In this short episode of Fast Forward, Alex Kershaw, senior analyst for steel, raw materials and ferrous scrap at Fastmarkets, unpacks the recent volatility in global scrap steel markets and what is driving price movements across key regions.

As Brazil implemented protective measures against Chinese flat steel — enforcing anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled coil, coated steel, and pre-painted steel sequentially since early 2026 — China's monthly exports of finished steel to the country declined to their lowest levels since 2024, significantly reducing a market that previously consumed over 400,000 tonnes per month.

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.

Under the proposed change, Fastmarkets will update the normalization coefficient for its Iron ore 61% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao and Iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao indices on a daily basis, allowing the coefficient to better reflect daily price movements. The normalization coefficient is currently updated on a monthly basis. Fastmarkets had observed that […]

This consultation, which was open until April 30, sought to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. The price under review was:MB-IRO-0004 […]

US steel mills were operating in April 2026 at their highest capacity utilization rate since 2024, but because many domestic producers have gone long on contracts this year, buyers continued to report difficulty in securing tonnages of steel hot-rolled coil on the spot market.

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.

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.

The Philippines’ steel industry is entering an inflection point, with the market gradually evolving from import reliance toward a more balanced and supply-secure growth trajectory supported by domestic investment and capacity expansion.

US steelmakers faced a “robust opportunity” in the data center construction boom, driven by rapid implementation of artificial intelligence software, according to Barry Zekelamn, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Zekelman Industries.