Click here to download the Selected Demand IndicatorsACCESS RESTRICTEDTo read the rest of this analysis please take a free sample or subscribeFREE SampleReceive a free sample of market analysis and price forecasts.Free SampleSUBSCRIBEReceive unlimited access to all current and archive content going back to 2008 including downloadable pricing data and forecasts.Plus download the lat...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 7 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of October Housing Starts at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase to 1.320 million units in October from upwardly revised 1.266 million units in September. Actual was 1.314 million units.Home Depot dropped $11.09 to $227.76 after r...Read More
While equity markets in the United States have pushed up to and are holding near record highs, the industrial metals are by comparison weak.This suggests global industry is still unsure about whether a post-trade war rebound is on the cards, or whether a trade deal will even emerge. Haven assets are back in demand while trade uncertainty dominates.Base metalsThree-month base metals prices on the L...Read More
China woes fuel price retracement Strong risk-on sentiment in global equity markets and the latest ILZSG data have so far failed to break the negativity in zinc that has seen prices sell off from their late-October highs. Continuing uncertainties over the US-China trade war, and the latest macro data from China, have overshadowed the more supportive themes. The latest ILZSG data showed the global...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might on Friday November 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian miner Vale has diversified its iron ore sales to yuan-denominated futures contract pricing, which is the first time for global miners to use such pricing.Suppliers are offering wider discounts in early negotiations for long-term ferro-vanadium contracts for 2020 compared with this year, accor...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might on Friday November 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian miner Vale has diversified its iron ore sales to yuan-denominated futures contract pricing, which is the first time for global miners to use such pricing.Suppliers are offering wider discounts in early negotiations for long-term ferro-vanadium contracts for 2020 compared with this year, accor...Read More
Steel billet prices in most markets around the world continued on an upward trend in the week ended Friday November 15 amid a recovery in scrap prices in the Turkish import market as well as increasing demand for billet in China.Market participants consider Turkey's scrap import prices to be a major indicator of scrap price trends because the country is the world's largest importer of the steelmak...Read More
Steel billet prices in most markets around the world continued on an upward trend in the week ended Friday November 15 amid a recovery in scrap prices in the Turkish import market as well as increasing demand for billet in China.Market participants consider Turkey's scrap import prices to be a major indicator of scrap price trends because the country is the world's largest importer of the steelmak...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might on Friday November 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian miner Vale has diversified its iron ore sales to yuan-denominated futures contract pricing, which is the first time for global miners to use such pricing.Suppliers are offering wider discounts in early negotiations for long-term ferro-vanadium contracts for 2020 compared with this year, accor...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might on Friday November 15 that are worth another look.Brazilian miner Vale has diversified its iron ore sales to yuan-denominated futures contract pricing, which is the first time for global miners to use such pricing.Suppliers are offering wider discounts in early negotiations for long-term ferro-vanadium contracts for 2020 compared with this year, accor...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures slipped 2 points in pre-opening trade. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 17.86 points to 2,909.20 after the Bank of China lowered its overnight lending rate. Ford gained $0.10 to $9.05 after announcing the launch of its all-electric Mustang Mach E.Tesla added $1.73 to $353.90 after Deutsche Bank raised its target price from...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has diversified its iron ore sales to yuan-denominated futures contract pricing, which is the first time for global miners to use such pricing.Vale's Shanghai branch has signed a deal with the trading arm of Shandong Laigang Yongfeng Steel for a Qingdao-port-delivered cargo of Brazilian Blend fines to be priced against the May 2020 iron ore futures contract on China's Dalian C...Read More
Guinea's largest bauxite developer, SMB-Winning Consortium, has won a tender to develop two blocks of the Simandou project, the site of what is considered one of the world's largest untapped deposits of high-grade iron ore.Shareholders of SMB-Winning Consortium include China Hongqiao Group Limited, a leading manufacturer of aluminum products in China, and Yantai Port Group, a port operator in the...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel use is showing signs of recovery and will increase significantlyfrom next year, ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Latin America chief executive officer Jefferson de Paula said this week. Brazil's steel consumption reached an all-time high of 28.02 million tonnes in 2013, according to the national steel association, Instituto A??o Brasil, De Paula told delegates at the La...Read More
If you are a producer or consumer, or are active in the physical markets, then you had better be aware of a new set of regulations that will make it all the more important for you to choose the right logistics partner from next year.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ruled that from January 1, 2020, the marine sector will have to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 80% by switching...Read More
Most major aluminium producers agree that tackling the carbon intensity of the smelting process is one of the biggest challenges facing their industry. What they cannot agree on is how to deal with the situation, as a lively panel hosted by Fastmarkets during LME Week at the end of October showed. Aluminium smelting is an energy-intensive business and the market is starting to differentiate b...Read More
Copper has attempted to rebound since early September following a marked sell-off in the summer months where macro and fundamental forces have been prevalent.On the macro front, copper has benefited from a slight easing in US-China trade tensions and more monetary policy easing across the globe - including China, where copper consumption is the most exposed - that has shored up investor sentiment....Read More
The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was unable to close above nearby resistance amid low turnover on Friday November 15, while tin topped losses in a 1.2% downturn. Nickel's underlying price on the LME closed at $14,975 per tonne, failing to hold above the nearby $15,000 per tonne resistance level despite achieving an intraday high of $15,155 per tonne. Volumes traded in LME...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves. Read More
The vice president of China Nonferrous Industry Association (CNIA) has called for domestic producers to produce less alumina and undertake "rational investment on alumina new projects" to cool China's enthusiasm for production that began in 2018. Speaking during a CEO dialogue session at an Antaike aluminium conference in Qingdao on Thursday November 14, Shang Fushan said: "As we all know, after t...Read More