Metals
Overview
The global metals markets are evolving rapidly, shaped by shifting supply chains, rising demand for critical minerals, geopolitical uncertainty, and increasing price volatility across ferrous, non‑ferrous and emerging technology metals. Argus provides independent metals pricing, trusted benchmarks and actionable market intelligence that give mining companies, metal producers, traders, manufacturers and recyclers the clarity and confidence they need to navigate increasing cost exposure, manage risks and make data-driven decisions.
Covering the steel supply chain, base metals, critical metals including rare earths, scrap, ferroalloys, raw materials and energy‑transition metals, Argus delivers accurate, reliable price assessments that reflect real market activity. Companies worldwide reference Argus metals benchmarks in physical and financial contracts to ensure fair, consistent and market‑aligned pricing, a crucial advantage in regions where regulatory environments, trade flows and cost structures vary dramatically.
With expert analysis, regional metals prices, market reporting, and fundamentals data, Argus helps users track market sentiment, identify key metals price drivers and stay informed on developments across ferrous, non‑ferrous and critical minerals markets, supported by localized coverage in the most active trading regions. This includes rapid shifts driven by developments in emerging supply chains, logistics constraints, shifting demand conditions, energy and input‑cost volatility, and China’s dominant role in global metals supply and demand, where changes in production, export policy, or refining capacity can quickly move global metals prices, availability and trade flows.
Argus empowers stakeholders across steel, raw materials, non‑ferrous and critical metals markets with reliable data, clear insights and a deeper understanding of global metals‑market dynamics, helping businesses remain competitive, agile and prepared for what’s next.
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Argus offers comprehensive coverage across all major metals markets, providing independent pricing and market intelligence for steel, steel raw materials, base metals, alloys, scrap, pipe and tube, battery materials, rare earths and specialty and minor metals. Our pricing and market intelligence provide a clear, structured view of metals markets worldwide, helping you monitor key trends and respond to shifting market dynamics with confidence.
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Latest metals news
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India’s steel sector backs government mining reforms
India’s steel sector backs government mining reforms
Mumbai, 24 August (Argus) — India's reforms for mining taxation that were introduced this month will create policy certainty, remove the overhang of retrospective tax claims and strengthen domestic iron ore supply, industry experts said. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act (MMDR) 2026, which came into effect from 22 August, restricts states from independently imposing new mining-related taxes and cesses. Any levies must now adhere to conditions and restrictions laid down by the central government, according to the act. This followed a July 2024 ruling where the Supreme Court's eight-judge majority held that royalty paid by mining firms is separate from taxes and is simply a payment for the right to extract minerals. The court also ruled that state governments have the power to impose their own taxes on mineral rights. The court in August 2024 also ruled that Indian state governments can demand previous dues on taxes from mining firms but not for the period prior to 1 April 2005. "The recent [amendment] removes two very important things. One is uncertainty from your business models and two, the retrospective overhang, which after crores of investment, can completely jeopardise your economics," Rashmi Group chief of strategy and corporate affairs Arnab Kumar Hazra told Argus at an industry event in Kolkata. Rashmi Group is an industrial conglomerate with various divisions including iron and steel, ferro-alloys and power. After the 2024 ruling, states started imposing their own taxes on minerals, leading to non-uniform taxes across different regions, market participants said. The retrospective tax provision exposed the mining sector to substantial liabilities, with some estimates pegging the dues at 2 trillion rupees ($20.9bn). NMDC, India's largest merchant iron ore mining firm, estimates its potential tax liability in Karnataka at about Rs158bn, subject to the outcome of the state's proposed retrospective mineral tax law and related legislative developments. Under the amendment, any mineral tax demand is invalid if the state had not collected the tax before the new law took effect. But taxes or cesses already collected by state governments before the law was implemented will not be refunded, according to the act. The amendment has strengthened confidence in mining by creating a more uniform tax framework, curbing states' scope to introduce new levies and eliminating retrospective tax demands, industry participants said. The reforms will also raise availability of iron ore in the domestic market, strengthening raw material security and reducing import dependence, state-owned producer Steel Authority of India (Sail) said last week. "With improved viability and development of its captive mines, Sail will be able to make additional iron ore available for sale in the market, in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework," the company said in a statement. State governments are now likely to speed up the auctioning of mines to bolster revenues after the amendment, Hazra said. By Amruta Khandekar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US-Canada trade deal collapses as tariffs begin
