Turkish steel mills extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap markets due to a public holiday in the country on Thursday April 23, keeping any possible trading opportunities on hold.Thursday marked the National Sovereignty and Children's Day public holiday in Turkey, with most people in the country away from work. In addition to this, the country has imposed a lockdown from April 23 to April...Read More
Prices for deep-sea bulk cargoes of ferrous scrap in Bangladesh have stayed largely flat over the past week amid a continued standoff between mills and suppliers, sources said on Thursday April 23.More stability in the Turkish import scrap market, a plunge in the price of crude oil and the continuation of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions in Bangladesh were three reasons highlighted by marke...Read More
Demand for imported steel billet and domestic rebar in Egypt was soft in the week ended Thursday April 23 and was unlikely to improve in the short term because of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, sources have told Fastmarkets.No new billet deals have been heard since April 12, when the Egyptian ministry of trade postponed the reduction of the duty i...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices moved up slightly on Thursday April 23, supported by falling stocks in the spot market. Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,440-3,470 yuan ($487-471) per tonne, up 10-20 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,430-3,470 yuan per tonne, widened upward by 10 yuan per tonneRebar prices rose slightly due to reduced inventories. A trader in eastern China...Read More
China's domestic and export prices for stainless steel moved up amid rising raw material costs.Rising nickel futures on the London Metal Exchange led to an increase in the prices for nickel pig iron, a major raw material for producing stainless steel in China, sources said. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended the official trading session on Monday at $12,334 per tonn...Read More
Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on Thursday April 23.The company added that it is maintaining the production guidance for its Minas Rio operations in South America at 22-24 million tonnes, though the outloo...Read More
A summary of Tata Steel's provisional financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of its 2020 year ended March 31, 2020.In brief Steel demand has declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe with customers, including automotive producers, pausing production and utilization levels currently at 70%. Sales and production for the full year were down year on year, but...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic could nudge Chinese steelmakers toward using more electric-arc furnaces (EAF) to produce steel, market sources say.This is especially due to the huge market uncertainty caused by the ongoing global economic crisis. EAF-based production could offer mills - most of which are still heavily reliant on blast furnaces (BFs) - the flexibility they need in such circumstances to reduc...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 23 that are worth another look.Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on April 23.South Africa is to end its nationwide lockdown and ease r...Read More
The three-month copper price on the LME climbed by just over 1% on Thursday April 23 to settle at its highest level since April 14, while nickel futures gained ground in the afternoon despite low turnover. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,160.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, gaining some $30 per tonne from Wednesday's closing price, while turnover in the re...Read More
European buyers of hot-rolled coil expected that domestic prices would slide due to the current poor demand, sources told Fastmarkets in Thursday April 23.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?447.00 ($484.68) per tonne on Thursday, up by only ?,?2 per tonne day on day from ?,?445.00 per tonne on April 22.Official offers have been heard at ?,?455-465...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 23 that are worth another look.Anglo American has lowered the 2020 production guidance for its Kumba iron ore operations to 37-39 million tonnes, down from a previous guidance of 41.5-42.5 million tonnes, due to the lockdown in South Africa, the miner said on April 23.South Africa is to end its nationwide lockdown and ease r...Read More
Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday April 20, they did.The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell as low as minus $37.63 per barrel, the first time ever that the price of the commodity has entered negative territory. By contrast, the June WTI contract is trading at around $20 per barrel, marking the biggest perce...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic is a unifier in that it impacts all. But sub-Saharan Africa is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis that threatens to throw the region off its stride, reversing the development progress of recent years and hitting the mining sector hard.The mineral-rich region - which comprises 46 of the 54 countries in the continent below the Sahara - is expected to see its eco...Read More
The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly hit global electric vehicle (EV) production and sales, and so the broadly anticipated reshuffle of China's EV battery supply chain is likely to speed up in 2020. Many already believed the EV subsidy policy in China that had been scheduled to end in December 2020 would squeeze out some companies in the EV battery supply chain, including producers of precursors, cat...Read More
Metal traders are banking profits after locking an arbitrage to import copper into China, which has opened following a switch in London and Shanghai futures curves. China's Shanghai Futures Exchange copper contract is backwardated, meaning the market is pricing short-term copper above that of the future. Meanwhile the London Metal Exchange forward curve is in a steep contango; cash contracts are t...Read More
The three-month copper price on the LME climbed by just over 1% on Thursday April 23 to settle at its highest level since April 14, while nickel futures gained ground in the afternoon despite low turnover. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,160.50 per tonne on Thursday afternoon, gaining some $30 per tonne from Wednesday's closing price, while turnover in the re...Read More
Total zinc inventory in London Metal Exchange warehouses has risen by 37% since the start of April to 100,075 tonnes as of April 23. Market sources attribute the rise in stocks to producers shipping their stock into warehouses to wait out the storm that is Covid-19. Demand for the galvanizing metal, like many other commodities, has fallen due to Covid-19 related lockdowns, leaving traders and prod...Read More
Metal traders are banking profits after locking an arbitrage to import copper into China, which has opened following a switch in London and Shanghai futures curves. China's Shanghai Futures Exchange copper contract is backwardated, meaning the market is pricing short-term copper above that of the future. Meanwhile the London Metal Exchange forward curve is in a steep contango; cash contracts are t...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