The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Despite these unprecedented times, US sheet prices moved in line with our expectations over the past month. While we maintain our view on the direction of pricing during 2020 and the length of the pricing downturn, as the Covid-19 crisis deepens we have increased the magnitude of the price declines through the second quarter...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As oil price stumbles, outlook for welded markets weakensIn February, oil prices, already hit by the economic slowdown in Asia, turned lower on the failure of OPEC+ to reach an agreement on production cuts. This was enough to shake oil markets, but the collapse of global demand due to the pandemic has driven Brent below $30/...Read More

The new issue of the Seamless OCTG & Linepipe Market Tracker is now online at metalbulletinresearch.com.In this edition, Fastmarkets' research team delivers analysis of seamless OCTG and linepipe across international markets:Covid-19 underscores pipe outlookUnsurprisingly, the concern in the seamless pipe markets across the regions is the effect of the spread of Covid-19 on public health and econo...Read More

Ferro-alloys prices have generally retreated over the past month, with demand concerns gaining in prominence.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferro-alloy pricing trends have generally diverged ove the past month, depending on the security of the supply-side position of the market. With most supply concerns fading with the resumption of industrial activity i...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This month's key ferro-alloy forecast highlights:While the ferro-alloy industry's initial response to the Covid-19 outbreak was marked by rising prices primarily in response to supply-side concerns, focus has now shifted somewhat. As Chinese activity slowly returns to more normal levels, for alloys with a strong Chinese prod...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The recent decline in Chinese scrap prices - to their lowest in a couple of years - even as demand rises, suggests that Chinese scrap supply is increasingly sufficient. In terms of scrap demand, the question is more about price attractiveness. Mini-mills were reducing demand in February, largely because steel margins on scra...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.While downward pressure mounts on the steelmaking raw material markets, premiums for higher-grade iron ores have been sustained despite narrowing operating margins at Chinese steelmakers. Chinese mills are operating with shrinking margins since the end of last year but the premium for high-grade ores remains high. Historical...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.This week Fastmarkets' analysts and price reporters shared their views and recent findings in a webinar revealing some distinct fundamental tensions for steel, refining alloys and, of course, steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore.While the outlook for chrome and manganese ores and alloys is balanced, as far as market pa...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.A 6% decline in the daily average 62% Fe iron ore fines benchmark last week contributed to the lowest quarterly price rise for the first quarter in five years, in spite of clear evidence of supply-side constraints. Although there were clear demand-related obstacles to iron ore suppliers raking in more typical, seasonal price...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices have fared relatively well over the past couple of months in the face of the threat from the Covid-19 pandemic.In grade-304 material, the most common grade of stainless steel, prices were down by about 5-7% since the turn of the year - not bad, when compared with the falls in prices of other assets so f...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Having first hit Asia during early 2020, the Covid-19 viral outbreak is now having an even bigger impact on European countries and the US. Widespread lockdown measures have been put in place on people and industry, and economic activity has slowed markedly.For now, stainless steel markets in Europe and the US are yet to show...Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for their latest price moves.Read More

An overview of the noble alloys markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Access our research platformsSign-in to our platforms to access our extensive research, our latest insight, data and analytics and to connect to our industry experts.The most important driver of the zinc market in 2020 will be the performance of the world’s zinc smelting industry, according to Wood Mackenzie.The easing of trade tensions between the US and China, the struggling manufacturing...Read More

The Fastmarkets copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index dropped to its lowest level since the start of 2020 in the week ended Friday May 1. The benchmark index fell to $52.20 per tonne / 5.22 cents per lb on Friday, from $54.90 per tonne / 5.49 cents per lb a week ago. A Los Pelambres tender was awarded to a trader at TC/RCs in the low $40s per tonne during the week. Ahead o...Read More

Spot trading interest in blister copper was unusually high in April with both smelters and traders looking for units to fill a supply gap arising from delayed African shipments, sending the refining charge (RC) to the lowest level in over two years. Fastmarkets assessed the RC for 98-99% blister copper cif China at $117-132 per tonne on April 30, down from $130-140 per tonne at the end of Mar...Read More

The global tin market is experiencing a glut of supply entering the market amid coronavirus-related uncertainty, Fastmarkets understands.But even with global verifiable tin stocks now estimated to be at approximately seven days' consumption, many participants believe the industry's meagre demand conditions could cripple the tin market for the remainder of the year.Meanwhile, the prospective resump...Read More

Weda Bay Nickel, the Indonesia-based joint venture between French multi-metal miner Eramet, Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan and regional miner PT Antam went into the early stages of production on Thursday April 30, Eramet announced on the same day.Weda Bay, located on the country's Halmahera Island, will supply nickel to local ferro-alloys plants for stainless steel production and has an e...Read More

The sharp decline in emerging market currencies combined with a collapse in oil prices are providing a twin saving grace for many metals and mining companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. For producers of energy-intensive metals like aluminium, and in particular the low-cost ones, the benefit is even greater. It's an emerging trend that is starting to be reflected in the earnings of corporates in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Polished diamond prices for April were largely in line with last month, with only small fluctuations and little in the way of dramatic movement.  The majority of both rounds and fancies remained unchanged.  Movement across the board was a mix of modest rises and falls, rarely above three per cent.HIGHLIGHTS Rounds 0.50-0.69 ct. G-I / VVS1&nbs...Read More