Fastmarkets analysts are forecasting an increase in prices across the base metals complex by the end of 2023. Copper and nickel prices are expected to be the best performers next year and to show large increases by the end of 2023, with the speed of this growth heavily dependent on China’s economic recovery

Despite growing concerns around the health of the US economy and the impact of rising inflation, the US ferrous scrap market should stabilize and recover moderately this year after a period of sustained downside pressure throughout much of 2022, according to panelists at Fastmarkets’ Scrap & Steel conference 2023 in Dallas, Texas

Fastmarkets has corrected its aluminium P1020A main Japanese ports (MJP) quarterly premium assessment to $85 per tonne from $86 per tonne for the first quarter of 2023.

Fastmarkets is proposing to amend its aluminium P1020A main Japanese ports (MJP) quarterly assessment methodology.

China’s automobile output and sales edged upward in 2022 from a year earlier, supported by the government's policy to halve the purchase tax on vehicles as well as other policies aimed at promoting consumer activity

Year-on-year increases in contract base prices for special bar quality (SBQ) steel products put 2023 deal levels on par with spot prices seen early this month, market participants told Fastmarkets, noting that some buyers also negotiated shorter contract terms on fears of a price drop late next year

Copper market participants have told Fastmarkets that European demand for the red metal in 2023 is “not all doom and gloom,” although the market will face problems

The mining sector will need to get over its reticence to operate in jurisdictions with high-risk profiles in order to achieve the growth required for the move to a new generation of energy markets

Fastmarkets made the decision to transition the pricing of Houston ferrous scrap prices from dealer selling to consumer buying assessments in August 2022.

Given the sharp price increases recorded by several major seaborne steel scrap markets at the start of this new year, it can be easy to forget the host of structural issues still bubbling under the surface of the trade