U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade. The Canadian Dollar was virtually unchanged at 74.34 cents U.S. following release of the February GDP report. Consensus was an increase of 0.1% versus a gain of 0.3% in January. Actual was a decrease of 0.1%.Alphabet dropped $95.20 to $1201.00 after releasing less than consensus first quarte...Read More
Billet producers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) reduced their prices in the week ended Friday April 26 to attract buyers, and this affected the markets in most regions.But producers in other regions, such as Turkey, were not able to follow this tactic due to the strong prices in their regions for scrap raw materials.For example, Fastmarkets' daily ferrous scrap index for Norther...Read More
Steel production has stopped at the Algerian steel mill of Turkish steelmaker Tosyali after a workers' strike began on Wednesday April 24, according to local newspaper reports. Tosyali could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. "Production at Tosyali has stopped, and in the past two or three days, we have seen increased Algerian interest for wire rod imports from Italy and Spain,...Read More
If the United States places import tariffs on cars produced in Germany it could trigger an economic slowdown in Germany, corporate audit director of Czech steel distributor Ferona, Jan Moravec, said at Eurometal's Regional Meeting in Central Europe held in Prague on April 25.One of the major risks to the German steel industry is the import tariffs in the United States, Moravec said.Tariffs on impo...Read More
Tata Steel aims to produce 32 million tonnes per year of crude steel at its Indian operations by 2025, the company said.The 2025 capacity target in India would constitute the entirety of the steelmakers' global crude capacity following the planned divestment of operations in Asia and a planned joint venture of European flat steel operations with Germany's ThyssenKrupp.Of the Indian steelmaker's cu...Read More
Billet producers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) reduced their prices in the week ended Friday April 26 to attract buyers, and this affected the markets in most regions.But producers in other regions, such as Turkey, were not able to follow this tactic due to the strong prices in their regions for scrap raw materials.For example, Fastmarkets' daily ferrous scrap index for Norther...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 26 that are worth another look.The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is doomed unless President Donald Trump's administration removes Section 232 tariffs - and the threat of quotas - from steel and aluminium imported from the United States' neighbors, two trade experts said.Warrant traders are reporting an uptic...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 26 that are worth another look.The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is doomed unless President Donald Trump's administration removes Section 232 tariffs - and the threat of quotas - from steel and aluminium imported from the United States' neighbors, two trade experts said.Warrant traders are reporting an uptic...Read More
London Metal Exchange base metals prices have generally been weak in recent days but some dip-buying seems to be emerging, which for now is providing support. But, with much of Asia in, or heading for, Golden Week and Labor Day holidays, liquidity is likely to shrink either leading to more volatility, or quiet trading in the days ahead. Base metals Three-month base metals prices on the L...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade.Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus for March Personal Income was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.2% I February. Actual was a gain of 0.1%. Consensus for March Personal Spending was an increase of 0.7% versus an increase o...Read More
Steel production has stopped at the Algerian steel mill of Turkish steelmaker Tosyali after a workers' strike began on Wednesday April 24, according to local newspaper reports. Tosyali could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. "Production at Tosyali has stopped, and in the past two or three days, we have seen increased Algerian interest for wire rod imports from Italy and Spain,...Read More
If the United States places import tariffs on cars produced in Germany it could trigger an economic slowdown in Germany, corporate audit director of Czech steel distributor Ferona, Jan Moravec, said at Eurometal's Regional Meeting in Central Europe held in Prague on April 25.One of the major risks to the German steel industry is the import tariffs in the United States, Moravec said.Tariffs on impo...Read More
Tata Steel aims to produce 32 million tonnes per year of crude steel at its Indian operations by 2025, the company said.The 2025 capacity target in India would constitute the entirety of the steelmakers' global crude capacity following the planned divestment of operations in Asia and a planned joint venture of European flat steel operations with Germany's ThyssenKrupp.Of the Indian steelmaker's cu...Read More
Low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, when market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. Normally volatile low-grade manganese ore prices have held relatively steady since rebounding from this year's lows in January, after which market participants toned down fears of oversupply in the alloy market. F...Read More
When the London Metal Exchange amended its policies related to its physical delivery network a few years ago, it overlooked one key thing. The issue centers on LME's linked load-in/load-out (LILO) rule, which operates by linking the amount of metal a warehouse loads in to the amount it is obligated to load out for warehouses that have queues of over 50 days.The rule changes were part of package of...Read More
Ahead of Fastmarkets' Battery Materials 2019 conference in Shanghai, Fastmarkets looks at use of lithium in next-generation vehicles and other battery uses, as well as soaring prices, which have spurred interest in lithium and boosted its importance in recent years as a battery material. In June 2016, the spot price in China peaked at $27 per kg, more than three times the global contract price, ac...Read More
China's month-on-month new electric vehicles (NEV) sales rebounded in August after month-on-month declines in June and July. The drop in sales between May and June was the first drop since September 2016, but Fastmarkets MB had expected Chinese NEV sales to dip temporarily after the June subsidy changes came into effect because consumers and NEV manufacturers would have to adjust to the new subsid...Read More
Iron ore prices fell sharply in the second half of November after climbing through October, with prices for higher-grade material pioneering the decline.Fastmarkets MB daily benchmark for 65% Fe fines dropped by 22% by Monday November 26 after peaking on October 29. The 62% Fe iron ore index declined by 16% over the period, as some Chinese steelmakers started to seek larger volumes of cheaper ores...Read More
The steel scrap sector in the United States still depends on exports to Turkey, a member of the Fastmarkets research team said during the ferrous session at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) conference in London.This dependence persists despite the changes in the international markets created by the US' imposition of its Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel products, metals analyst Le...Read More
Seaborne pig iron has become relatively competitive versus ferrous scrap over the past year in most regions, and China is no exception. As the first chart below illustrates, the gap between the MBR's proxy for imported pig iron price in China and the Metal Bulletin's Chinese domestic heavy melt scrap price assessment had shrunk by late 2017. The premium averaged $17 per tonne this year to date, co...Read More