Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday April 20 that are worth another look.Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday, they did.Iron ore fines output at Brazil-based miner Vale fell by 18.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, while the company has cut its guidance of iron ore and pellet production for 2020, the company...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
Defaults among overseas buyers have become a problem for Chinese steel exporters in recent weeks, with falling prices and weakening demand triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic leading to an increase in export credit insurance claims.When contacted by Fastmarkets two weeks' ago, a source at a steel mill in northern China said he was having to deal with a shipment of 5,000 tonnes of hot-dipped galvani...Read More
For two consecutive years now, the first quarter has been marked by watershed events as for the iron ore market. Last year, it marked the beginning of a severe supply disruption from Brazil. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic took center stage.Put simply, Covid-19 has slowed down the recovery of downstream demand in China - the world's biggest steel-producing country - that typically takes place aft...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout metal at the close of trading on Monday April 20, while the rest of the base metals complex remained pinned down amid broad risk aversion. Nickel's outright price on the LME closed at $12,505 per tonne on Monday afternoon - its highest closing price since March 13 - with daily turnover notching a three-week high w...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has paused plans to implement pre-trade transparency (PTT) changes to its inter-office market, it said in a note to members on Monday April 20, citing the significant impact of Covid-19 in the postponement of the initiative.The changes, which are a requirement of the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) r...Read More
The market for seaborne iron ore fines continued to strengthen on Monday April 20, with Brazilian producer Vale cutting its production guidance figure for 2020 to 310-330 million tonnes.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $87.45 per tonne, up by $1.28 per tonne.62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $89.11 per tonne, up by $1.21 per tonne.58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qin...Read More
China's production of refined copper in March dropped marginally from a year ago while charges to turn concentrate into copper metal rebounded during the month. Home of half of the world's copper smelting capacity, China generated 771,000 tonnes of copper cathodes last month, representing a drop of 2.5% from a year ago, the country's statistics bureau said on Monday April 20. The largely stable op...Read More
Turkish steel producers exited the deep-sea scrap import market on Monday April 20, after booking seven cargoes last week, sources told Fastmarkets.The seven deep-sea scrap cargoes totalled almost 220,000 tonnes."I think Turkish steel producers have booked enough cargoes for now. This week will probably be slow for trading," a source in Turkey said.Another...Read More
The London Metal Exchange has paused plans to implement pre-trade transparency (PTT) changes to its inter-office market, it said in a note to members on Monday April 20, citing the significant impact of Covid-19 in the postponement of the initiative.The changes, which are a requirement of the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) r...Read More
Swiss private equity firm Parter Capital Group AG has sold its majority stake in the Aviles and La Coru??a aluminium smelters, known as Alu Iberica, in Spain to Grupo Industrial Riesgo. The sale of a nearly 75% stake in Alu Iberica for an undisclosed sum, first reported by Spanish local media on April 15, comes just nine months after Parter purchased the two smelters from aluminium producer A...Read More
Kaiser Aluminum has cut its forecast for revenue from commercial aerospace this year amid a sharp decline in air travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a knock-on effect throughout that industry.The US aluminium producer, deemed an essential business in that country, anticipates that its commercial aerospace value-added revenue could be roughly 20-25% lower in 2020 compared with record levels las...Read More
The price of nickel pig iron (NPI) in China is gaining upward momentum due to rising nickel prices and ore supply disruptions in the Philippines. Fastmarkets assessed the price of nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China at 920-940 yuan per nickel unit on Friday April 17, up by 3% or 27.50 yuan per tonne at the midpoint from 895-910 yuan per nickel unit a week prior. Th...Read More
The three-month nickel price on the LME was trading at its highest level in more than a month on Monday April 20, while a large inflow of some 46,275 tonnes of primary aluminium put pressure on the light metal's underlying price. Nickel's outright price on the London Metal Exchange was recently seen at $12,405 per tonne, up by just over 2.8% from Friday's closing price of $12,042 per tonne, w...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have fallen below $24 per hundredweight ($480 per short ton) for the first time since late last October. Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $23.92 per cwt ($478.40 per ton) on Monday April 20, down by 2.9% from $24.63 per cwt on Friday April 17 and down by 2% from $24.42 per cwt a week earlier on April 13.T...Read More
Both cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon (HC) wire rod prices have fallen due to declining raw material costs and a downturn in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fastmarkets has learned.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel wire rod cold-heading quality, ddp settled at $36 per hundredweight ($720 per short ton) on Friday April 17, down by 4% from $37.50 per cwt during the previous mont...Read More
Prices for flat steel in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow stabilized over the past week with trading activity limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 20.Buying in Russia's flat steel market was slow over the assessment week, with traded volumes minor amid the pandemic, sources said."The number of new orders dropped, with some buyers trying eith...Read More
The price of steel rebar in Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow was stable week on week, while buying remained slow due to the Covid-19 restrictions, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 20.Activity in construction, the key rebar consuming sector, slowed down gradually, while a majority of construction sites have been closed since April 13, sources said."Only strategic projects suc...Read More
Defaults among overseas buyers have become a problem for Chinese steel exporters in recent weeks, with falling prices and weakening demand triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic leading to an increase in export credit insurance claims.When contacted by Fastmarkets two weeks' ago, a source at a steel mill in northern China said he was having to deal with a shipment of 5,000 tonnes of hot-dipped galvani...Read More
China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices were stable on Monday April 20 despite only "moderate" trading, while some mills raised export prices on limited resources. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,330-3,340 yuan ($471-472) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Tangshan): 3,260 yuan per tonne, unchanged A Shanghai-based trader said sellers were keeping prices stable with futures prices remaining...Read More