US-Canada trade deal collapses as tariffs begin
Washington, 22 August (Argus) — The US began collecting new tariffs on about $28bn of Canadian imports on Saturday, and Canada vowed to retaliate, after the two countries failed to reach a trade deal after months of negotiations. Trade negotiations collapsed late on Friday, prompting the US to impose new 50pc tariffs on commodities such as cement, plywood and paper. The impasse also means, at least for now, the end of an effort to reduce US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he would match the tariffs "dollar for dollar", escalating a trade fight that President Donald Trump launched near the start of his second term by putting steep tariffs on vast amounts of imports coming across the border. "This evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US," Carney said after negotiations fell apart. "Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal." The US blamed Canada for the failure of talks, claiming Canada made "new demands" and walked back other commitments, despite being offered significantly lower tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and lumber. "This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States," the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a social media post. The collapse of the deal comes as Trump is facing political blowback over the high prices consumers are paying partly because of his tariffs. On Friday, Trump said he reached a deal allowing up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported without tariffs, which he said would lower beef prices. The latest 50pc tariffs will not apply to energy, potash or critical miners, but they will tack on additional costs on other key imports into the US. The failure of the trade talks also could derail Trump's hopes of reviving the Keystone XL crude pipeline. Trump, just days before the trade negotiations faltered, had said that under a deal Keystone XL "may be awoken from the grave" despite being cancelled in 2021. The administration had not offered details about a strategy to restart the project, which its developers abandoned years ago in favor of alternatives such as the 550,000 b/d Prairie Connector pipeline. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia must stay realistic in metals race: Panel
Australia must stay realistic in metals race: Panel
Singapore, 21 August (Argus) — Australia must be realistic about where it can compete in critical minerals and batteries, and shying away from collaboration with the Chinese across investment and technology is "a mistake", according to panellists at a recent Argus forum in Perth, Australia. Australia has been pulled into a strategic competition between the US and China to its disadvantage, chief executive of Australia's Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Warren Pearce, said during a panel discussion at the forum earlier in the week. Australia should have been able to play the US and China off against each other to gain investment, but instead explorers are being pressured to align with the US from the get-go, taking Chinese investment and early-stage opportunities off the table, Pearce said. "What is in the US interest is not necessarily in our interest," Pearce said, adding that there is room for Australia to co-operate with China to bring technology and build capability in the former given that not all critical minerals are crucial to defence applications and national security. China first added gallium and germanium products to its list of export-controlled dual-use items in August 2023 and subsequently added more products, including some rare earths products and other critical minerals, to the export-controlled dual-use list in the following years. China introduced even tighter measures for exports of some products to the US and Japan this year. It imposed export controls on heavy rare earths and dual-use technologies to Japan in January, and tightened existing controls on a wide range of dual-use critical minerals to the US in July. Dual-use products are goods and technologies that can be used for civilian and military purposes. Some of the Australia's decisions could close the door on Chinese Investment, Pearce said, citing recent decisions by the country's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) ordered China-linked investors to divest from Northern Minerals' Browns Range heavy rare earth project in 2024. The board issued further sell-off orders in May . But three investors have repeatedly failed to comply with the orders . The firm previously targeted an FID for its Browns Range mine in Western Australia by 30 June. It currently aims to reach FID in the July-September quarter. Australian producers also need to think through their position on developing intermediate and downstream products, according to Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) chief financial officer Stephen Motteram, as they might be better off sitting closer to final end-users. ASM is developing the Dubbo rare earth project in New South Wales, and manufactures rare earth alloys and metals at its Korean Metals Plant in Ochang, South Korea, where some of the end-users are. US uranium producer Energy Fuels is aiming to set up the first part of a mine-to-magnet supply chain outside of China. Energy Fuels bought ASM in mid-August ASM also originally planned to produce separated rare earth oxides at the Dubbo project, but is now considering producing mixed rare earth hydroxide precipitate and shipping it directly to its parent company's White Mesa Mill in Utah for further processing. Consumers need to value non-China alternatives for projects to get built in the west and induce a demand for Western supply chains, Motteram said. China accounted for about 90pc of global rare earth refining in 2025. But that may fall to 70-73pc by 2035 if foreign projects reach production, according to the International Energy Agency's modelling. Battery industry Chinese firms also continue to dominate the global battery industry, including the low-cost lithium-iron-phosphate battery chemistry. But competing with China's battery chemistry forte that it has worked on over the last decade is "never going to win", said Ron Mitchell the chief executive officer of Australian manganese firm Firebird Metals. "The only way to do it is to look at the next generation [batteries]," he said, adding that being smarter around production pathway can be an advantage to offset higher production costs. Firebird owns the Oakover manganese project in Australia. It also built a demonstration-scale plant in Perth to produce cathode active material (CAM) via an end-to-end process — from manganese ore conversion into high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate all the way to CAM. The plant is expected to commission in October-December, the firm said. Argus Consulting expects high-manganese battery chemistries' market share to grow from 2pc in 2025 to 14pc in 2036, with automakers such as General Motors looking at commercialising lithium-manganese-rich batteries . By Daniel Gage-Brown and Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Canada tariff relief could pause US HRC price climb
Canada tariff relief could pause US HRC price climb
Houston, 20 August (Argus) — US hot-rolled coil (HRC) markets could face their biggest challenge in nearly 10 months in an otherwise steady march, as media reports suggest that a potential trade deal between the US and Canada could result in the halving of US import tariffs on the latter country. The latest Argus steel index US HRC price hit its highest level in more than four years, eclipsing $1,200/short ton (st) in a price cycle for just the third time in its history. The jump in the 18 August price came ahead of news reports on 19 August of a potential reduction in steel tariffs levied on Canada from 50pc to 25pc. Although details of the deal have yet to be finalized, the US market has been attempting to digest the news of potentially having its largest steel trading partner available again as a supplier. US HRC futures faced a steep selloff on the CME after fourth-quarter prices reached a fresh peak at the start of the week. The October forward contract settled at $1,175/st on 20 August, falling by $50/st from the prior day. November and December contracts were down even more, dropping by $58/st and $56/st to $1,150/st and $1,131/st, respectively. US mills have struggled to provide sufficient spot availability to meet buyers' demand needs for months because of a combination of increased annual contract commitments after the displacement of Canada and Mexico, and production outages from either planned or unplanned maintenance. Even as the forward curve dropped, the physical market continued to mull over what exactly the ramifications of lower tariffs on Canada would mean for pricing and annual contract negotiations set to begin in the next 30 days. Canada averaged 3.8mn metric tonnes (t)/yr of flat-rolled exports to the US between 2021-2024, with that total dropping to 2.5mn t in 2025 and to just 812,343t for the year to date in 2026, including preliminary license data for July and August, according to US Department of Commerce data. Market sources indicated Canadian supply would be able to return if tariffs were lowered to 25pc, but the speed of the return and the amount of supply were the biggest questions. Some sources noted returning Canadian supply could serve more as a pressure release valve than something that would cause a sharp correction to domestic prices. Service centers have reported having to turn down customer orders because of the unavailability of domestic spot supply. In addition, there has been growing interest and commitments to the import market for deliveries for the fourth quarter of 2026 and into the first quarter of 2027 to meet demand needs. Additional Canadian supply could help service centers meet demand needs while also presenting an opportunity for domestic mills to get caught up on order backlogs that have caused less consistent delivery performance throughout the year. By Jenna Baer Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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