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    • The transition from blast furnace (BF) steel production to electric-arc furnaces (EAF) provides a clear path to achieving zero-emissions steel, with producers considering hitting sustainability targets and lower costs, Wade Wright, a steel consultant told participants at a green steel webinar held by Jefferies Equity Research on Monday August 12
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    • Sales of Argentine soybeans and corn rose for the 2024/25 marketing year but fell for 2023/24 in the week to July 31, while wheat sales increased week on week across both crop years, according to data released by Argentina’s agriculture secretariat on Wednesday August 7.
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    • Read Fastmarkets' monthly battery raw materials market update for August 2024, focusing on raw materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and more
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    • Slowing global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) seriously dented the second-quarter revenues of South Korea's key battery producers, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday August 9
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    • Supply headwinds in the tin market so far in 2024 and the recent sell-off in the futures market show that demand is recovering more slowly than anticipated because of the poor macro-economic climate, but in the long-term, market participants still expect demand to grow due to the energy transition
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    • The automotive industry in Japan, a major contributor to aluminium demand, had been hit with a series of headwinds in the first half of 2024, hampering its long-anticipated recovery. But market participants still expect the automotive industry to support a recovery in aluminium demand
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    • Green steel premiums in the US are off to a slow start, compared to the figures mills are collecting in Europe and Asia
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    • Fastmarkets proposes to discontinue its price assessments for MB-STE-0561 steel ERW line pipe (X65), fob mill US, $/short ton; MB-STE-0873 steel ERW line pipe (X70), fob mill US, $/short ton; MB-STE-0852 steel welded LSAW line pipe API 5L X65 US $/tonne; MB-STE-0853 steel welded HSAW line pipe API 5L X65 US $/tonne; MB-STE-0022 steel ERW standard pipe A53 Grade A, fob mill US, $/short ton and MB-STE-0056 steel ERW standard pipe A53 Grade A import, cif Houston, $/short ton.
      Insights
    • The Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore derivatives contract – which is settled against Fastmarkets’ daily index for iron ore 65% Fe Brazil-origin fines, cfr Qingdao – set a new record for traded volumes at 1.22 million tonnes in a single day, according to SGX published data on Thursday August 8
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    • This paper, originally published in the Bayes Business School's Commodity Insights Digest, explores the performance and trajectory of the lithium futures market, which emerged to manage price volatility in the booming lithium industry
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    Top stories across markets

    The US has the opportunity to be self-reliant on manganese for use in batteries once South32’s Hermosa project is up and running, the president of Hermosa told Fastmarkets.

    Dry bulk freight rates for Panamax vessels in the Atlantic Ocean rose in the week to Wednesday, February 19, as increased cargo demand in the Americas supported rates. Freight rates for the Brazil-Northeast Asia route rose by $1.90 per tonne week on week to $34.70 per tonne, while prices for the US Gulf-Northeast Asia route […]

    The European Union’s weekly wheat exports amounted to 243,324 tonnes in the week to Sunday, February 16, according to initial data from the European Commission. Total wheat exports from the EU for the 2024/25 marketing year stood at 13.34 million tonnes, down by 36% compared with the same period in the previous marketing year, when […]

    Argentina produces just 4,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of copper, while its neighbour Chile mines 5.5million tpy of the red metal every year. But the problem, Cornejo says, isn’t a lack of copper. “Our province borders Chile, and we share the copper-rich Andes with that country,” he said. “In fact, Chile’s best mining projects sit […]

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    In Hotter Commodities, special correspondent Andrea Hotter cuts to the chase on the biggest stories impacting the natural resources sector, what it means for the markets, the key risks and opportunities.

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