US animal fats and oils markets remained under pressure on Thursday June 25, though the pace of declines began to moderate after nearly two weeks of broad-based selling driven by improving feedstock availability, incoming imports and weaker soybean oil values.

Prices for European category 3 animal fats moved in an uptrend during the week ending Thursday June 25, mainly amid seasonality despite weaker buying interest reported by sources.

The tungsten market was changing, Fastmarkets heard in the week to Wednesday June 24, and in a trading environment that was becoming less globalized and more fragmented, alongside trade tensions between the US and China in particular, the relationship between prices within China and outside the country has shifted.

The geopolitics-led diversification of critical minerals supply chains is broadly viewed as a tailwind to the lithium market, senior executives said during the Executive Keynote Panel at Fastmarkets’ Global Lithium, Battery and Critical Materials in Las Vegas on Tuesday June 23.

The iron ore market in 2026 shows fragile recovery driven by rising freight costs rather than demand growth. This dynamic challenges pricing signals and margin management for miners and processors.

Shin-Etsu Chemical, one of Japan’s largest manufacturers of rare earth magnets, plans to build a new domestic rare earths refinery in Fukui, Japan, as first reported by Nikkei Asia.

Chinese zinc ingot exporters remain on standby on Monday June 22, after months of market positioning, with traders and smelters still waiting for a clearer margin signal before moving cargoes at scale, market participants told Fastmarkets.

Rare earths and uranium producer Energy Fuels has announced an agreement to acquire German rare earths magnet maker Vacuumschmelze (VAC) in a deal worth approximately $1.9 billion, the company announced on Tuesday June 23.

The US Department of Energy’s release of an updated model under the revised 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit framework for Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (45ZCF-GREET) on Friday June 12 provides additional clarity on how feedstock economics could evolve, improving the outlook for soybean oil and canola while largely preserving the competitiveness of waste-based feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO), tallow and distillers corn oil (DCO).

China's used cooking oil (UCO) exports totaled 310,254 tonnes in May, up by 61.4% from 192,204 tonnes a year earlier, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GACC). Volumes were also up by 9.4% from the 283,592 tonnes in April.