The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
Prices for export billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) decreased on Tuesday September 28 after lower offers were heard in the market.Mills reduced asking prices from $610-620 per tonne to $600-610 per tonne fob week on week after the Chinese market, which was expected to support suppliers, started to weaken.Chinese demand for steel billet imports has fallen recently amid mounti...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 28 that are worth another look.The Brazilian steel and aluminium sectors are preparing for a period of short electricity supply in the coming months due to a persistent drought in 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
Base metals prices were mixed on the morning of Wednesday September 29 while they consolidated against a backdrop of numerous headwinds.Uncertainty has picked up regarding how high US treasury yields and the dollar will go and what will the fallout be if China’s Evergrande starts defaulting on foreign-owned debt.China’s power rationing set to hit metal production and manufacturing, and i...Read More
Seaborne cfr prices improved on Tuesday September 28 due to tight seaborne coking coal supply in the cfr spot market and active trading in China's ports, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $597.06 per tonne, up $2.50 per tonneHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $538.65 per tonne, up $8.83 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $405.14 per tonne, d...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Tuesday September 28; market participants have almost finished pre-holiday restocking and more provinces in China have places further limits on electricity consumption and steelmaking production, sources said.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $112.06 per tonne, down $7.25 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $113.45 per tonne, down $...Read More
Stainless steel prices continue to register new highs around the end of the first half of 2021 and steelmakers continue to enjoy outsized margins.They have responded in recent months by increasing their output, which has now pushed above pre-pandemic levels and will eventually restore balance to the market.For now, though, supply gaps are still being filled and buyers find themselves competing aga...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Recent weeks have brought two key developments with regard to trade policy on stainless steel products that will be to the detriment of consumers.In China, the country's stainless steelmakers no longer enjoy a 13% export rebate as of May 1, reducing greatly their incentive to export and instead leading them to focus on supply...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 28 that are worth another look.The Brazilian steel and aluminium sectors are preparing for a period of short electricity supply in the coming months due to a persistent drought in a...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.In the iron ore market, supply issues including heavy rains at the start of the year, followed by staffing problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, have affected exports from Brazil. This has helped Australia gain a larger market share, but since June, Brazilian export volumes have returned to levels last seen before the...Read More
Import prices for containerized ferrous scrap in Taiwan were supported by limited supply due to vessel congestion and high demand amid restocking activity from buyers, sources said on Tuesday September 28.Taiwan import containerized scrap prices rise on restocking needsVessel congestion remains high off Los Angeles/Long Beach portsJapanese sellers offer heavy scrap at higher prices to ChinaTaiwanS...Read More
China's domestic rebar demand - and prices - picked up slightly on Tuesday September 28, with concerns over how electricity supply restrictions would affect the market appearing to die down.Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,790-5,830 yuan ($897-904) per tonne, up by 10 yuan per tonneThe construction sector appears to be spared by the power supply restrictions being implemented across many parts...Read More
Turkish steel mills continued to book deep-sea scrap on the second working day of the week, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 28.A steel mill in the Marmara region booked a European cargo at $426 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20). And a steel producer in the same region booked a Venezuelan cargo at $434 per tonne cfr also on HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis - although this deal...Read More
Further reductions in Chinese steel mill operations due to ongoing power shortages are likely to hamper demand for imported semi-finished steel and steel scrap in the country, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Draconian restrictions on power supplies in China have led to a raft of electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers and re-rollers in key provinces such as Jiangsu, Yunnan and Zhejiang to either...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices and margins for stainless steel producers have risen notably over the past few months in both Europe and the United States, but there are now signs that the rally is petering out.A clear reason for the halt to rising prices comes from the near 20% drop in nickel prices seen in late February/early March,...Read More
(Updates number of rescued workers) Sept 28 (Reuters) - Vale SA said on Tuesday that35 of its employees who were trapped in a Canadian mine hadreturned to the surface and four more were on their way out.On Monday, the Brazilian miner said 39 mine workers had beentrapped underground since Sunday at its Totten mine in Sudbury,Canada. Vale said earlier on Tuesday it expected all employees tosurface b...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday September 27 that are worth another look.Brazil's Usiminas is halting its No2 blast furnace at Ipatinga for another 90-150 days after an incident on Friday, the flat steel producer said on Monday September 27.For aluminium market participants...Read More
Tin's futures contract fell by 3.9% on Monday September 27, and most other London Metal Exchange prices were also lower on the day, with somewhat bearish sentiment still holding in the complex.Tin's three-month price was at $35,100 per tonne on Monday at 5pm in London, decreasing from $36,539 per tonne at the same time on Friday.Amid concerns surrounding the supply of the metal given ongoing...Read More
For aluminium market participants globally, the global energy shortage is one of the many shortages producers of the light metal are facing.Market participants say the energy crunch, caused by a lack of incentive to produce additional supply when energy prices hit lows in 2020, will particularly be felt by producers who have large exposures to the spot energy markets, although many say that most s...Read More