Tightening supply and strong demand supported China's domestic and imported alloy markets in the week ended Tuesday June 15.Fastmarkets' price assessment for ferro-chrome, spot, 6-8% C, basis 50% Cr, ddp China, narrowed upward by 100 yuan per tonne (0.7%) to 7,600-7,800 yuan ($1,187-1,219) per tonne on Tuesday, from 7,500-7,800 yuan per tonne the previous week.Spot supply has tightened since power...Read More
European steel H-beam prices rose again on Wednesday June 16, with some mills closing their order books for July bookings, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?1,000-1,030 ($1,212-1,249) per tonne on June 16, up from ?,?970-1,000 per tonne one week earlier.Various European mills have stepped out of the market...Read More
The hot-rolled coil price in China's domestic market extended its losses on Wednesday June 16 after the futures price fell for a second straight day on pessimist views for near-term steel demand. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 5,440-5,480 yuan ($850-857) per tonne, down by 100-110 yuan per tonne. Two consecutive days of declines have sent the most-traded HRC contract on the Shanghai Futures Ex...Read More
Austrian steelmaking group Voestalpine has developed an industrial scale process for carbon-neutral steel production without the use of fossil carbon and secured the intellectual property rights to the process from the European Patent Office, the company said on June 15.The patent is valid in all major European steel manufacturing countries and specifically covers the production of sponge iron - d...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
The London Metal Exchange will donate $1.7 million to two multi-year projects run by charities in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) focused on reducing the number of children working in mines.The exchange announced it funding partnerships with charities Pact and The Impact Facility on Wednesday June 16.Pact will undertake a three-year project in the central and copper-belt prov...Read More
Sources expect the Chinese government to sell its copper inventory at a slight discount to end consumers to combat the recent price spike in base metals, sources told Fastmarkets.As a country that is usually highly secretive about its buying and selling intentions China made a high-profile announcement to sell its copper, aluminium and zinc reserves in batches to participants in the downstream sec...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Europe on Wednesday June 16.Key drivers The ferro-titanium market was steady for the third consecutive week amid signs of consumers returning for feedstock for their third-quarter steel-smelting schedules. Spot business was quiet, with only one deal below 10 tonnes reported.Ferro-titanium suppliers are...Read More
Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk once described the ongoing use of fossil fuels and their generation of a vast carbon footprint as "the dumbest experiment in human history."Not everyone will agree with his assessment of the petroleum, gas and coal sectors, which have powered the world's growth for decades. Nonetheless, the twin goals of supply chain security and sustainability are now driving a t...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 16 that are worth another look.European non-integrated steel traders and wire rod processors strongly oppose the European Commission's proposal to extend import safeguard measures for three more years, claiming that the decision neglects the interests of...Read More
London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More
U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 9 points in pre-opening trade. Response to the Federal Reserve's announcement on interest rates continued this morning. The U.S. Dollar Index extended gains recorded late yesterday. Gold dropped an additional $62.80 to $1,798.80 per ounce.Investors were waiting for announcement of economic news this morning. The June...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view, including an upgrade to our aluminium price forecasts.Aluminium: Price forecasts raisedWe correctly expected the macro reflationary theme to raise the prices for all base metals but, with it being the base metal with by far the weakest fundamentals, we had expected the price of aluminium to underperform relative...Read More
London Metal Exchange ring dealing members have a decision to make - whether to remain one or not.The LME has just announced it will reopen the open outcry trading floor, which was temporarily closed due to Covid-19, on September 6.Its plan, however, comes with a twist; some ring dealers say, a knife.The official prices - which the global trade and industry use as the global reference for physical...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States in the week to Tuesday June 15.China Domestic spot ferro-chrome prices rose again after suppliers increased their offer prices due to supply tightness and power restrictions in Inner Mongolia and some southern regions.Momentum in the domestic ferro-chrome market and robust demand from stainless-steel makers encouraged...Read More
The United Kingdom and Australia secured a free trade deal on Tuesday June 15, which marks the first agreement negotiated from scratch since Britain's departure from the European Union.The UK government has hailed the agreement as an important step in building new trade relationships post Brexit. Previous deals reached with other nations such as Japan and Norway were built upon existing arrangemen...Read More
Export wire rod prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States changed in a variety of ways in the week to Monday June 14 with the trading situation being different from market to market.Ukraine still has a significant quota volume available for second-quarterimports into Europe (27.52% or 69,502 tonnes remaining), and one supplier from the country offered material at $860-870 per tonne fob Bl...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Fastmarkets analysts were invited to present our outlook for the coking coal market at Coaltrans Asia, held online on November 23-25. One of the key topics at the event was the trade tensions between China and Australia, which overtook Mongolia to become the largest coking coal exporter to China this year...Read More
Brazilian miner Vale has produced the first ore at its Voisey's Bay nickel operation expansion in Canada - exploring underground reserves - after 16 years of open-pit mining, the company said on Tuesday June 15.Located in the Canadian northern Labrador region, the underground operation has a capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year of nickel concentrate and will first explore the Reid Brook ore deposit,...Read More
Alongside Fastmarkets' annual global ranking of steelmakers by crude steel output in 2020, our correspondents around the world review developments in their regional steel sectors.The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the one in which the Covid-19 pandemic spread globally, impacting every area of life and business. The world's steel industry was no exception, with many of the largest steelmak...Read More