FACTB OX: Coronavirus hits steel, metals and mining with diverse price and production impacts

摘要

London—All steel and metals commodities have been impacted by the escalating coronavirus crisis, although their price behavior has varied as both demand and supply scenarios change. Prices of finished and semi-finished steel and of base metals have generally fallen and in some cases plunged in recent days and weeks on lower demand from construction and carmakers – typically their biggest consuming sectors – amid wide-ranging lockdowns. Prices of some upstream products in the production cycle – including iron ore, vanadium and platinum group metals – have meanwhile seen price rises due to supply side shocks as mining and port facilities are shut down. Lockdowns or curbs announced in India, South Africa and Canada ave reinforced this trend.