Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and some of the metals storylines here on MetalMiner, including competition between the COMEX and LME vis-á-vis electrification, consolidating copper prices, the upcoming MetalMiner 2020 Forecasting Workshop and much more:

Each month, MetalMiner hosts a webinar on a specific metals topic. Explore the upcoming webinars and sign up for each on the MetalMiner Events page.

Week of July 19-23 (electrification, hot rolled coil prices in Western Europe and much more)

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• Stuart Burns on Europe’s environmental efforts, including proposals for tariffs on products from countries with less-stringent environmental regulations.
• Miner Rio Tinto reported its second-quarter production results.
• Russian steel group NLMK’s first-half steel production jumped by 10.8% year over year.
• Hot rolled coil prices in Western Europe have started to cool down.
• U.S. steel capacity utilization rose to 84.1% last week.
• The CME’s COMEX and the London Metal Exchange (LME) are preparing for the electrification revolution.
• Meanwhile, despite the the aforementioned electrification revolution and China’s own pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, China plans to add to its coal production capacity in the second half of this year.
• Global aluminum production picked up in June.
• MetalMiner’s Lisa Reisman and Don Hauser joined ROTH Capital Partners earlier this month in a wide-ranging webinar covering oil, macroeconomic indicators and metals markets.
• The annual MetalMiner Forecasting Workshop is coming up next month. In addition, MetalMiner is hosting a webinar next week during which participants can get a sneak peak of the workshop.
• Copper prices have stabilized in recent weeks.
• Meanwhile, the Midwest aluminum premium has soared to a record high, as U.S. and European buyers continue to face aluminum market tightness.
• Lastly, South Korean steelmaker POSCO posted robust Q2 2021 financial results.

Receive the latest short-term and long-term outlook for the full range of industrial metals (base and ferrous) at the annual MetalMiner Forecasting Workshop on Aug. 25. 

This morning in metals news: South Korean steelmaker POSCO reported its strongest operating profit in Q2 since Q3 2010; the United States International Trade Commission made a determination regarding steel wire mesh from Mexico; and, lastly, tin prices have been soaring.

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POSCO records strong Q2

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South Korean steelmaker POSCO reported its strongest operating profit since 2010 in the second quarter of this year.

The steelmaker reported Q2 2020 operating profit of 168 billion KRW ($145.6 million), which jumped to 2,201 billion KRW ($1.9 billion) in Q2 2021.

Crude steel production reached 9.45 million tons in Q2 at a capacity utilization rate of 93.2%. Meanwhile, the steelmaker tallied 9.56 million tons in Q1 at a rate of 95.3%.

However, the Q2 rate marked a sizeable jump from the second quarter of 2020, when output reached 7.79 million tons at rate of 77.0%.

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