Import prices for heavy scrap (HS) in China moved down on Friday March 19 amid shipping difficulties and a drop in buying demand, sources told Fastmarkets.

The UK steel industry is a key focus of the British government’s £1 billion ($1.4 billion) Industrial Decarbonization Strategy, which is intended to create the world’s first low-carbon industrial sector.

Battery recycling start-up Li-Cycle sees the commercial production achieved at its Rochester, New York, plant as the start of something big.

With the passage of the $1.9-trillion Covid-19 relief package, attention is turning toward other potential initiatives under the Biden administration. The most popular among metals industry participants is a comprehensive infrastructure program.

Treatment and refining charges for copper concentrate fell again to new 10-year-lows in the week ended Friday March 12, with Fastmarkets’ copper concentrate index dropping to less than $30 per tonne/3 cents per lb for the first time.

The global steel industry has never been an easy one to navigate but now the onslaught of Chinese steel production has affected many steelmakers around the world, Fastmarkets heard.

Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of its assessment of two lead ingot premiums for Southeast Asia.

Stakeholders from aluminium producers to downstream consumers in Europe have a strong interest in market growth but more comprehensive transparency around various aluminium smelter emissions is needed to sustain that growth, Anne-Claire Lejeune, green and sustainable asset originator at bank Natixis, said in an interview with Fastmarkets.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board during morning trading on Tuesday March 16, with tin’s price falling the most to $24,630 per tonne – this after the complex mostly ended in positive territory on Monday.

Base metals prices were mixed this morning, with those on the London Metal Exchange mainly weaker, while prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were more mixed this morning, Tuesday March 16, but Asian-Pacific equities were upbeat.