Steel raw materials
Complete mine-to-mill steel raw materials coverage featuring daily pricing, forecasts, news and expert analysis.
Overview
Argus provides comprehensive and independent coverage of global steelmaking raw materials markets, delivering trusted price assessments, market intelligence and analysis across iron ore, coking coal, pig iron and other critical inputs used in blast‑furnace and electric‑arc‑furnace production, supporting cost visibility and stronger insight across the steel production process.
Argus provides steelmakers, miners and traders with robust visibility into raw material cost formation across the steel production lifecycle. Daily assessments and analysis capture supply fundamentals, international trade flows, mill buying patterns as reflected in physical transactions, tenders and spot market activity, and the key pricing drivers influencing iron ore, metallurgical coal and ferrous feedstocks. This is supported by a broad set of proprietary datasets, including iron ore shipment tracking, mine project intelligence, and Asia‑Pacific coking coal and PCI deal coverage, enabling clearer insight into upstream supply conditions that shape steelmaking costs and margins.
As part of the Argus Steelmaking Raw Materials service, all benchmark prices and supplementary datasets are integrated to give clients a cohesive, end‑to‑end view of raw material markets. The service includes a suite of established benchmark indices relied upon by miners, steel mills, traders and financial participants. Key assessments include the ICX 62% Fe and ICX 61% Fe iron ore indices, the Argus Asia‑Pacific Coking Coal benchmark and the US Coking Coal price assessments—core reference points used for physical contracting, indexation and risk management across global metallurgical coal and iron ore markets. These benchmarks are complemented by Argus pricing for international ferrous scrap (available in Argus Scrap Markets), pig iron, green steel production cost calculations, and the Argus Steelmaking Raw Materials Outlook helping support strategic sourcing, hedging strategies and cost‑modeling across the global ferrous industry.
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Taiwan's scrap imports drop in January-June
Taiwan's scrap imports drop in January-June
Shanghai, 28 July (Argus) — Taiwan's ferrous scrap imports rose in June on mills' restocking demand, but overall imports in the first half of the year fell given prolonged weakness in the steel market. Taiwan imported 159,000t of ferrous scrap in June, up by 12pc from May and by 0.7pc from a year earlier, customs data show. Imports for January-June dropped by 20pc from a year earlier to 762,000t. The imported containerised HMS 1/2 80:20 price trended steadily higher from the start of the year until mid-May, with the Argus assessment rising by $64/t to $361/t on 19 May. Optimistic market sentiment encouraged some steelmakers to be more active in the seaborne market, but weak fundamentals still curbed overall imports in the first half. Taiwan imported 360,000t of semi-finished steel in June, up by 36pc from May. Imports for January-June fell by 22pc from a year earlier to 1.35mn t, in line with the reduced scrap imports, reflecting weak steel demand in Taiwan. Scrap imports are likely to edge lower from July as imported scrap prices fell from late May and Taiwanese mills scaled down scrap purchases during the summer electricity restriction period, according to market sources. The US remained the top ferrous scrap supplier in the first half, with volumes down by 21pc at 389,000t. Imports from Japan in the first half fell below those from Dominica, as Japanese scrap prices were higher than those from other origins and mills bought less from Japan. Supply from Dominica and other South American countries rose strongly and filled the gap after Japanese scrap import volumes declined. Taiwan's ferrous scrap imports t Country June '26 m-o-m ± % y-o-y ± % Jan-Jun '26 y-o-y ± % US 79,525 11.6 -26.8 388,591 -21 Japan 13,740 42 113 46,446 -10.4 Dominican Republic 11,984 -3.1 153.6 46,920 44.3 Australia 5,242 -57 -64.9 79,261 -66.7 Others 48,213 33 111 200,813 42.9 Total 158,704 12 0.7 762,031 -20.2 Source: Taiwan customs Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Court orders Ilva to halt hot-end operations
Court orders Ilva to halt hot-end operations
