Rebounds were under way in the base metals complex in London this morning, Friday June 18, while in Shanghai the base metals mostly reflected the weakness seen on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday.

Growing steel demand presents an opportunity for a scrap pricing supercycle in the next decade, writes Bill Beck, reporting on the Fastmarkets virtual Scrap, DRI, and Mini-Mills conference in mid-April.

Green shoots are forming in the approach to clean steelmaking in the United States, with a new administration putting an increased emphasis on sustainability. The topic will be a key part of Fastmarkets' Steel Success Strategies conference, to be hosted June 21-24 in conjunction with World Steel Dynamics.

Market chatter about China possibly imposing new export taxes for steel as part of commodity price cooling measures has been rampant in the past week, causing traders and market participants to re-think their trading strategies, and overseas buyers to consider a potential supply shortfall.

A handful of recent cargoes of shredded steel scrap have successfully cleared through Chinese ports, raising hopes across the market that China may start to import more of this key material grade in the near future.

Cooling sentiment in the entire ferrous supply chain in Asia has cooled import prices for containerized ferrous scrap in the key Taiwanese market, sources said on May 21.

Brazil's northern ports - the so-called Northern Arc - will be pivotal in driving the country’s corn and soybean exports over the next decade due to the new investments that will continue to improve the region’s infrastructure, sources said.

Blockchain technology platform MineHub and digital trade finance network Contour have partnered to integrate their digital metals, mining-focused supply chain, and trade finance technology, the companies said.

Fastmarkets’ 62% Fe iron ore fines index just experienced its most volatile week on record: a biggest-ever daily gain of $18.31 on Monday May 10 came before a new high of $237.57 per tonne on May 12, followed by a record daily loss of $28.78 on May 14.

Seaborne coking coal prices surged up in both the cfr and fob markets on Friday May 14 due to increased buying interest and positive market sentiment in both markets.