The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The Covid-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on steel production, mining and manufacturing activity, end-use consumption, and trade and transportation continue to dominate ferro-alloy markets. US steel mills are operating at around 50% of capacity, with similarly low operating rates evident in Europe as well. Chinese ste...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.Iron ore prices have shot up as market participants have judged the supply risks from Covid-19 higher at this point in time when there is already a tight seaborne market. Despite the efforts to ramp up, Vale is struggling to catch up with its pre-dam disaster export volumes and its slow recovery has only been hit further by...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Iron oreSentiment in the iron ore market continues to be dominated by concerns about supply disruptions in Brazil. Prices spiked above $100 per tonne after reports that there had been a recent surge of Covid-19 cases at Vale's three mines in Itabira. A...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Ferrous scrap consumption rates of Chinese integrated mills appear to have declined this year on a per-tonne basis. This year has seen the ratio of pig iron to steel output tighten, leaving increasingly less room for scrap consumption. Over the first four months of 2020, the pig iron-to-steel ratio has been above the pr...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.Lockdowns and restrictions of movement in several cities in Brazil have increased worries about the potential impact on iron ore export volumes. The situation has already had an impact on the market sentiment. These concerns, combined with strong demand from China, have boosted iron ore prices. The fall in shipments from Bra...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.Stainless steel prices are on the increase in June. As far as this market is concerned, it appears as though the Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact so far, with prices on the most common grades of stainless steel just 2-4% lower than they were at the turn of the year in most markets.Even in Asia, a region often talked ab...Read More

Far left: The rehabilitated Claude mining area. Credit: Orano CanadaBetween 1980 and 2002, the Cluff Lake mine in northwest Saskatchewan produced more than 62 million lb. of uranium concentrate, with the site also producing gold between 1984-88.After a planning process that included extensive public engagement, the site, which once hosted four open pits and two underground mines, was decommissione...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

(IDEX Online) - A lucky couple who tied the knot or popped the question during coronavirus lockdown will win a $5,000 dream honeymoon.Video of contestants' proposal or wedding ceremony will go to a public vote in the Love Locked Down Video Contest launched by Zillion Jewelry Insurance.Couples without a footage of the moment can still submit a brief video account."During this unprecedented tim...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) was forced to close its trading halls after a trader was found to have coronavirus. They were shut on Tuesday and will remain out of action until Sunday at the earliest, according to the ynet news website. The huge trading floor at IDE, in Ramat Gan, one of the world's largest bourses, was divided into separate rough and polished areas as...Read More

The European Commission (EC) has initiated an anti-subsidy investigation into hot-rolled coil imports from Turkey, it said on Friday June 12.The EC concluded that the European steel association, Eurofer, had provided sufficient evidence that Turkish HRC producers have been benefiting from a number of subsidies. Eurofer lodged a complaint to the EC on April 30 this year."The alleged subsidy pr...Read More

Primary foundry aluminium premiums in Europe and the United States were flat on Friday June 12, with little demand from the automotive sector last month, market participants said. "PFA is a core business of ours and to not have any schedules for a month is quite concerning," one producer in Europe said. Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium wheel alloy silicon 7 ingot premium, ddp Germany at $27...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price continued its uptrend at the close on Friday June 12, firmly above the $1,700-per-tonne support level, while easing buying momentum for LME copper led it below nearby resistance. LME lead's outright price closed at $1,757 per tonne on Friday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $1,723.50 per tonne, while turnover was moderate over the day at...Read More

Key information from the pricing session for Fastmarkets' alumina index, fob Australia on Friday June 12. The index dipped slightly on Friday after hitting $254.55 per tonne on June 11 - the highest since March 30. Key drivers:  London Metal Exchange aluminium prices fueled some uptrend for alumina prices this week, participants said.  The three-month aluminium price hit an intraday high...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

Fastmarkets' benchmark copper concentrate treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index dropped on Friday June 12 with traders eager to buy tonnages on a spot basis. The spot index fell to $47.50 per lb / 4.75 cents per lb on Friday from 49.6 per tonne/4.96 cents per lb a week ago. During the week, a tender for 40,000 tonnes of Los Pelambres concentrate delivered in the second half this year an...Read More

A summary of Trafigura's results for the first half of its 2020 financial year, October 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.In summary:Net profit for the six-month period was up 27% to $542 million from $426 million a year earlier. There was a strong performance by both trading divisions (metals and oil) driven by significant volatility and dislocations in the global market following the Covid-19 pandemic....Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Shanghai on Thursday June 11.Key drivers Demand for alumina increased after aluminium producers returned to the market to restock their inventories following weeks of inactivity. Reports of new aluminium smelting capacity coming online at the end of June or the beginning of July boosted sentiment in the alumina...Read More

Most base metals recorded a decline in deliverable stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses in the week to Friday June 12, with the exception of lead and nickel, Fastmarkets understands.SHFE lead stocks were at 19,716 tonnes on Friday, up by 10,691 tonnes or 118.5% from 9,025 tonnes a week ago, with the Zhejiang Tianchuan warehouse in Zhejiang province accepting the...Read More