Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 17 that are worth another look.Prices paid for Brazil-origin steel slab in export deals have narrowed in the week ended April 17, with recovering demand in Asia and Europe resulting in increased numbers of deals, sources said.The Covid-19 pandemic is a unifier in that it impacts all. But sub-Saharan Africa is facing an unprece...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 17 that are worth another look.Prices paid for Brazil-origin steel slab in export deals have narrowed in the week ended April 17, with recovering demand in Asia and Europe resulting in increased numbers of deals, sources said.The Covid-19 pandemic is a unifier in that it impacts all. But sub-Saharan Africa is facing an unprece...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday April 17 that are worth another look.Prices paid for Brazil-origin steel slab in export deals have narrowed in the week ended April 17, with recovering demand in Asia and Europe resulting in increased numbers of deals, sources said.The Covid-19 pandemic is a unifier in that it impacts all. But sub-Saharan Africa is facing an unprece...Read More
The base metals on the London Metal Exchange and on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly firmer this morning, Monday April 20, but broader markets were mixed with equities braced for the release of corporate earnings. With some countries and regions looking to lift restrictions, while others are extending restrictions and with uncertainty about whether reopening will lead to second waves of t...Read More
U.S equity indices lower in pre-opening trade. S&P 500 futures were down 56 points in pre-opening trade. May Crude Oil futures plunged $6.58 to a 21 year low at $11.59 per barrel. Energy equity prices are leading U.S. equity index futures to the downside. Dupont added $1.64 to $39.95 after noted that first quarter earnings will exceed consensus estimates. Boeing dropped $6.01 to $147.99 after...Read More
Prices for flat steel in Turkey were mixed in the week to Friday April 17, with some prices moving higher and others lower, while demand improved slightly from last week, market participants said.Demand strengthened because stocks among buyers were low, Turkish sources said.Scrap prices continued to increase during the week on reduced availability. Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2...Read More
China's crude steel output edged up in the first quarter while finished steel production fell slightly, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday April 17.January-March output Crude steel: 234.45 million tonnes, up by 1.2% from a year earlier Hot metal: 199.74 million tonnes, up by 2.4% year on yearFinished steel: 267.42 million tonnes, down by 1.6%...Read More
Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) raised their steel and hot-metal output rates in early April from the preceding 11 days, while the pace of decline for their finished steel inventories slowed down, according to data released on Friday April 17April 1-10 outputCrude steel: 1.95 million tonnes per day, up by 6.5%Finished steel: 1.82 million tpd, down by...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
When a tailings dam ruptured in the state of Minas Gerais in southeast Brazil last year, it was a harsh reminder for the mining sector that it needs to consistently operate within the parameters of strict controls and stay alert to potentially tragic risks.The disaster - at Vale's Feij??o mine in Brumadinho - led to the deaths of 270 people after the ruptured dam flooded a nearby community. Just o...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Aluminium: OversoldAluminium has been the hardest hit base metal over the past week, after relentless selling pressure took it to fresh multiyear lows while its LME peers generally consolidate or try to rebound. Aluminium is seeing far less in the way of supply restraint or disruptions than the other metals. But this market...Read More
The latest forecast from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Aluminium: Downside momentum maintainedThe aluminium price has continued to decline, with LME cash even falling below the $1,500 per tonne mark at the start of this week. Downside pressure and momentum remains in the short term while ex-China demand plummets amid auto production line closures and while smelters resist capacity...Read More
The new issue of Aluminium Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers key insights and forecasts into aluminium markets around the world.Aluminium price down 2.3% week-on-week amid stock market sell-offGlobal markets remain rattled by the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) across Europe and the United States. Panic-sellin...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Despite these unprecedented times, US sheet prices moved in line with our expectations over the past month. While we maintain our view on the direction of pricing during 2020 and the length of the pricing downturn, as the Covid-19 crisis deepens we have increased the magnitude of the price declines through the second quarter...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As oil price stumbles, outlook for welded markets weakensIn February, oil prices, already hit by the economic slowdown in Asia, turned lower on the failure of OPEC+ to reach an agreement on production cuts. This was enough to shake oil markets, but the collapse of global demand due to the pandemic has driven Brent below $30/...Read More
The new issue of the Seamless OCTG & Linepipe Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers analysis of seamless OCTG and linepipe across international markets:Covid-19 underscores pipe outlookUnsurprisingly, the concern in the seamless pipe markets across the regions is the effect of the spread of Covid-19 on public health and econo...Read More
The new issue of the Steel Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers key insights and forecasts into the long and flat products markets.This week's risks to our latest flat-rolled forecasts:The Chinese government is stepping up help to the economy, increasing banks' liquidity. But the spread of the coronavirus worldwide is likely...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese prod...Read More