The hot-rolled coil price has hit a new high in the United States, moving above $62 per hundredweight.

The benchmark A380.1 secondary aluminium alloy price and the London Metal Exchange’s North American special aluminium alloy contract (Nasaac) spiked to more than six-year highs, supported by healthy demand even as a semiconductor chip shortage disrupts automotive supply chains.

Pakistan's government has said that Fastmarkets' import index for ferrous scrap will be used for customs valuations of ferrous scrap, according to an official ruling published on February 25.

Spot prices in the key Vietnamese scrap import market rebounded strongly during the week to Friday February 26, even though buyers with inventories were not actively purchasing due to high prices and the narrow scrap-billet spread, according to market sources.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States continue to hit record highs, with further upside expected, Fastmarkets understands.

The United States' copper scrap market has been thrown out of balance since the price for the red metal surged above the $4 per lb on Comex this week.

Aluminium crossed the $2,200-per-tonne mark and copper continued to extend its bullish rally on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Thursday February 25, with a softer US Dollar Index supporting higher prices in the complex.

Apart from nickel on the London Metal Exchange, the rest of the base metals on both the LME and Shanghai Futures Exchange were once again stronger this morning, Thursday February 25.

China's “unpredictable political moves” in relation to coking coal from Australia has driven some Chinese steel mills to increase their contractual supplies of the steelmaking raw material from elsewhere, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have risen yet again to an all-time high after buyers perceived that the tight availability of spot material likely will not loosen up before domestic mills begin a series of maintenance outages.