The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Key ferro-alloy forecast highlights for the coming months:?EUR? A strong recovery in both bulk and noble alloys is expected in 2021 but the markets are unlikely to return to the levels seen before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen a quicker-than-expected recovery across various regions amid the economic fal...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Prices for most ferro-alloys maintained their upward momentum into October, solidifying previous gains and reflecting the improved demand from steelmakers, the rebuilding of depleted inventories, and the supply-side concerns following both planned and unplanned outages. Gains were noted for ferro-silicon, silicon metal, mang...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloys forecast highlights:Prices across most ore and alloy markets trended higher in September, buoyed by improving demand from steelmakers with the end of the summer holiday season in Europe and the United States, as well as maintained demand from Chinese steel mills. Tightening of alloy inventories...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
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron ore remains the most bullish commodity of the year, with prices fuelled by Chinese demand and supply disruptions in Brazil, along with bullish sentiment. But prices are expected to come down because Brazilian exports have begun to recover, and have reached their highest level since the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019. W...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 are ready to view.Chinese blast furnace (BF) utilization rates have stagnated and iron ore port stock volumes are rising, reaching their highest levels since March, which suggests that iron ore supply is becoming excessive while demand is not growing. Unsurprisingly, prices dropped last week and we expect the trend to continue. The market has...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.We spoke in our previous tracker of stainless steel prices ending 2020 on a high. That trend has continued during early 2021 and, in fact, the upward rally in prices has increased its momentum.Compared with the monthly price increase of some 5% seen at the end of 2020, prices for grade-304 stainless steel in al...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Prices of stainless steel are generally set to reach highs for the year as 2020 comes to a close. For the most common nickel-containing grades of stainless steel, this upward trend is being driven above all by rising nickel prices, which themselves are hitting relatively high levels into the end of 2020.The price increases si...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While much commentary has been written about Asian economies performing far better than those elsewhere this year during the global Covid-19 pandemic, it is stainless steel markets in Europe and the United States that are ending the year in better shape than their Asian counterparts.We do not talk of demand levels or demand g...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.While a world leader in many areas, the United States is a relatively small player when it comes to stainless steel. It produces a small amount of material, both in absolute and relative terms (i.e. compared to the size of its population), while a large share of its industry is in the hands of bigger European companies. Never...Read More
Aluminium primary foundry alloy (PFA) premiums in Europe rose to more than two-year highs on Friday March 12, while the premium in the United States was unchanged at a 19-month high.EuropePremiums in Europe were driven higher by a lack of supply, rising raw material costs and global logistics complications. Fastmarkets' assessment of the aluminium primary foundry alloy silicon 7 ingot premium, ddp...Read More
The pig iron export market from Brazil was stable during the week to Friday March 12, with no new deals heard because suppliers were fully booked, Fastmarkets heard.Fastmarkets' price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, Brazil, was $520 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.The latest sale from the south of Brazil to the United States was...Read More
Prices moved sideways on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Friday March 12, with the base metals complex seeing another session of consolidation following recent rallies."After a volatile couple of weeks, the base metals have taken a breather and largely drifted sideways this week," Neil Welsh, a broker for Britannia Global Markets, said."Speculative interest has been a notable...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou and Sybil Pan...Read More
Extraordinary volatility in London Metal Exchange trading, particularly in tin, may have been prevented, or at least significantly reduced, if the open-outcry trading floor had not been temporarily closed due to Covid-19, the global head of metals at ED&F Man Capital Markets has said.Fred Demler, who is also executive vice president at the Category 1 member of the exchange, said that there had als...Read More
Increased participation in London Metal Exchange price discovery does not necessarily translate into improved pricing quality, the chief executive officer of Sucden Financial has said.Marc Bailey told the virtual Fastmarkets Copper Seminar that a key problem with the LME's discussion paper on market structure was a link in the thinking that liquidity and transparency are the same thing."I would ta...Read More
Closing the London Metal Exchange ring could hinder liquidity, increase volatility, and affect pricing, and the exchange should therefore keep it open, according to the acting managing director for Minmetals (UK).Speaking during a panel at the virtual Fastmarkets Copper Seminar, Liangmin Gu said that in Minmetals' experience, volumes to determine settlement prices had fallen significantly since th...Read More
The domestic price for reinforcing bar (rebar) in Brazil rose slightly during March, with the vast majority of mills delaying previously expected increases to April, market participants told Fastmarkets.While some local steelmakers had raised prices by 5-8% in February, a few who did not decided for a 6% increase in March. For April, at least two mills were indicating an average 15% rise, but this...Read More
Domestic flat steel prices in Turkey continued to soar in the week to Friday March 12, but buyers were hesitant about booking big tonnages for July production, sources told Fastmarkets.Hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil producers were accepting orders to be produced in July, but buyers were reluctant to have to wait a minimum of four months for large quantities. Most market participants said tha...Read More