Commodities in the form of metals and agricultural products are not the only goods facing price inflation this year. Power costs have been driven higher by a combination of pandemic bounce-back, extreme weather in the U.S., Europe and Russia this summer, and supply constraints. Are you prepared for your annual steel contract negotiations? Be sure […]
Stuart Burns
Elevated US Midwest aluminum premium is here to stay
A recent post from the Russian news agency Interfax paints a predictably conciliatory line on the impact of Russia’s export tariffs on RUSAL. The post faithfully reports RUSAL’S complaints that the introduction of export duties will make some of the group’s export supplies unprofitable. It add that it may force the company to mothball a […]
New orders, delivery backlogs high but sentiment sliding in Europe
Buyers sourcing product from Europe know that the manufacturing sector there has faced unprecedented levels of disruption and cost increases. The fact that European producers are facing major constraints to production, to supply chains and raising costs that are being passed along the supply chain is probably a widespread experience for U.S. consumers. But hopes […]
Stainless demand drives nickel prices
It is reassuring to see a metal price driven by good old fundamentals. With so much buzz around supercycles and electrification, the impact of the speculative element in pricing has been much in evidence this year for products like copper and oil. But according to a recent Reuters post, solid supply and demand fundamentals are […]
Aluminum Midwest Premium hits record high
As if aluminum buyers didn’t have enough to contend with, including long mill lead times and rising conversion premiums, they are also dealing with a rising Midwest premium. Furthermore, Russia’s move to impose a 15% export tax on unwrought aluminum has had a profound impact on the Midwest delivery premium. Are you ready for your […]
Clash of the futures exchanges
The CME’s Comex and London Metal Exchange (LME) are squaring up for the industrial revolution that is electrification, according to recent posts by Bloomberg and the Financial Times. Both exchanges are busy developing and, more importantly, marketing products that cater to industry’s need to hedge exposure to forward prices for key battery ingredients. Whether for car […]
Europe steps up the pace of its shift away from fossil fuels
Reducing carbon emissions seems to be on the top of everybody’s agenda at the moment. A recent post in The New York Times reports on proposals being discussed in the European Union to drive the region’s pivot away from fossil fuels over the next nine years. Receive the latest short-term and long-term outlook for the […]
Questions arise over how much further China’s steel price rally can last
Shanghai steel futures extended gains to hit an eight-week high on Monday, according to a post on Nasdaq.com. Futures made further gains overnight, according to MetalMiner’s Insights platform. Rebar and hot rolled coil both hit peaks last seen on May 19, when the market last spiked only to crash after dire warnings from Beijing about […]
European aluminum producers object to inclusion in carbon border tax
Government interference, even for the best of reasons, can have market-distorting effects. Take, for example, calls by European aluminum producers to be excluded from the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) carbon border tax proposal. Do you know the five best practices of sourcing metals, including aluminum? European aluminum producers want out of CBAM […]
Unlike the rest of the world, China’s steel market is surprisingly steady
China’s steelmaking raw materials and finished steel markets are in a real state of flux at the moment. 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. Recovery and a new dynamic impacting steel prices On the one […]
