En+ Group is eyeing a partnership with the manufacturer of an electric vehicle to produce aluminium with low-carbon greenhouse gas emissions, its executive chairman told Fastmarkets.Speaking in an interview on Tuesday September 21, Lord Gregory Barker said that partnerships of this kind would "absolutely" become more common as the group scaled up its inert anode technology, which generates direct...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices in the fob market on Tuesday September 21 continued to climb from the previous day amid firm demand, market sources said.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $565.77 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $491.97 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $399.29 per tonne, up by $13.18 per tonne ...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in northern Europe and Italy declined on Tuesday September 21 due to low trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Spot buyers have been holding back from making new orders because they have sufficient stocks and they expect domestic prices to move down further. Negative sentiment has been supported by reduced demand from the automotive segment. Car manufacture...Read More
Zinc producers in China's southwestern province of Yunnan should be able to fully resume their operations by mid-June, sources said.Yunnan will remove its power restrictions by the end of June that have stunted local zinc output, the provincial energy bureau said.A few zinc smelters in Yunnan have already resumed production, however, sources that spoke to Fastmarkets said.Production capa...Read More
Base metal prices on the morning of Tuesday September 21 stuck near the levels seen at the sell-off on Monday, triggered by continued uncertainty over the fate of Chinese property developer Evergrande.Copper's three-month price was at $9,053 per tonne, for example, a small rise from its closing price of $9,033 per tonne on Monday, a 3% drop from last Friday's 5pm price. The red metal dropped to $8...Read More
Teck Resources has trimmed its 2021 production guidance figures for refined zinc and concentrate and said that its copper concentrate shipment timing had been affected by wildfires and logistics disruptions in its home region of British Columbia, Canada.The company now expects its Trail operations to produce 285,000-290,000 tonnes of refined zinc in 2021, down from 290,000-300,000 tonnes previousl...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
The world's largest cobalt supplier is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which leaves a growing market dependent on a region that poses challenges, among them the risk of human rights abuses.Cobalt is a key ingredient in batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), and its use is expected to grow exponentially as the world shifts to a greener economy. As a result, in recent years, market s...Read More
The market for steel rebar and billet in the United Arab Emirates was silent in the week to September 21 because buyers were waiting for new local rebar prices to be announced, sources told Fastmarkets.Most market participants expect prices to follow the global downtrend.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), export, fob Black Sea, CIS was $700-710 per tonne on Sep...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
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
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
Activity in the Asian import markets for steel billet has been stifled over the past few days amid continued weak demand in the Philippines market and China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 21.Offers from traders for 125mm 5sp-grade billet, made of steel from electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) and originating from Russia's Far East province, were heard at $700...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
Base metals prices on the LME were mainly rebounding on Wednesday September 22, after dip buyers took advantage of Tuesday's price weakness, while metals in Shanghai were mixed but mainly down in response to the downturn in London this week.Risk-off sentiment eased slightly as Chinese property giant Evergrande said it would pay some of the interest on its bonds, due Thursday, but the market is als...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
Activity in the Asian import markets for steel billet has been stifled over the past few days amid continued weak demand in the Philippines market and China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 21.Offers from traders for 125mm 5sp-grade billet, made of steel from electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) and originating from Russia's Far East province, were heard at $700...Read More
Aluminium producer Alcoa has decided to begin to restart production at its Brazilian smelter Alumar immediately, with first output expected in the second quarter of 2022, the United States-headquartered company said on Monday September 20.The unit, located in Brazil's northeastern Maranh??o state, has a capacity of 447,000 tonnes per year of aluminium, but production was completely halted in March...Read More
Base metals prices have generally been under pressure in recent days while broad-based risk-off has weighed on the market, but the metals were looking more mixed on the morning of Tuesday September 21, suggesting consolidation after Monday's average loss of 1.6% across the London Metal Exchange base metals. The risk-off sentiment seems to be tied in with concerns about whether Chinese property gia...Read More
Tantalum concentrate prices fell in the week to Friday September 17, due to reduced prompt demand, which has triggered intense competition among suppliers to secure sales, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' price assessment for tantalite, basis 25% min Ta2O5, cif China was $83-88 per lb. per lb on Friday, down by 5% from a week earlier, when the price stood at $88-92 per lb.The price has b...Read More