Read the full transcript from episode two of Fast Forward podcast with Andrea Hotter, where she interviews Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials at Fastmarkets

The United States Trade Representative's (USTR) office announced a further extension of all China Section 301 tariff exclusions on 352 Chinese import and 77 pandemic-related categories through June 14, after which, the tariff exclusion for China’s graphite anodes will not be extended, the USTR announced on Friday May 24

Fastmarkets has clarified the specifications of its copper grade A cathode and non exchange-deliverable equivalent-grade (EQ) copper cathode premiums, to avoid any confusion regarding the deliverable status of its copper cathode assessments.

The death knell sounded on Monday May 20 for the quarterly European ferro-chrome benchmark, bringing with it the end of a long-running, divisive, often disputed, yet highly influential and important pricing mechanism

Interest in recycling battery raw materials in the US has increased, particularly from the electronics and lithium-ion battery sectors, and due in part to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to New York-based Glencore trader Mary Schilling.

Electric vehicle (EV) battery makers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are willing to pay a premium for Inflation Reduction Act-compliant material, according to a top executive at US-based natural graphite producer and processor Westwater Resources Inc.

Fastmarkets is clarifying recent changes to its germanium dioxide price assessments and the reintroduction of the assessment of the price for MB-GER-0001 germanium dioxide, in-whs China, $ per kg, following market feedback.

Fastmarkets confirmed on Thursday May 23 that it will continue to publish its weekly ferro-chrome benchmark indicator for Europe, after the discontinuation of the European official industry ferro-chrome benchmark pricing system.

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange has slumped significantly since hitting an all-time high of $11,104.50 per tonne on Monday May 20

Copper fabricators in China and the wider Southeast Asian region continue to feel the pain of high copper prices on futures exchanges and a lack of new orderbooks, with some having already asked for a postponing of shipments of long-term copper cathodes, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Wednesday, May 15.