Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were generally trending higher this morning, Monday August 2, with copper the metal that seems to be struggling the most. Base metals trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gave a mixed performance, however.

Most base metals registered declines in inventories at Shanghai Futures Exchange-registered warehouses during the week to Friday July 30, although lead was up by 6.5% and nickel rose by 1.5%.

China will cancel more rebates of value-added tax for some steel exports from August 1, its Ministry of Finance said on Thursday July 29.

Summer maintenance work at steel mills was continuing across Japan but reduced generation volumes and strong prices paid by South Korea were continuing to support export scrap prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 28.

Civil unrest, Covid-19 and supply curbs – three factors that could keep cobalt prices high through 2021

The Turkish steel mills continued to limit their deep-sea scrap bookings in the week ended Friday July 16 due to weak finished steel sales, while the downturn in the country had a knock-on effect on prices in the global markets.

The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) is leading an industry-wide pushback against the country’s proposed export tax of 5% on steel billet, it said on Friday July 23.

Fastmarkets’ Asia ferro-silicon prices were published early today due to an editor error.

The steel and metals industries stress that their products are key to enabling solutions to address global environmental priorities. Myra Pinkham gathers international views on progress in ‘green’ transformation and asks what today’s environmental goals imply for industrial production and future demand

Steelmakers increasingly envision a feasible path to carbon neutrality by deploying a diverse array of partnerships and technologies in clean energy, efficiency advances and novel production techniques.