Traditional relationships between prime steel scrap and lower-grade material in key Asian markets have shattered over recent months, market sources told Fastmarkets in early September 2021.

Steelmakers in the United States and the United Steelworkers (USW) union warned that a potential US accord with the European Union to end the dispute resulting from the former President Donald Trump administration’s Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs could boost imports from Europe and hurt the domestic industry.

China's soybean imports in August fell slightly from the same month a year earlier, as poor domestic crush margins weighed...

Steel billet buyers in China have continued to make import purchases in recent days amid expectations that further domestic production cuts will be imposed at the start of next year, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 7.

Poor demand in key import markets in Turkey and Asia continued to pull steel scrap prices downward in the week ended Friday September 3. High freight costs and a lack of container ships also damped spot trading liquidity.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed on the morning of Friday September 3, but overall the picture is one of consolidation ahead of today's employment report from the United States.

China’s cobalt tetroxide prices drifted lower in the week to Wednesday September 1, due to weak demand from battery producers, while cobalt sulfate prices remained rangebound, with producers rejecting lower bids.

Turkish mills were largely inactive in the import scrap market over the week ended Friday August 27, while prices in key Asian markets were affected by the low levels of interest among mills for imported cargoes.

One western aluminium producer has extended an offer for fourth-quarter delivery aluminium to Main Japanese ports (MJP) at a premium of $250 per tonne cif, market participants told Fastmarkets on Friday August 27.

Low-volatility pulverized coal injection (PCI) prices in both the fob and cfr market jumped following price gains in coking coal the week to Friday August 27. And a shortage of railway wagons in Russia has delayed the transport of PCI to China, sources said.