Most base metals on the London Metal Exchange opened higher on Thursday October 7 amid thin trading on the last day of a week-long holiday in China. "Despite some macro headwinds over China's property debt, the semiconductor shortage, global inflation, shipping delays and high shipping costs, metals remain quite buoyant overall," Will Adams, Fastmarkets' head of base metals and battery research, s...Read More
Most base metals on the London Metal Exchange opened higher on Thursday October 7 amid thin trading on the last day of a week-long holiday in China. "Despite some macro headwinds over China's property debt, the semiconductor shortage, global inflation, shipping delays and high shipping costs, metals remain quite buoyant overall," Will Adams, Fastmarkets' head of base metals and battery research, s...Read More
Vale has resumed activities at its On??a Puma nickel unit in Brazil after a legal injunction re-established the facility's operating license, the company said in a filing with securities and exchange commission CVM on Thursday October 7.On??a Puma, located in Brazil's northern Par?? state, had been stopped on Monday October 4 following the suspension of its operating permit by state environme...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key North American steel forecast highlights:?EUR? US sheet prices hit record highs again in May, with upward momentum persisting into June. Actual US hot-rolled coil prices averaged $1,553 per ton in May, largely in line with our forecast of $1,540 per ton. Prices remain supported by strong underlying sup...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Bulk ferro-alloy prices have shown impressive gains again this month, with ferro-silicon, silicon metal and manganese alloy prices all making significant increases. Noble alloy markets also enjoyed upward momentum, with both vanadium and molybdenum prices rising sharply.Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together w...Read More
Steel producer Feralpi Group is to invest ?,?100 million ($115 million) in renewable power at its Italian sites, it announced on Thursday October 7.It has a five-year target to install more than 100 megawatts of power to cover 20% of the group's energy requirements in its production sites in Italy.The investment will reduce its CO2 emissions by approximately 85,000 tonnes a year on completion of.....Read More
Shipping companies importing steel to Brazil are facing long lines at S??o Francisco do Sul port in the southern state of Santa Catarina due to congestion, mainly at warehouses.Ships are being diverted from S??o Francisco do Sul port, which is the main steel importing hub in Brazil, because of unloading lines.The main reason is the unusually high amount of steel products in storage, and a low with...Read More
German independent metals distribution company Kl??ckner & Co is to team up with Swedish start-up H2 Green Steel to become one of the first distributors of near-zero carbon emissions "green steel."Announcing the partnership on Thursday October 7, Kl??ckner & Co said that it would be supplied annual quantities of up to 250,000 tonnes of green steel from 2025 onwards, which would represent a su...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 7 that are worth another look.Steel producer Feralpi Group is to invest ?,?100 million ($115 million) in renewable power at its Italian sites, it announced on Thursday October 7.Vale has resumed activities at its On??a...Read More
The latest forecasts and analysis of the ferrous scrap and iron metallics market from the Fastmarkets research team are ready to be viewed.Stifled automotive output this year, driven by a supply shortage of semiconductor chips used in vehicles, has tightened prime scrap availability and widened the spreads between this grade of steelmaking raw material and obsolete scrap.While wide prime-over-obso...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:Bulk and noble alloys both moved largely in line with our price forecasts globally over the past month, though several markets surprised to the upside, exceeding our forecast gains. Stronger-than-forecast pricing momentum was primarily triggered by supply shortages in numerous...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday October 7 that are worth another look.Steel producer Feralpi Group is to invest ?,?100 million ($115 million) in renewable power at its Italian sites, it announced on Thursday October 7.Vale has resumed activities at its On??a...Read More
Fastmarkets analyst William Adams and reporter Sofia Okun size up the lithium market ahead of LME Week, which begins Monday October 11.This year has been fast and furious for the lithium market, with prices rising 135-265%, depending on location and type of lithium salt. Spodumene prices are up by 470% since the start of the year. This follows the depressed state that the market was in last year.T...Read More
The Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets publishes trades logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparencyinto the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.Fastmarkets assessed Cobalt standard grade,...Read More
British Steel has announced a low-carbon steel making roadmap which outlines how it will achieve its net-zero emissions target, the company announced on Thursday September 7. The company has pledged to invest in a range of technologies to deliver net-zero steel by 2050 and significantly reduce its CO2 intensity by 2030 and 2035, in line with UK commitments to the Paris Agreement.Earlier this...Read More
Trafigura Pte is developing a program that will provide its customers with data on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in its nickel and cobalt supply chains, the physical trading company said.The service will have a particular focus on the company's electric vehicle (EV) customers and will be provided by Circulor, a blockchain-based supply chain traceability and CO2 emissions tracking services pro...Read More
The Brazilian automotive association, Anfavea, has cut its forecast for production and sales in 2021, due to a shortage of semiconductors and logistics issues.Vehicle production is now expected to reach between 2.13-2.22 million units this year, an increase of 6-10% from the 2.01 million units produced in 2020, the association said on Wednesday October 6.The new forecast is 10-13% lower than the a...Read More
Diversified miner BHP and United States copper cable and wire manufacturer Southwire have completed their first carbon-neutral copper transaction involving delivery from BHP's mines in Chile to Southwire's processing activities in the US state of Georgia, the miner said.The pilot involved tracing BHP copper cathode and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through Southwire's rod production op...Read More
Fastmarkets analyst James Moore and reporter Ana de Liz size up the zinc market ahead of LME Week, which begins Monday October 11.LME zinc prices have underperformed relative to the rest of the base metals complex in 2021. This is partly the result of zinc outperforming in 2020, but it also reflects the expectation of significant mine capacity additions that were set to keep the refined market ove...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 index futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of the September Employment Report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for September Non-farm Payrolls was an increase of 460,000. Actual was an increase of 194,000. Consensus for the September Unemployment Rate was a slip to 5.1% from...Read More