Metals
Overview
Argus delivers trusted price data and market intelligence to help you understand the drivers behind primary and secondary metal markets. Our service differentiates with in-depth market commentary, analysis and news on ferrous and non-ferrous metals at the heart of commercial trade and industrial manufacturing.
The global metals supply chain uses Argus metals commodity data as a reference in physical supply and derivative contracts, for mark-to-market purposes, as a value indicator for tax assessments, for risk management, and in strategic analysis and planning.
Argus delivers four core products within its metals portfolio: Argus Steelmaking Raw Materials, Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, Argus Scrap Markets and Argus Battery Materials. Each offering includes access to Argus Metals – your definitive metals platform.
Metals market coverage
Argus is a leading independent provider of market intelligence to the global energy and commodity markets. Our price assessments and market intelligence are available for all major metals markets across the globe. Explore the coverage most relevant to your business:
Stay ahead of the Metals market
To be informed of new metals content, sign up to the Argus Metals Newsletter of your choice. Each issue provides key prices, selected news, downloadable insight papers, podcasts, and on-demand videos on your selected metal markets. We offer four tailored newsletters according to your area of interest, covering battery materials, ferrous, non-ferrous, and scrap markets.
Latest metals news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global metals industry.
US adds critical minerals to focus in Venezuela
US adds critical minerals to focus in Venezuela
Caracas, 4 March (Argus) — US interior secretary Doug Burgum is discussing mining and the critical minerals supply chain with Venezuelan officials in Caracas, the US embassy in Venezuela said today. Burgum is making contact with "US and Venezuelan businesses, and will work for a legitimate mining sector and safe value chain of critical minerals", the embassy said. The US has claimed management of Venezuela's major commodities in the wake of its arrest of former president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January. Burgum will visit for two days, and will also discuss general energy topics including oil, interim president Delcy Rodriguez said in a joint appearance with the secretary. Venezuela's government plans to soon present a legislative proposal to open its mining sector to more investment, similar to what it did recently in its hydrocarbons sector, Rodriguez said. Venezuela has said it has large untapped deposits of critical minerals, although specific data is limited. It has also struggled with widespread illegal mining and smuggling. Trump praised interim president Rodriguez, previously Maduro's vice-president, in a social media post on Wednesday, saying she is "working with U.S. Representatives very well". Venezuela continues to produce about 1mn b/d of crude, but Trump has vowed that US oil investment will soon boost output, adding that the "Oil is beginning to flow". By Carla Bass Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US court orders refunds on Trump's IEEPA tariffs
US court orders refunds on Trump's IEEPA tariffs
Washington, 4 March (Argus) — A federal court has ordered President Donald Trump's administration to begin processing refunds on tens of billions of dollars in emergency tariffs the US Supreme Court said last month were unlawful. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must recalculate final duties owed on "any and all" imported goods without including the tariffs that Trump imposed under law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Richard Eaton, a judge on the US Court of International Trade, wrote in a three-page decision on Wednesday. Eaton, who said he is the only judge on the court hearing IEEPA tariff refund cases, said the Supreme Court's decision that struck down Trump's emergency tariffs should provide across-the-board relief, even to those that had not filed lawsuits. Thousands of companies have already filed lawsuits seeking refunds of the IEEPA tariffs, which collected an estimated $175bn from importers during the nearly one-year period when Trump had them in effect. "All importers of record whose entries were subject to IEEPA duties are entitled to the benefit of the Learning Resources decision," Eaton wrote, referencing the name of the Supreme Court's tariff ruling. The court's order does not explicitly lay out the refund process, but instead applies to customs entries that are "unliquidated" — those that are pending — and those that are liquidated but not yet final. The order, issued as part of a tariff refund lawsuit an air filtration product company filed less than a week ago, suggests that courts intend to move quickly on refunds after the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling finding Trump had no authority to impose his emergency tariffs. Earlier this week, a federal appeals court denied a request by the Trump administration for a months-long delay in court proceedings over tariff refunds, allowing tariff lawsuits to resume in the Court of International Trade. Trump previously said the refund process might take "years" to resolve in court. The Trump administration told Eaton this week it was still considering "next steps" for the Supreme Court opinion, including the mechanics and "scope" of refunds. As of Wednesday, CBP said it had not paid refunds on any of the IEEPA tariffs. In a court filing earlier on Wednesday, the administration conceded that it would have to also pay interest on any tariff refunds it is required to make. The cumulative interest payments on the refunded tariffs could reach $700mn each month, according to calculations the think tank Cato Institute published this week. US senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), in a letter on Wednesday to administration officials, said that the Trump administration's "dithering" on tariff refunds had created an opening for those on Wall Street to offer small companies with immediate cash needs "pennies on the dollars" to purchase their tariff refund rights. Further delaying tariff refunds would result in "more pain" for US companies and their customers, he wrote. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil’s Jan PPI contracts on fuels, food
Brazil’s Jan PPI contracts on fuels, food
