Steel raw materials
Overview
Argus’ comprehensive coverage of the global ferrous markets provide independent price assessments, news and market analysis for iron ore, coking coal, ferrous scrap, pig iron and steel.
Our global team of experts in China, Singapore, the UK and US deliver over 300 domestic and seaborne price assessments along with detailed market commentary on a daily basis to ensure our clients have complete mine to mill price coverage.
The ferrous portfolio includes established Argus price indices for 62pc and 65pc iron ore fines, Turkish ferrous scrap imports, and our fob Australia and cfr China premium hard coking coal indices.
Latest steel raw materials news
Browse the latest market moving news on the steel raw materials industry
Rio Tinto faces Australian iron ore shipment delays
Rio Tinto faces Australian iron ore shipment delays
Sydney, 24 January (Argus) — UK-Australian miner Rio Tinto is facing shipping disruptions in Western Australia (WA) after Cyclone Sean damaged a railcar dumper as it swept down the state's coast, the firm announced today. A dumper at Rio's East Intercourse Island (EII) port facility — a part of the Pilbara Port Authority's (PPA) Port Dampier — was flooded on 20 January, sustaining some damage, when 274mm of rain poured down on WA over a single day. EEI handled 45mn t of Rio Tinto's iron ore shipments in 2024. "Initial indications suggest the dumper at EII could be offline for three to four weeks, as rectifications works are required to repair flood damage," the company said on 24 January. Rio Tinto said its overall 2025 production guidance of between 323mn-338mn t of iron ore remains unchanged, but the disruption may affect first-quarter shipments. WA's coastal areas received the bulk of Cyclone Sean's rainfall earlier this week, limiting disruptions to the state's lucrative iron ore mines. Rio Tinto operates seven railcar dumpers across WA, six of which remain operational. The company will continue to move iron ore out of the state over the next month, using its other dumpers. Cyclone Sean forced the PPA to shutter its facilities at Port Hedland, Dampier, Ashburton, Varanus Island, and Cape Preston West on 18 January. All five of the sites resumed operations on 20 January, after the Bureau of Meteorology advised that Cyclone Sean was moving away from WA's Pilbara region. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Elkem launches review into silicones division
Elkem launches review into silicones division
London, 23 January (Argus) — Norwegian ferro-alloy and silicon producer Elkem has launched a review of its silicones division with the target of streamlining the business in a challenging market environment, and to reallocate capital to its silicon products and carbon solutions divisions. Elkem is an integrated producer in the silicones industry, ranging from silicon metal to upstream siloxane to downstream silicone specialities, but overcapacities in China and weak consumer markets present a challenging environment in which to operate. Elkem operates nine silicone production sites across Europe, Asia, the US and Brazil with key sites in France and China. The company invested 4.4bn Norwegian kroner ($390mn) across it Chinese and French operations to raise overall capacity by 140,000 t/yr in 2024. The improvements in China were completed in May last year, while the project in France was scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter. The silicones division reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of NKr145mn in January-September 2024, rising from a loss of NKr672mn in 2023. The recovery was attributed to operational efficiencies and utilisation, higher volumes and the ramp-up of new capacity. Elkem has appointed Norwegian bank ABG Sundal Collier to advise. Details on the timeline of the review were not disclosed. Elkem is due to report fourth-quarter results on 12 February. By Samuel Wood Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
MP Materials commences NdPr, NdFeB production
MP Materials commences NdPr, NdFeB production
Houston, 22 January (Argus) — US rare earth magnet producer MP Materials began commercial production of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and trial production of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) at its Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas. MP expects to produce approximately 1,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr of NdFeB magnets at the facility with a gradual production increase beginning in late 2025. MP will deliver finished magnets to General Motors and other manufacturers. In 2020, China accounted for about 90pc of related metal refining and 92pc of global NdFeB magnet and magnet alloy manufacturing. US consumption of NdFeB magnets is forecast to more than double to 37,000t in 2030 from 16,100t in 2020 and more than quadruple to 68,600t in 2050, according to a Department of Energy study from 2022. By Cole Sullivan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
CATL targets battery JVs with Europe in 2025: Davos
CATL targets battery JVs with Europe in 2025: Davos
London, 22 January (Argus) — The world's largest battery maker, CATL, is looking to sign more joint ventures (JVs) with European carmakers this year, co-chair Pan Jian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. "It's not healthy to concentrate too much production capacity in one space," Jian said, suggesting CATL is looking to diversify its production plants worldwide in case of supply chain bottlenecks. CATL last month announced a JV for a 50GWh plant in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, with Franco-Italian-American car conglomerate Stellantis, owner of 14 brands including Fiat, Jeep, Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. The firm operates at 13 plants worldwide, including 11 in China and two in Germany and Hungary . And the firm has construction plans in Indonesia, Thailand, as well as with Ford in the US state of Michigan and with Tesla in Nevada. CATL also supplies top models such as Tesla models 3 and Y, BMW iX, Mercedes EQ series and Volkswagen iD series in China. Software development key to EV success While electric vehicle (EV) sales in China surged by nearly 40pc last year, sales figures were more mixed in Europe and the US, with growth in the UK and the US , but sales falling in Germany and France. "The bottleneck really lies in the software development capability [of legacy carmakers]," Jian said, adding the example of US carmaker Ford, which has an "internal, traditional culture [that] they need to break through", despite its "visionary" chief executive, Jim Farley. German carmaker Volkswagen is hoping to make itself an exception, after having announced a 49:51 JV with Chinese tech firm Thundersoft in 2023 to develop connectivity and infotainment, to build "innovative and smart cockpits", among other features. The firm also bought a 5pc stake in Chinese EV maker Xpeng in 2023 and announced a charging partnership earlier this month . Volkswagen's battery EV (BEV) sales in China last year rose by 8.1pc to 207,400 units . Elsewhere, western carmakers have struggled to integrate tech into EVs. US carmaker General Motors incurred a $600mn loss last year after ending production of its Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle . US tech giant Amazon also invested heavily in Rivian in 2019, which has struggled to scale up sales and fallen behind as the fifth-largest EV maker in the US past year , far behind Tesla. Autonomous driving start-up Waymo, owned by Alphabet, last May was reportedly being investigated by US safety regulators following a series of crashes involving its autonomous robotaxis. And US tech giant Apple cancelled plans last February to launch a self-driving EV after spending $10bn on the project, codenamed ‘Titan'. British firm Dyson, known for making hoovers and hair dryers, cancelled its own EV plans in 2019. By Chris Welch Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Insight Paper: Global Thermal Coal Market Midyear Insights 2024
Our team of coal experts review the factors that are driving developments in the global coal markets.
Insight papers - 20/05/24Moving target: Using an index to track volatile steel prices
Flat steel prices have experienced unprecedented volatility since 2020. Against this backdrop, an increasing number of buyers have started to link their purchasing to price indexes.
Insight papers - 16/05/24Argus launches six new HRC cif Italy origin differentials
The market for importing hot-rolled coil (HRC) to the EU is being driven by a growing number of external factors that are widening differentials for prices from various origins, creating the need for new price assessments that improve transparency for an increasingly complex market.
Explore our steel raw materials products
The Argus ferrous portfolio includes over 1,600 assessments and delivers unbiased price data, reports and market commentary from across coking coal, iron ore, ferrous scrap, steel and relevant freight rates.
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.
