Prices for imported steel billet in Egypt increased in the week to Thursday April 16, but market activity remained weak because of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand is weak, and buyers have little interest in placing new orders since Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry announced a six-month delay to the proposed reduction in safeguard duties o...Read More
The price for Iranian steel billet exports continued to climb in the week to Wednesday April 15, supported by price rises in other markets which have followed the recent surge of scrap costs globally.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel billet, export, fob ports Iran, was $340-350 per tonne on April 15, narrowing upward by $10 per tonne.A cargo of Iranian billet was sold to Southeast Asi...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices were flat on Thursday April 16 although futures strengthened following word that Tangshan would likely impose restrictions on blast furnaces.Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,430-3,460 yuan ($486-490) per tonne, unchangedNorthern China (Beijing): 3,430-3,460 yuan per tonne, unchangedTrading activity was stable in the morning, which kept rebar prices unchanged.Some sellers r...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 16 that are worth another look.Toyota plans further cuts to output at its automotive plants in Japan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has also pledged to support ventilator producers in the fight against the rising infection and death rates.Chinese stainless steel producers have withheld their offers since late last...Read More
Mining operations in South Africa may now operate at a reduced capacity of not more than 50% during the country's lockdown and can apply to restart and increase production beyond this level, according to a government minister. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, South Africa's minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, said approvals will come from the minister of mineral resources and ene...Read More
Chinese stainless steel producers have withheld their offers since late last week and this has resulted in a recent surge in prices, multiple sources told Fastmarkets this week. Stainless steel mills including a major privately-held steelmaker resorted to a supply shock to arrest a rapid decline in prices after futile attempts to court customers with price discounts, a stainless steel trader in no...Read More
German carmaker Volkswagen has become the first European car manufacturer to announce the restart of operations in the region following several weeks of suspended activity under lockdown measures brought in to help stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.VW announced on March 15 that it would suspend output at its production site in Bratislava, Slovakia, on March 23 but did not give a scheduled r...Read More
Toyota plans further cuts to output at its automotive plants in Japan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has also pledged to support ventilator producers in the fight against the rising infection and death rates.As part of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association's national initiative to help the country increase medical equipment supplies, the world's leading car manufactur...Read More
Brazilian mining output fell by 16.96% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, due to heavy rains and the impact of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data released by the country's national mining institute Ibram. Total mine output reached 220.44 million tonnes in the January-March period, Ibram said on Wednesday April 15, compared with 265.45 million tonnes i...Read More
Toyota plans further cuts to output at its automotive plants in Japan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has also pledged to support ventilator producers in the fight against the rising infection and death rates.As part of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association's national initiative to help the country increase medical equipment supplies, the world's leading car manufactur...Read More
China's cold-rolled coil producers are incurring losses amid falling prices, even though the automotive industry - a key downstream consumer - experienced a rebound in sales and output in March.The country's auto sales totaled 1.43 million units last month, more than four-and-a-half times of February's 310,000 units, while output was 1.42 million units, about five times of the 285,000 units produc...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 16 that are worth another look.Toyota plans further cuts to output at its automotive plants in Japan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has also pledged to support ventilator producers in the fight against the rising infection and death rates.Chinese stainless steel producers have withheld their offers since late last...Read More
Brazilian mining output fell by 16.96% year on year in the first quarter of 2020, due to heavy rains and the impact of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data released by the country's national mining institute Ibram. Total mine output reached 220.44 million tonnes in the January-March period, Ibram said on Wednesday April 15, compared with 265.45 million tonnes i...Read More
Prices for imported steel billet in Egypt increased in the week to Thursday April 16, but market activity remained weak because of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, sources told Fastmarkets.Demand is weak, and buyers have little interest in placing new orders since Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry announced a six-month delay to the proposed reduction in safeguard duties o...Read More
Mining operations in South Africa may now operate at a reduced capacity of not more than 50% during the country's lockdown and can apply to restart and increase production beyond this level, according to a government minister. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, South Africa's minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, said approvals will come from the minister of mineral resources and ene...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 16 that are worth another look.Toyota plans further cuts to output at its automotive plants in Japan in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but has also pledged to support ventilator producers in the fight against the rising infection and death rates.Chinese stainless steel producers have withheld their offers since late last...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 Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably drawn comparison with the global financial crisis of 2008-09. But while there are similarities, the differences are greater, meaning the remedy needs to be different too.Perhaps the biggest uniting factor between the two events is uncertainty.Ask the head of a major commodities company in 2008, and they would have told you their biggest task was staying liquid,...Read More
The aluminium price on Shanghai Futures Exchange rose for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday April 16 in an active Chinese market. The aluminium front month contract on the SHFE touched a fresh one-month high of 12,110 yuan ($1,714.50) per tonne on April 16, up 150 yuan per tonne from Wednesday's close at 11,960 yuan per tonne. This followed an increase of 220 yuan per tonne the day prior,...Read More