London, 27 July (Argus) — Italian steel producer Acciaierie d'Italia (ADI) has been ordered to suspend operations at the hot end of the former Ilva steelworks in Taranto within 90 days, owing to various environmental infractions. Milan's Court of Appeal ruled that the site is a public health concern, as the 2025 environmental permit failed to adequately address risks associated with asbestos remaining at the site and emissions of fine particulate matter. ADI was approached for comment, but said it would not speak on the matter for the time being. For the steel market, the ruling raises the prospect of a significant supply disruption from one of Italy's largest steelmaking assets, casting further doubt on attempts by the Italian government to find an investor that will take over ADI's operations. A restart of hot-end operations would depend on the company fully removing the remaining asbestos and implementing measures to reduce fine-particle emissions to safe levels. "Operations across the entire hot-end area will come to a halt as a result," a source close to the company said. "In any case, an emergency government meeting has been called for 5:30pm [today] to address the issues of high energy costs and Ilva, so I expect we will have more information this evening or, at the latest, tomorrow," the same source said. By Andrey Telegin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Nucor raises hot-rolled coil prices
Nucor raises hot-rolled coil prices
Houston, 27 July (Argus) — US steelmaker Nucor raised its hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices on Monday, with California prices facing a higher increase compared to other mills. Nucor's HRC consumer spot prices increased by $10/short ton (st) to $1,145/st, outside of California Steel Industries' prices, which the company raised by $15/st to $1,200/st. Lead times were steady at three to five weeks, although market participants have told Argus of longer overall lead times. Argus ' US HRC lead times rose by 0.6 week to 8 weeks on 21 July. Argus most recently assessed US HRC ex-works prices at $1,174/st during the week of 12-18 July, up by $9/st from the previous week. By Jenna Baer Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
India's Jindal Steel to focus on value-added products
India's Jindal Steel to focus on value-added products
Mumbai, 27 July (Argus) — India's Jindal Steel plans to prioritise higher-margin, value-added steel production while increasing utilisation of its installed domestic crude steel capacity of 15.6mn t/yr, it said over the weekend. The company plans to move away from commodity-grade steel production to sharpen its focus on specialised, value-added steel grades. The share of value-added product sales rose to 66pc in April-June, up from 61pc in January-March. "We are not in the race of putting more hot strip mills or more and more commodity mills," Jindal Steel's new managing director V.R. Sharma said during a conference call on 25 July. The company will continue to produce rebar as a commodity-grade product, but is not prioritising non-value-added hot-rolled coil (HRC) production, Sharma said. Jindal does not expect crude steel output to reach its installed capacity of 15.6mn t/yr in the current fiscal year ending March 2027. Instead, the company will likely produce around 11.5mn t crude steel by using its existing blast furnaces, electric arc furnaces and metallics reserves, Sharma said. The company could later readjust its blast furnaces to raise production further, he added. The company also plans to import direct-reduced iron and hot-briquetted iron, given a shortage of metallics. Jindal's crude steel production rose by 14pc on the year to 2.4mn t in April-June, but was 9pc lower compared with the previous quarter. Sales stood at 2.23mn t, 17pc higher on the year but down by 15pc on the quarter. Planned maintenance shutdowns across key facilities constrained both output and sales during the quarter, Jindal said. The company will ramp up production from September, following ongoing disruptions because of heavy rainfall. Jindal's profit declined by 43pc on the year to 8.45bn rupees ($88mn) in April-June. The hit from lower sales volumes was partially offset by stronger steel prices and a higher share of value-added products, Jindal said. Argus ' weekly Indian domestic HRC assessment for 2.5-4.00mm material rose by 27pc from mid-December to a multi-year high of Rs59,000/t at the start of April. Prices later came under pressure during the monsoons, with the assessment at Rs57,250/t on 24 July, but tighter supply prevented further declines. By Amruta Khandekar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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