The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.With nickel prices down by almost 20% over the space of around ten days during late February and early March, one might have been expecting us to be reporting sharply-lower prices of stainless steel, at least for the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.This is not the case, at least in Europe and the Unite...Read More
Bill Gates has a theory about green premiums: He wants to eliminate them entirely. The American business magnate and philanthropist calls green premiums the additional cost of choosing a clean technology over one that emits a greater amount of greenhouse gases.In other words, the price that metals and mining companies are starting to charge their customers for producing low-carbon produc...Read More
Inner Mongolia, China's ferro-chrome production heartland, has imposed restrictions on its metallurgical sector in a move that has fueled the high-carbon ferro-chrome markets in China and Europe, and although this may ease off, the gains were unlikely to be lost while alloy ramp-ups continue, sources have told Fastmarkets.The decision to restrict energy consumption in Inner Mongolia since December...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Global welded pipe prices surged in May as strong demand and still-insufficient supply lifted flat steel prices.The biggest jumps were seen in China, which was hit by the unexpected announcement of the elimination of export rebates on welded pipes in April. Chinese seaborne prices reached $1,570 per tonne fob for longitudina...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
Crude steel production in Germany continued to rise in June, recording a fourth consecutive month of recovery, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Thursday July 23.German crude steel production totaled more than 3.42 million tonnes in June 2021, up from 2.47 million tonnes in June 2020, WV Stahl said.The sharp rise is partially explained, however, by a low comparative base - last year's domes...Read More
Indian domestic prices for secondary steel billet rose by about $13 per tonne during the week to Friday July 23 on stronger demand for finished products, particularly rebar, sources said.Fastmarkets assessed steel billet domestic, ex-works India at 42,200-42,400 rupees ($567-570) per tonne on Friday, up by 1,000 rupees from 41,200-41,400 rupees per tonne last week. "The billet price recovery is in...Read More
Iron ore prices edged down on Friday July 23 amid weaker demand.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $201.33 per tonne, down by $1.30 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $202.86 per tonne, down by $1.76 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $165.45 per tonne, down by $1.43 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $236.10 per tonne, down by $3...Read More
Spot copper concentrate processing charge rose to its highest level since June last year, with the market firming up levels after a month of volatility.Smelter deals concluded for clean spot concentrates at low-to-mid $50s, including shipment diverted as a result of a smelter outage in Yantai. Major smelters...Read More
China's alumina price has risen after severe floods in Henan province led to the closure of several local refineries, market sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for alumina metallurgical grade, exw China was 2,425-2,560 yuan ($375-397) per tonne on Thursday July 22, widening upward by 60 yuan per tonne from 2,425-2,500 yuan per tonne one week earlier, after offe...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.Turkish mills restrict deep-sea purchases to put downward pressure on pricesSummer slowdown hits US export marketCovid-19 pandemic shuts down local long steel and scrap mar...Read More
The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country's proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23."The proposal to increase export taxes on billet and reduce import taxes on finished steel products is not suitable with the current situation of steel production," the association said.This was in response to domestic demand for steel...Read More
The flooding caused by torrential rains that have battered central China's Henan province since last weekend has disrupted logistics and deliveries there although production remains largely unaffected, market sources told Fastmarkets.Henan, one of China's most populous provinces, is a major production hub for base metals including lead, zinc, copper and nickel. Some regions of the province, inclu...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang, and Sybil...Read More
The Cobalt alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lbtrade 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.Read More
A major Japanese steel producer will raise its offer for October-shipment steel heavy plate to around $1,200 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia amid positive expectations, a source close to the producer told Fastmarkets on Thursday July 22.Inquiries for October-shipment plate from Southeast Asian buyers have been good despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the region, he said, and September-shipment...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices increased in both the cfr and fob markets on Friday July 23 due to more trading activities, sources told Fastmarkets.Prices for seaborne pulverized coal injection (PCI) inched up in the cfr market in the week to July 23 due to tight domestic supply for high quality resources. The fob market also continued to increase due to strong coking coal prices, sources said.Fastma...Read More
Iron ore prices edged down on Friday July 23 amid weaker demand.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $201.33 per tonne, down by $1.30 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $202.86 per tonne, down by $1.76 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $165.45 per tonne, down by $1.43 per tonne65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao: $236.10 per tonne, down by $3...Read More
Spot copper concentrate processing charge rose to its highest level since June last year, with the market firming up levels after a month of volatility.Smelter deals concluded for clean spot concentrates at low-to-mid $50s, including shipment diverted as a result of a smelter outage in Yantai. Major smelters...Read More