The auto industry is well-positioned to accelerate the use of lower emissions steel and automakers are increasingly using the material to boost competitiveness in the EV market.

Gains in byproduct values are expected to play an increasingly important role in Chinese zinc and lead smelters’ margins in 2026, especially because concentrates availability is likely to tighten, adding further pressure to treatment charges (TCs), the primary income source for metal refiners, industry sources told Fastmarkets in the fortnight ended Friday January 16.

The EU ETS reform, including the phase-out of free allocations, is set to significantly increase emissions costs for EU industrial producers, with effective EUA prices rising sharply by 2035, driving substantial cost pressures and price increases across key sectors like steel, aluminium, and downstream industries such as automotive and construction.

Explore the latest trends in US auto production, including shifts towards hybrids and the impact on steel demand.

CBAM could impose over €12 billion in costs on importers in 2026 based on provisional benchmark values, reshaping trade flows. Sectors like iron, steel, cement, fertilisers, and aluminium face escalating carbon charges, with significant downstream impacts on industries such as agriculture, automotive, and construction.

Global zinc fundamentals remained tight in 2025, supported by low London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks and a concentrate supply that has increased but remains insufficient to ease market conditions. Market balance depends largely on how Chinese smelters manage their operating rates, Rodrigo Cammarosano, head of investor relations and treasury at Nexa Resources, said in an exclusive interview on Thursday November 27.

Constellium chief executive officer Jean-Marc Germain is calling for the European Commission to ‘stop the clock’ on the EU’s forthcoming Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is set to begin on January 1, 2026, in an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets on Monday December 8, warning of EU CBAM risks for aluminium.

Canada has officially designated select minerals - including graphite, scandium, and rare earths - as national security priorities under the country's Defence Production Act, providing guaranteed buyers for some domestic producers and signalling a move closer to government-backed price floors.

Canadian specialty materials producer Neo Performance Materials officially launched a sintered neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnet plant in Narva, Estonia, on Friday September 19, and announced the completion of Europe's first dysprosium and terbium oxide production line.

Mexico will impose tariffs on around 1,400 imported products from countries with which it does not have a trade agreement, according to Mexican government officials, in a move that industry sources say signals alignment with the US but could have “mixed effects” for the steel industry.