The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) move to extend its export window for cobalt quotas has been viewed as potentially easing supply tightness, although the immediate market reaction has been limited.

Fastmarkets launched two new aluminium scrap prices on Thursday, April 9, adding to Fastmarkets’ suite of recycled non-ferrous metals price assessments. The launch will elevate and expand Fastmarkets’ aluminium scrap coverage by including the following grades: Section 232 tariffs and the resulting high aluminium premiums have led to increased costs and rising interest in recycled […]

The European Commission published the first-quarter 2026 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) certificate price on Tuesday April 7, applicable to all CBAM-eligible goods imported into the EU in January-March 2026.

The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]

This price assessment will provide additional transparency in the tungsten market at a time of extreme volatility in other parts of the supply chain, and will complement Fastmarkets’ existing tungsten pricing coverage. The new price assessment will provide market participants with an additional reference point, capturing dynamics beyond the tungsten concentrate, ferro-tungsten and ammonium paratungstate […]

Decarbonization has become the defining theme for heavy industry. With the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) now in force and mounting pressure to curb emissions, hard-to-abate sectors such as steel are being pushed to adapt to a lower-carbon economy.

Crop-based biodiesel became cheaper than fossil diesel in the EU for the first time on Thursday April 2, when premiums for core crop grades FAME 0 (fatty acid methyl ester 0) and RME (rapeseed methyl ester) over ICE gasoil fell into negative territory.

Fastmarkets has decided to launch a bi-weekly price assessment for Chinese grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) on Friday April 17. The decision follows a one-month consultation period which ended on April 4. The demand for GOES grew alongside the rapid expansion of industries such as power transmission, energy storage, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and electric vehicle (EV) […]

The annual consultation sought to ensure that our audited methodologies and price specifications continue to reflect the physical markets for steelmaking raw materials, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. The current methodology […]

Growing uncertainty over Guinea’s bauxite export policy, alongside severe disruption to alumina supply chains caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, emerged as key themes at the Fastmarkets Bauxite & Alumina Conference in Miami on March 24-25, with delegates warning of heightened price volatility and shifting trade flows.