IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from February 24

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday February 24 that are worth another look.

Chinese rebar remained the most competitively priced of imports of the long steel product in Singapore over the past week, edging out Turkish products.

The discount for copper scrap imported into China has fallen in February on a lower commodity price and a negative arbitrage, with the impact of virus-led delivery delays on the overseas scrap price being minimal in the Chinese market.

The market for high-carbon ferro-chrome delivered into Europe strengthened for the fifth consecutive week on Friday February 21 in response to tightening supply and despite the weak stainless-steel sector.

Chinese domestic portside ore prices of both grades moved lower for the second consecutive week after some ore traders slashed their offer prices to facilitate sales in response to persistently weak buying appetite.

Vanadium prices were under pressure in the week to February 21 amid weak consumer demand, despite continued supply disruptions in China following the novel coronavirus (nCoV-19) outbreak.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.