When President Trump took office for a second time just over a year ago, he immediately sought to tear up the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a key piece of Joe Biden’s legacy. But plans announced earlier this week, ending on Friday February 6, have reshaped the future for cobalt and critical minerals.

Fastmarkets published its assessment of the MB-STE-0232 steel scrap No1 busheling, consumer buying price, delivered mill Chicago, $/gross ton on Monday February 9, 2026.

Fastmarkets selects the frequency of publication of a market assessment after considering the number of data points (deals, bids, offers, deals heard and assessments) that it can reasonably expect to collect on a consistent basis over the selected period to support the price assessment process. This proposal follows preliminary discussions with the market as well […]

The United States convened more than 50 countries in Washington this week for a critical minerals summit that delivered a flurry of new initiatives designed to reshape the geopolitics — and pricing mechanics — of minerals essential to semiconductors, electric vehicles and the defense supply chain.

The US laid out its strongest push yet to reshape global critical minerals supply chains at the inaugural Critical Mineral Ministerial in Washington on Wednesday February 4, where senior officials detailed plans for an allied trade bloc built on reference prices and enforceable price floors – a potential turning point for small, strategically important markets such as tungsten.

A new US initiative to establish a stockpile of critical minerals for the civilian economy could add pressure to already stretched supply, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday February 3 and Wednesday February 4.

In 2026, the North American wood products industry enters a year of cautious stabilization.

Here are the key takeaways from market participants on US ferrous scrap metal prices, market confidence, inventory and more from our February survey.

This Fastmarkets Viewpoint explains how headline growth has been buoyed by AI‑driven investment even as the broader goods economy cools, and why truly disposable income and packaging demand move in lockstep.

Learn about the challenges of steel overcapacity in the US as tariffs shift and affect producers and consumers alike.