Sao Paulo, 4 March (Argus) — Prices paid to Brazilian producers fell by 4.33pc in January from a year earlier, mostly pushed down by the food sector and fuels, according to government statistics agency IBGE. The decline in the producer price index (PPI) slowed from a 4.51pc contraction in December but quickened from 3.36pc in November and smaller contractions the prior two months. The disinflation in PPI suggests that consumer price inflation, which accelerated to 4.44pc in January from 4.26pc in December, may soon be easing. The food sector, which accounted for more than half of the total PPI index result, fell by 9.84pc in January from a year earlier, after a 10.48pc annual loss in December, extending a negative streak begun in September, IBGE said. Sugar products and pork were among the main negative drivers, while falling sugar prices were mainly affected by a weakening dollar to the Brazilian real over the last year. IBGE's research manager Murilo Alvim said. As for crude and biofuels, producer prices for the sector fell by 7.64pc in the last 12-months, following a 5.64pc annual loss in December and marking an eight-month low, IBGE data show. Metallurgy producer prices fell by 4.91pc in January from a year earlier, following an 8.06pc annual loss in December. The index ticked up by 0.3pc from December. Brazil's PPI posted 10 consecutive monthly declines from February-November 2025, IBGE said. Copper and gold contributed the most to inflationary pressures within metallurgy in the monthly comparison, adding up to its 2.73pc. As for chemicals, sulfur-based fertilizers and other imported feedstocks raised producer prices to a 1.7pc gain from December, Alvim said. PPI measures average prices offered by suppliers to domestic producers of goods and services without considering taxes and freight costs. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Sulphur chokepoint threatens battery metals
Sulphur chokepoint threatens battery metals
London, 4 March (Argus) — The widening conflict in the Middle East threatens to squeeze the supply of sulphur through the strait of Hormuz, with potential long-lasting second-order effects on key battery metals production. The most immediate industrial vulnerability lies in sulphur produced in Mideast Gulf countries — and by extension sulphuric acid — a critical input for copper and cobalt leaching in the central African copperbelt, nickel leaching in Indonesia and lithium extraction and refining globally. Roughly half of global seaborne sulphur trade transits the strait of Hormuz. With Middle Eastern refinery operations disrupted and shipping largely halted, global sulphur availability has tightened sharply. Africa is particularly exposed. Nearly all sulphur imported by southern African buyers last year originated in the Middle East. Argus assessed spot sulphur prices at the key hub of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at $615-630/t fca on 3 March, an increase of just $20/t since 27 February, as stocks in the port are ample. But the structural vulnerability is clear. Delivered trucking costs from Dar es Salaam to Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are about $280/t. That implies delivered sulphur prices approaching $900/t dap Kolwezi this week. At typical 3:1 conversion ratios, that suggests sulphuric acid costs nearing $300/t, much higher than other regional benchmarks. Sulphur fob Middle East prices were assessed at $494-496/t. Both prices had experienced a slight dip ahead of the conflict but have jumped in the initial days of the war. Copperbelt heavily impacted The central African copperbelt imports roughly 2mn t/yr of sulphur, producing around 6mn t/yr of sulphuric acid for oxide copper leaching. An additional 2.5mn t/yr of acid is generated by regional copper smelters processing concentrates. Higher acid prices directly raise copper production costs in one of the world's fastest-growing supply regions. The same belt is also the centre of global cobalt production. The DRC accounts for roughly 70pc of global mined cobalt supply. Major producers include Glencore, whose Mutanda and Kamoto operations produced around 40,000t of cobalt in 2024, and China Molybdenum (CMOC), whose Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu mines together produced more than 55,000t of cobalt last year. But the DRC has room to manoeuvre in the cobalt markets, as it has imposed an export quota on producers since late last year. There is probably a significant production overhang in the country itself, so a loosening of the policy could be used to shore up market supply in the event of a tight squeeze. The mechanism that shuts down global trade is not necessarily naval blockades but the withdrawal of war risk insurance, Robert Friedland, the founder of Ivanhoe Mines, noted this week. Seven of the 12 members of the International Group of P&I Clubs have issued cancellation notices for war risk coverage in the Mideast Gulf, extending beyond the strait of Hormuz itself to Iranian waters and the Gulf of Oman. Nickel mines and lithium refineries exposed Sulphuric acid also plays a critical role in the wider battery metals supply chain. It is a key reagent in pressure acid leach (HPAL) operations used to produce nickel from laterite ores in Indonesia, now the world's dominant source of battery-grade nickel, producing more than 50pc of global supply. Several large Indonesian HPAL projects consume millions of tonnes of sulphur annually to generate acid for leaching operations. Indonesian nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) producers have ceased offering long-term contractual material to assess the potential impact of sulphur supply disruptions. Fuel impacts in Indonesia could also be acute. Indonesia's crude supply from the Middle East passes through Hormuz and makes up around a fifth of national demand, energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on 3 March. Sulphuric acid is also widely used in lithium extraction and processing. Hard-rock spodumene concentrate is typically converted into lithium chemicals using sulphuric acid roasting, while several emerging direct lithium extraction and brine conversion routes also depend on large volumes of sulphuric acid. A sustained rise in sulphur prices therefore risks feeding directly into global battery metal production costs. Again, Africa is most exposed, but a recent lithium concentrate export ban in Zimbabwe may actually relieve the pressure on other mines in the region. Australia, the world's largest lithium spodumene producer, receives most of its sulphur from Canada, so should remain far more insulated. That said, the second-largest supplier is Qatar, albeit by some distance. General inflationary pressures brought on by an extended crisis can and will affect the Chinese refining industry, which was already struggling with margin pressure from growing spodumene prices and could emerge as the weak link in the lithium supply chain. Lithium refining is an energy and reagent-intensive process. Elevated LNG and power costs in Asia, combined with rising sulphur and sulphuric acid prices used in the conversion of spodumene into lithium chemicals, could significantly increase operating costs for converters. At the same time, demand uncertainty or weaker downstream battery markets could limit refiners' ability to pass those costs on. China accounts for roughly 80pc of global lithium chemical refining capacity, meaning that any sustained pressure on Chinese converters would have disproportionate consequences for global lithium supply. By Thomas Kavanagh & Fenella Rhodes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our metals products
Limit your price risk exposure with daily metals market intelligence, empower your business with data-rich industry tools and inform your long-term strategy with outlooks backed by over 50 years of commodity reporting.
Key price assessments
Argus prices are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.