Accelerating energy storage deployment is reshaping lithium demand, broadening the market beyond electric vehicles (EVs) and reducing reliance on a single growth driver.

The publication of Fastmarkets’ AG-PLM-0019 Refined bleached deodorised (RBD) palm olein assessment for March 16 was delayed due to a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.

Soybean oil prices rose to 67.3 cents, driven by Middle East disruptions and strong biofuel margins. Fastmarkets predicts continued price strength amid geopolitical risks.

The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), published on Wednesday March 4, was a new step in the bloc’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry and to support strategic supply chains in sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium.

Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its two existing CIF China port copper scrap prices and add three new grades on Monday March 16.

The aluminium market is being pulled in two directions by the Middle East conflict: upstream feedstocks sit in temporary buffer stocks, while delivering metal to consuming regions is becoming increasingly difficult.

Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.

The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.

Guinea, the world's biggest bauxite producer, is considering plans to compel miners to curb exports of bauxite in a bid to halt the slump in the price of the key raw material for aluminium production, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.

Canadian miner Teck Resources and Korea Zinc have agreed to set treatment charges (TCs) for zinc concentrates at $85 per tonne this year, a slight adjustment from last year’s all-time low of $80 per tonne, four sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 6.