China has started cautioning state-owned enterprises (SOEs) regarding overdependence on imported commodities and overexposure in commodity-based financial derivatives, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.In the past few days, there had been rampant market chatter the country's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission (Sasac) asking SOEs to report their positions in commodit...Read More
Brazilian apparent steel consumption soared by 83% year on year in May, according to figures from national steel institute, A??o Brasil.Apparent steel use reached 2.50 million tonnes in May compared with 1.37 million tonnes in the same month in 2020, the institute said on Thursday June 17.Consumption of flat-steel products rose 98.90% to 1.45 million tonnes from 730,000 tonnes in the same comparis...Read More
Brazilian slab export prices remained stable as buyers and sellers held their ground in negotiations for August-shipment batches amid high flat steel prices and raw material costs.Fastmarkets assessed the price for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil unchanged for the second consecutive week at $980-1,000 per tonne on Friday June 18.Sellers were holding offers at $1,000 per tonne fob to t...Read More
This article has been deprecated due to an external error The newest Fed’s statement and dot-plot indicated a much more hawkish tone among the FOMC members than the markets expected, and gold dropped. On Wednesday (June 16, 2021), the FOMC has published its newest statement on monetary policy . The statement was barely changed. The main alteration is that the Fed has ceased saying that &ldqu...Read More
Prices for flat-rolled steel products imported into South America increased in the week ended Friday June 18 amid reports of higher freight rates and more expensive deals.Demand for August-shipment material was steady, and close to levels seen in previous months, according to market participants. But clients were still uneasy due to the possibility of tax changes in China.Most sources were expecti...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market edged higher on Friday June 18, while export prices fell as overseas buyers became more cautious due to the potential imposition of export taxes.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,500-5,530 yuan ($853-858) per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,450-5,480 yuan per tonne, down by 90-100 yuan per tonne.S...Read More
An overview of the new energy materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Susan Zou, Yingchi Yang and...Read More
Joe Deplorable just got sucker punched in the gut, again. And silver? Let's just say...(by Half Dollar) Step aside all you stinkin' worthless Deplorable Fathers because there's a brand new holiday that we're going to be celebrating instead this weekend, so happy Juneteenth National Independence Day, America!Ugh.Joe Deplorable is so far beyond totally screwed.Then there's the real power of the peop...Read More
A shortage of shredded scrap is squeezing major supplier markets and pushing up the prices of key grades in the world's export markets, sources told Fastmarkets this week.Lower inflows to scrapyards and stronger demand for key grades in the major supplier nations have made it much harder for overseas consumers to secure shredded scrap over the past month.The lack of available shredded scrap, combi...Read More
China has started cautioning state-owned enterprises (SOEs) regarding overdependence on imported commodities and overexposure in commodity-based financial derivatives, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.In the past few days, there had been rampant market chatter the country's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission (Sasac) asking SOEs to report their positions in commodit...Read More
Hot-rolled coil prices in China's domestic market edged higher on Friday June 18, while export prices fell as overseas buyers became more cautious due to the potential imposition of export taxes.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 5,500-5,530 yuan ($853-858) per tonne, up by 20-30 yuan per tonne.Northern China (Tangshan): weekly assessment: 5,450-5,480 yuan per tonne, down by 90-100 yuan per tonne.S...Read More
All base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower on Friday June 18 than at the start of the week, by an average of 5.6%, brought down by a mixture of macroeconomic factors that have stifled the complex's recent bullish run.The decline across the complex to Friday was led by copper's fall on the LME, down by 8.3% on Friday to $9,135 per tonne from Monday's closing price of $9,971.50 p...Read More
Iron ore prices went down slightly on Friday June 18 on news of state monitoring of the commodities markets, new operational restrictions in Tangshan and market rumors about capacity reductions.Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $218.90 per tonne, down by $1.92 per tonne62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $220.24 per tonne, down by $1.77 per tonne58% Fe fines high-grade prem...Read More
The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.As we approach the end of the first half of 2021, steel markets in Europe and the United States continue to heat up. This six-month period is largely unprecedented, with both steel prices and steelmakers' margins hitting a number of new record highs throughout.The rally is likely nearing its end, however, with global steel ou...Read More
Global scrap prices in the key markets diverged in the week to Friday June 18, with those in Asia moving upward, while Turkish scrap prices fell amid slow buying driven by uncertainty over finished steel sales.Turkish buyers had to pay a premium for US-origin shredded scrapUS export market reported new sales to TurkeySolid demand in Vietnam resulted in higher pricesChina reported stability in impo...Read More
Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing sessions in China, the United States and Europe.China The impact of Inner Mongolia's move to raise electricity rates has continued to provide support for the current high prices, with suppliers offers broadly unchanged. Relatively tight availability due to a lack of stocks along with production cuts resulting from Ningxia's mission to conserve energy, reduce...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) rose during the week to Friday June 18, with smelters buying cargoes at higher levels and traders also assessing material from miners at TCs in the $30s.Chinese smelters bought several cargoes in the high $30s per tonne/3 cents per lb this week, picking up units for the third quarter....Read More
All base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower on Friday June 18 than at the start of the week, by an average of 5.6%, brought down by a mixture of macroeconomic factors that have stifled the complex's recent bullish run.The decline across the complex to Friday was led by copper's fall on the LME, down by 8.3% on Friday to $9,135 per tonne from Monday's closing price of $9,971.50 p...Read More
Most base metals stocks in Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses decreased in the week to Friday June 18, with zinc recording the largest drop in percentage terms. Zinc stocks totaled 50,417 tonnes on Friday, down by 6,165 tonnes (10.9%) from 56,582 tonnes a week ago. The largest outflow was recorded at the R&S Logistics MHC warehouse in Shanghai, where volumes were down by 2,835 tonnes...Read More
Most London Metal Exchange base metals prices continued to tumble on the morning of Friday June 18, with copper's three-month price heading for its worse weekly fall since the start of the pandemic, while nickel rebounded on dip-buying. Copper has entered its fifth day of decline, opening at $9,250 per tonne on Friday at 9am, down from Thursday's closing price of $9,315 per tonne. Yesterday's 5pm...Read More