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South African andalusite miner Andalusite Resources will be taken over by a local mining consortium, paving the way for the company to exit business rescue status and secure its position as a supplier of the mineral, Fastmarkets has learned.
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Refractory raw material consumers are likely to face shortages in bauxite, with the continued supply and logistics bottlenecks from China coming against a low-stock situation in destination markets.
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View the Fastmarkets holiday pricing schedule for 2021 and 2022.
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The United Kingdom and European Union have reached an agreement on a trade deal that will ensure tariff-free trading of most goods between the country and the bloc after December 31 when the withdrawal transition period ends, easing metals and minerals market participants’ fears of logistics paralysis and material shortages.
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Andalusite buyers are seeking flexibility for 2021 supply volumes due to uncertain conditions in refractories' end market, as negotiations for new contracts proceed slowly.
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Member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) raised their crude steel production in early December compared with the preceding 10 days, according to data published by the association on Tuesday December 15.
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Crude steel output in Germany increased in October 2020, rising for the first time since February this year, German steel federation WV Stahl said on Monday November 23.
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China’s crude steel, hot metal and finished steel output continued to grow on a year-on-year basis in October, according to data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics on Monday November 16.
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With China significantly ahead of the curve in terms of economic recovery after Covid-19, its ambitious infrastructure investments have been under the spotlight because of the enormous boost to domestic consumption - especially demand for steel products.
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A summary of ArcelorMittal's financial results for the third quarter of 2020.
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A summary of results from France-headquartered minerals producer and processor Imerys for the third quarter of 2020, released on Monday November 2.
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The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts is ready to view.
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Thirty years from now, the global steel industry will likely use more briquetted iron products and scrap and hardly any steelworkers, executives said during the "Steel Industry 2050" panel at Fastmarkets' 2020 Steel Success Strategies Online conference.
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Demand for steel in the European Union dropped by 25% year on year in the second quarter of 2020 and while European steel association Eurofer expects the pace of decline to slow in the fourth quarter, it believes demand will not recover until late 2020-early 2021.
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Merger-and-acquisition activity in the metals sector should pick up in 2021, Vince Pappalardo, managing partner of Brown Gibbons Lang & Co, told attendees during Fastmarkets' 2020 Steel Success Strategies Online conference on Tuesday October 27.
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The numbers of cases of Covid-19 infection have begun to grow once more across Europe, and Fastmarkets has heard the fears of various market participants about the consequences that any new restrictions or lockdowns could have for the steel sector.
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ArcelorMittal will permanently close its Krakow steelworks' hot area due to the dramatic effects of Covid-19 on the European steel market, but coke plant and rolling mills will remain operational, the company said on Thursday October 8.
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Fastmarkets opened a consultation on September 1, 2020, inviting feedback on its industrial minerals methodology in line with our annual methodology review process.
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The refractories environment was unlikely to return to a pre-Covid-19 state before 2022, attendees at an industry conference were told on Wednesday September 16.
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Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on its pricing methodology for its industrial minerals, as part of its annual methodology review process and compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for PRAs.
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Refractory grade bauxite prices in China dropped in the two weeks to Thursday, August 20 amid “extremely slow” demand, while both brown fused alumina (BFA) and white fused alumina (WFA) prices remained under pressure.
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The industrial mineral group Imerys will buy Turkish refractory producer Haznedar to further establish itself in the attractive Turkish market, it said.
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Road freight in South Africa has been slow to return to normal operations following demonstrations on Tuesday July 7 in which vehicles were set alight and drivers threatened, adding to the Covid-19-related problems that have affected the country’s logistics.
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Protests on Tuesday July 7 have halted road freight transportation in South Africa.
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Spikes in the numbers of Covid-19 infections around the globe are causing a resurgence in the use of lockdown measures, threatening to slow the recovery of economic activity.
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The availability of andalusite tightened following closures in key producing countries and ongoing delays in shipping, prompting higher prices for material delivered into Europe.
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Producers of andalusite in various countries have been able to restart operations after Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, although they warned that a return to pre-closure output volumes will be slow and gradual.
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Andalusite production remains idle in Peru following an extension of the country’s lockdown measures until May 11.
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Some metal-product cargoes can now be shipped out of Durban, almost one month after the biggest terminal in sub-Saharan Africa stopped handling such material amid a nationwide lockdown intended to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, Fastmarkets has learned.
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The global andalusite industry is taking stock of the effect of weeks of closures in all major origins on supply, with some sources estimating output could be short by as much as 20,000 tonnes this year.
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South African andalusite producer Andalusite Resources will gradually resume mining operations with new production expected in one to two weeks, Fastmarkets has learned.
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British refractories producer Vesuvius has withdrawn its 2020 financial guidance due to “insufficient visibility” to assess the full consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on its wider business.
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Refractory grade bauxite remained mostly flat amid a quiet seaborne market and poor availability over the past fortnight. Brown fused alumina (BFA) ticked up while white fused alumina (WFA) dropped, and participants warned of a potential cliff edge in demand ahead.
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A government-decreed lockdown in India has resulted in closed factories and import and export markets stalled by a lack of workers for the transport and processing of goods.
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Global crude steel production rose 2.8% year on year in February, according to the Worldsteel Association (Worldsteel), with a strong performance from steel mills in China.
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South Africa’s andalusite producers are in the process of closing their mining operations in the country for three weeks in line with a government directive to contain the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the country.
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Mining companies in South Africa are in emergency meetings after the country’s president ordered a three-week lockdown amid the spread of novel coronavirus (2019-nCov).
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While countries start to lock down their borders to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), mining companies are beginning to halt production, delay projects and withdraw staff.
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Vesuvius attributed a 4.9% drop in its 2019 revenues to £1.71 billion ($2.1 billion) and a 40.4% slump in profits to weak steel and foundry end-markets.
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Global crude steel production totaled 154.44 million tonnes in January, a year-on-year rise of 2.1%, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel).
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China’s steel industry has faced difficulties in production and sales since the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, which has led to some 78,000 infections and close to 2,700 deaths in the country so far.
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View the Fastmarkets holiday pricing schedule for 2020 and 2021.
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The digitalization of global trade received another push this week, with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the government of Singapore and industry participants signing an agreement to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of technologies in commerce at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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Beginning in 2020, Fastmarkets will review its pricing methodologies and price specifications across all its Price Reporting Agency (PRA) divisions - Metals & Mining and Forest Products - on an annual basis rather than twice per year.
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Availability could have dropped slightly for 2019 after last year's strong production, while demand in main consuming markets has softened because of the weak performance across refractories.
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The approach of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2020 sulfur cap has sparked concern among international shipping companies, with many questioning how they will comply with the new regulation.
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Increasing output from China’s domestic steel industry has not brought strong demand for refractory materials, with prices under mounting pressure.
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The bearish phase of the commodity cycle and weak end-user markets will mean consumers of raw materials will only source only as much as they are sure to use in the short term.
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Demand for refractory and foundry equipment in Europe is sagging due to a "challenging market environment" in steel, Vesuvius says.
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The supply chains of refractory raw materials as well as finished products could be drastically affected by China’s economic performance and political stance, but refractories operators lament a lack of visibility for strategy planning.
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