Steel energy tube and pipe prices will continue rising amid the US war with Iran and a lack of imported material, Cody Schlueter, president and owner of Port Pipe and Tube, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on May 4.

A new US-backed structure is attempting to turn critical minerals inventory from a cost burden into a strategic asset. Project Vault combines pooled demand, private governance and capped-return financing to create a shared supply buffer—and potentially the first steps toward price discovery in fragmented markets.

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.

The US domestic Galvalume price increased by $30 per ton in April despite soft end demand. The coated price boosted solely based on continuing strength in the hot-rolled coil market, sources said.

Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs) like Fastmarkets are helping more F&B companies manage packaging and ingredient costs by providing a unified, comprehensive view of their true cost drivers. Find out how.

Fastmarkets’ April 2026 revision to its global crude steel production forecast underscores how policy actions, geopolitical disruptions and cost pressures are reshaping the near-term steel supply outlook.

China’s emergence over the past two decades has reshaped global trade. What began as rapid export-led expansion in the early 2000s has evolved into a far more strategic model: one centered on control of intermediate goods, deep integration into global supply chains, and the creation of structural dependencies across industries and regions, according to Mexico’s former ambassador to China, Jorge Guajardo.

China's Tsingshan Holding Group is in talks with potential project partners about building another aluminium smelter in North Maluku, Indonesia, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday April 16.

Copper in concentrate production from Ivanhoe Mines' Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fell to 61,906 tonnes in the first quarter, down by 54% from 133,120 tonnes a year earlier, with the company now evaluating local third-party concentrate purchases to advance the ramp-up of its on-site smelter, according to an April 13 production release as the market focused its attention on the impact of global sulfuric acid shortages during CESCO Week in Chile from April 13-17.

Logistics disruptions, sharply higher freight costs and limited raw materials supply are among the main impacts from the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel and Iran on the Middle East's steel market, Asam Hussain, the chief executive officer of Arabian Gulf Steel Industries (AGSI), told Fastmarkets on Wednesday April 1.