Category archives: Products

Positive Outlook from U.S. Steelmakers

A traumatic start to the year for U.S. steel makers may now be behind them after some of the largest producers offered positive outlooks for the rest of the year.   Non-residential construction in the U.S has remained resilient compared to the consumer sector in recent months. With it looking increasingly like the worst of …

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Iron ore holds at $100 as Brazil supply fears ease

Iron ore futures held at around $100 on Friday as supply concerns eased.   Latest data showed that Brazil’s iron ore exports increased by 1.4 million tonnes during the first nine days of Jun to 1.64 million tonnes per day.   Meanwhile, Vale is gradually resuming operations at its Itabira complex after receiving the green …

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Oil Through the Looking Glass 19/6/20

*China’s New 0.5% Contract* The new contract will launch Monday on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE). This development follows the news that 20 Chinese refineries are ready to provide the new IMO compliant fuel. China removed a consumption tax on fuel oil this year and issued its first-ever supply quotas for 10 million tonnes …

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FIS Weekly Market comments – 19 Jun 2020

PBF and Mac fines, most popular among buyers Australian medium grade fines remained the firm favorite for Chinese buyers for the week ended 19 Jun 2020. Among the total purchases of over 1.9 million mt, the Pilbara Blend fines (PBF) and Mac fines remained at the top spots accounting 17% respectively, followed by FMG SSF …

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Capesize breaks the $20,000 level

Capesize rates reached another new height again and broke the $20,000 level amid the freight rally. Thus, the Capesize 5 time charter average increased by $6,244 day-on-day to $25,280 on Thursday, another year-high rates, even after a selloff by trade participants for profit-taking. Supported by robust Capesize market, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) achieved the …

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ShipShape: The Long and Winding Road

It is one of the best-known Beatles songs from their final studio album Let It Be, but it also encapsulates perfectly the challenge many commodity markets face as they begin to recover from the enormous disruption of Coronavirus.   The pandemic has impacted every metric you can think of: quantitative easing, government debt, unemployment, share …

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DCE flats on low port inventory

Chinese futures changed little as the market tried to end the week on positive note with huge drawdown of port inventory. Thus, the most-actively traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), for September delivery, rose slightly by 0.13% day-on-day to RMB 768 per tonne on Friday. Likewise, the steel rebar contract on …

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