Alex Kershaw unpacks the recent volatility in global scrap steel markets and what is driving price movements across key regions. From the US and Europe to Turkey and China, the discussion explores how rising energy and freight costs are lifting prices despite weak steel demand.

In this short episode of Fast Forward, Alex Kershaw, senior analyst for steel, raw materials and ferrous scrap at Fastmarkets, unpacks the recent volatility in global scrap steel markets and what is driving price movements across key regions.

The function of treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for copper concentrates is being partially displaced by a broader set of commercial levers amid elevated byproduct values – including readjusted gold and silver payables, sulfuric acid tolling arrangements between miners and smelters, and renewed trade in gold-bearing pyrite materials – copper concentrates market participants told Fastmarkets at CESCO Week 2026 in Santiago, Chile, from April 13-17.

Copper’s long-term outlook is constrained by the industry’s limited ability to bring new supply online fast enough to meet rising demand, with permitting delays, higher capital costs and policy risks slowing project development, industry executives said at the FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday April 22.

Fastmarkets has launched a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) Phase 1 conditional offtake price assessment on Wednesday April 29.

The Montréal Wood Convention 2026 revealed a North American wood products market at a turning point, with supply rationalizing and demand recovery pushed to 2027.

Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its pricing methodology and product specifications for ferrous metals, as part of its announced annual methodology review process. The consultation, which was open until April 2, sought to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical ferrous metals markets, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commission […]

The 2026 pulp market faces rising costs, tightening supply, and shifting demand. Discover expert insights and strategies to navigate these challenges and seize opportunities in a volatile global landscape.

Fastmarkets wishes to clarify that its MB-RE-0001 rhenium APR catalytic grade, in-whs dup Rotterdam, $/kg price assessment, in line with the established market norm, is assessed on a rhenium-contained basis. The assessed unit is dollars per kg Re, as opposed to dollars per kg and the name will be changed to reflect this. The rest […]

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its fob and cif manganese ore indices, as part of its annual methodology review process.