IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from September 17

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday September 17 that are worth another look.

Fastmarkets looks at the key takeaways from the seventh Fastmarkets Asian Nickel conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 11-12, from who will fill the Asian supply gap from 2020 to emerging demand for nickel from the electric vehicle battery sector.

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia continued to decline over the past week because of weakness in the downstream flat steel markets caused by sluggish demand and lower prices, market sources said.

The European ferro-vanadium market continued its downtrend last week amid thin spot buying and prevailing bearish sentiment.

Rising oil prices driven by shutdowns in Saudi Arabia have had a negative effect on outright copper prices, analysts told Fastmarkets on Tuesday September 17.

Low-grade manganese ore cif prices fell over the past week, with some buyers holding back from purchasing in the hope of lower prices.

What to read next
This price assessment aims to enhance transparency in the Indonesian coke market. Fastmarkets has observed a significant volume of Indonesian coke entering the global market in recent months, establishing Indonesia as a key exporter of coke worldwide since 2023. In the first seven months of 2024, Poland, China and Indonesia were the top three coke exporters globally.  […]
The US aluminium industry is experiencing challenges related to tariffs, which have contributed to higher prices and premiums, raising questions about potential impacts on demand. Alcoa's CEO has noted that sustained high prices could affect the domestic market. While trade agreements might provide some relief, analysts expect premiums to remain elevated in the near term. However, aluminum demand is projected to grow over the long term, supported by the energy transition and clean energy projects. To meet this demand, the industry will need to increase production, restart idle smelters and address factors such as electricity costs and global competition.
Read Fastmarkets' monthly base metals market for May 2025 focusing on raw materials including copper, nickel aluminium, lead, zinc and tin.
The MB-AL-0408 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, cif Mexico was published at 3:02pm London time on May 20 instead of the scheduled time of 3-4pm on May 27. The erroneous price has been removed from Fastmarkets’ pricing database. The price will next be published on May 27 at its usual time. This price is a part of the Fastmarkets […]
The US trade roller coaster ride seems to be flattening, with signs of potential moderation and stability. It appears increasingly likely that our original expectation that the US Trump administration would primarily use the threat of tariffs as a negotiating strategy will be correct. While we do not expect to the US tariff position return to pre-2025 levels, we believe the overall US tariff burden is more likely to settle at around 10-30% globally rather than the elevated rates of 50-100% that seemed possible in recent weeks.
To increase transparency, Fastmarkets has further clarified how it handles price movements during periods of low liquidity. Factors that Fastmarkets may consider during times of low liquidity include, but are not limited to: market fundamentals such as changes in inventory levels, shipments, operating rates and export volumes; relative fundamentals of similar commodities in the same […]