interest from investors.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, ex-works China was 240,000-250,000 yuan ($33,839-35,249) per tonne on Wednesday May 13, up by 5,000 yua...Read More
The Turkish steel mills have continued to book deep-sea scrap cargoes for June shipments at largely steady prices, sources said on Thursday May 14.A steel mill in northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo, comprising 8,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $250 per tonne, 13,000 tonnes of shredded at $255 per tonne and 5,000 tonnes of bonus at $260 per tonne cfr, late on May 13.Following the news of th...Read More
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Economy has announced a ban on exports of ferrous scrap for a period of four months starting on Friday May 15, 2020. The ban affects scrap under HS codes 720410, 720421, 720429, 720430, 720441, 720449 and 720450. The ministry did not give an official reason for implementing the export ban. But market participants in the UAE told Fastmarkets the decision was tak...Read More
Offer prices for bulk ferrous scrap cargoes to Bangladesh have increased over the past week after higher prices were paid elsewhere in Asia, but several buyers remained out of the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 14.After hectic activity in March and April, the Bangladeshi import market for bulk cargoes has cooled significantly so far in May, with high scrap inventories in the coun...Read More
With some clusters of Covid-19 infections emerging after the lifting of lockdowns, there is less hope that a 'V'-shaped rebound is sustainable and as a result markets were on a back foot this morning, Thursday May 14, especially broader markets, while the base metals were consolidating.Asian-Pacific and pre-market major western equity indices were weaker this morning.Chinese finance minister Liu K...Read More
Newmont is to begin ramping up operations at its Pe??asquito lead-zinc-silver mine in Mexico on Monday May 18 following the government's designation of mining as an essential activity. The start-up of Pe??asquito is expected to take roughly two weeks to reach stable production levels, the Colorado, United States-based producer said. "As we begin to ramp up, Newmont will provide an update on the co...Read More
Cobalt metal prices in China continued to rise during the first half this week following strength in local cobalt futures, which are partially being supported by an upturn in the cobalt sulfate market and fresh buying interest from investors.Fastmarkets' price assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, ex-works China was 240,000-250,000 yuan ($33,839-35,249) per tonne on Wednesday May 13, up by 5,000 yua...Read More