Here are the key takeaways from market participants on US ferrous scrap metal prices, market confidence, inventory and more from our January survey.

Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue its MB-PB-0097 lead 99.97% ingot warrant premium, in-whs US price assessment.

After a 2024 marked by calls for trade defense measures against “predatory and unfair” imports, the Latin American steel sector should see a rise in such measures in 2025, industry experts told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback on the pricing methodology for aluminium primary foundry alloy silicon 7 ingot premium, ddp Germany and ddp Eastern Europe ahead of the definitive period of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which starts in January 2026.

Read more about how we expect a modest increase in 2025 levels of global crude steel production over 2024.

Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue its assessments for MB-STE-0829, Russia welded ERW linepipe API 5L X65 US$/tonne; MB-STE-0830, Russia welded LSAW linepipe API 5L X65 US$/tonne; MB-STE-0810, Russia Round billet seamless (fob) Rub/tonne; MB-STE-0811, Russia seamless OCTG casing J/K 55 (btc connection) distrbutor FCA Rub/tonne; and MB-STE-0812, Russia seamless Linepipe API 5L X65 distrbutor FCA Rub/tonne.

There has been a freefall in copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) this year amid tighter supply in the market. In 2025, supply tightness is projected to keep copper concentrates TC/RCs low on average for the whole year, sources told Fastmarkets.

The new year is likely to show a modest pick-up in overall North American automotive production that will, in turn, boost demand for key steel product sectors, such as cold-rolled coil, galvanized sheet and special bar quality steel, according to industry analysts and market participants.

President Joe Biden has followed up on his threat to block the $15 billion acquisition of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel.In a statement released early on Friday January 3, President Biden cited national security concerns for his decision, despite US Steel’s own objections and an inconclusive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States […]

After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of these US base metals, following mostly positive feedback from market participants and internal data analysis.  The main pricing day will continue to be Tuesdays at 3-4pm London time, but these tin, lead and nickel premiums will be assessed once a month instead of fortnightly […]