Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States remained below $91 per hundredweight ($1,820 per short ton) for the second business day in a market that has reported a small increase in spot volume trade in the last week.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $90.61 per hundredweight ($1,812.20 per short ton) on Monday July 26, down 0.21% from $90.80 per cwt on F...Read More
China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.This means that the share of total crude steel production by major steel producers will increase, leading to low-carbon steel production via unified research, development efforts for low-carbon technology and improved production e...Read More
Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange rose to $9,809.50 per tonne at the close of trading on Monday July 26, an increase which led most other prices in the complex higher as well.The red metal closed near its intraday high of $9,826.50 per tonne, the highest for copper since June 15. Intense buying took its volumes on Monday to 24,000 lots traded by 5pm, also the highest since th...Read More
Seaborne coking coal prices continued to be supported by regular procurement demand in the cfr market on Monday July 26, while the fob market was largely stable on new buying interest for August-loaded cargoes.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $214.63 per tonne, down $0.43 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $315.07 per tonne, up $0.66 per tonneHard coking coal, f...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday July 26 that are worth another look.China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.Norway-based aluminium and renewable...Read More
A summary of China's battery raw materials imports for June 2021.In Brief Imports of cobalt intermediates increased in June with improved logistics and buying appetite increased due to rising downstream cobalt salts prices. Imports of cobalt metal decreased month on month with most materials being purchased by overseas buyers driven by...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday July 23.Key drivers: Spot availability has been tighter following news of a furnace accident at a major silicon producer, while another major producer has raised its offer price....Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil inched down in Northern Europe but were unchanged in Italy on Monday July 26 due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers from Northern European suppliers remained limited. Mills in the region had good order books and could only offer fourth-quarter-production HRC, with some of them claiming to be sold out until the end of the year, sources s...Read More
Norway-based aluminium and renewable energy producer Norsk Hydro hopes to increase annual earnings by as much as 1.1 billion krone ($124 million) through investments into recycling and the use of post-consumer scrap, according to chief financial officer P??l Kildemo.Kildemo was speaking to Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Friday July 23, after Hydro announced its second-quarter results.The...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil inched down in Northern Europe but were unchanged in Italy on Monday July 26 due to limited trading activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Offers from Northern European suppliers remained limited. Mills in the region had good order books and could only offer fourth-quarter-production HRC, with some of them claiming to be sold out until the end of the year, sources s...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in China on Friday July 23. Key drivers: The Chinese manganese flake price became bullish on news that some manganese flake producers in the country will suspend their operations and cut their production...Read More
Typhoon In-fa made landfall in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Friday July 23, resulting in a serious drop in demand for steel products and disruptions to transport in coastal areas.Zhejiang and Shanghai have had heavy rain since Friday night, and the typhoon was forecast to reach Jiangsu and Shandong provinces in the next two days.Construction sites have gradually been stopping work since la...Read More
Crude steel production cuts that are gradually being implemented in China have resulted in a switch in preference for iron ore brands among steelmakers in the country, sources told Fastmarkets.While the overall demand for iron ore has started to weaken, low-grade fines are generating more buying interest, sources said.A month ago, low-grade fines started to gain favor among mills amid weakening ma...Read More
Rio Tinto is cutting production at its BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat, Canada, to just 35% of its annual capacity, after workers went on strike following failed labor contract negotiations.That would bring production at the 432,000-tonnes-per-year smelter to just over 150,000 tonnes."We will continue to look for longer-term solutions with the union and work closely with customers and suppli...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday July 26 that are worth another look.China's drive to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 will likely mean a higher steel industry concentration ratio in time, sources told Fastmarkets.Norway-based aluminium and renewable...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices maintained their upward trend on Monday July 26 on replenishment demand from trading houses, but end user demand remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,340-5,370 yuan ($823-828) per tonne, up by 70-80 yuan per tonneTrading houses purchased actively on Monday because they expect rebar prices to rise due to likely production res...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board on Tuesday July 27, after a generally upbeat day on Monday, while the base metals on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed this morning.* Chinese equities under pressure again today – market worried about regulatory intervention* Pre-market western equity index futures showing a weaker start againBase metalsLME thre...Read More
The price of nickel ore narrowed upward amid limited supply in the week to Friday July 26 amid bad weather and increasing Covid-19 infections in southeast Asia, while the cargo liquefaction of nickel ores also concerned sources, Fastmarkets learned.Fastmarkets' latest assessment for the price of laterite ore with 1.5% Ni content, cif China was $78-80 per tonne on Friday July 23, up by $3 (1.0...Read More
ArcelorMittal is to enter a partnership with Sekisui Chemical on a carbon capture project, and invest in a renewable energy storage company as part of its XCarb innovation fund, the steelmaker has announced.The project will be intended to capture and re-use carbon waste gases from the steelmaking process, contributing to the decarbonization of steelmaking and reducing dependence on fossil resource...Read More
Iron ore prices edged up on Monday July 26 due to higher steel prices, while news of production cuts in China affected the market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $202.74 per tonne, up by $1.41 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $203.93 per tonne, up by $1.07 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $167.65 per tonne, up b...Read More