A global shortage of steel slab is a key factor in rocketing flat steel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Fastmarkets has launched four implied prices based on the weekly published copper concentrates treatment charge/refining charge (TC/RC) index, with data available from April 2021.

The key containerized ferrous scrap import market of Taiwan continued to witness price gains this week amid tight supply of United States- and Japan-origin materials, sources told Fastmarkets.

Japan's export steel scrap market presented a mixed picture in the week to Thursday April 1, with rising steel prices in Asia colliding with continued difficulties in sourcing vessels at key Japanese ports, sources said.

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up further on Wednesday March 31 on news of a fresh US cargo, market participants told Fastmarkets.

Turkish deep-sea scrap import prices edged up on Tuesday after firm offers from the Baltic Sea region, although many mills were looking to achieve further rebar sales in the export and domestic markets before purchasing more scrap, sources said on March 30.

Tin market participants say they saw the record-breaking squeeze coming, but in pandemic-time trading, how does it get back to normal?

Asia will soon be hit by a “steel tsunami”, a veteran trader in Vietnam told Fastmarkets recently, with a combination of factors expected to keep prices high into the second and third quarters of 2021.

Vietnamese buyers have been seeking bulk deep-sea ferrous scrap to make up for a lack of supply from Japan, market sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets is proposing to launch a zinc SHG ingots in-warehouse Southeast Asia warrant premium to complement its current zinc warrant coverage, which is focused on Europe and United States.