Price data, forecasts, insights and events for commodity markets

Critical minerals have long sat quietly in the background of industrial supply chains. Today, they are at the centre of national security strategy. Fastmarkets’ Andrea Hotter speaks to senior officials from the US Department of Defense in the lastest Fast Forward podcast episode.

The recent appreciation of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar is rippling through Asia’s ferrosilicon market, squeezing Chinese export margins, lifting regional prices and shifting currency risks downstream to buyers.

Indonesia has set up a state-linked entity to oversee exports of key commodities such as palm oil and coal, President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday May 20.

Grain flows into the Persian Gulf have been displaced but not discontinued by the war between Iran and the US which has closed the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) and Brazilian customs, seen by Fastmarkets on Tuesday May 19.

Egypt’s structural reliance on wheat imports remains intact, despite stronger domestic procurement efforts.

A growing number of steelmakers across Latin America have received sustainability certifications and environmental recognitions in recent months, reflecting how the region is increasingly positioning itself within the global transition toward lower-emissions steelmaking – although questions still remain surrounding how commercially scalable and economically sustainable this transition will become.