Steel
Overview
The price indices in our Argus Ferrous Markets and Argus Global Steel services are widely used by companies in physical supply contracts around the world – for iron ore, coking coal, hot-rolled coil (HRC) and ferrous scrap.
Many of them are used as the settlement prices for cash-settled futures contracts launched by exchanges to allow users of the derivatives who also transact in the physical market to minimize basis risk while hedging. These cash-settled monthly futures contracts are settled against the arithmetic mean of all the published Argus prices during each calendar month.
Using indices allows companies to trade material on an index-linked basis, not only via fixed-prices sales. This offers significant advantages when prices are volatile, yet the modern finished steel market remains primarily transacted on a fixed price basis. The addition of futures markets offers opportunities to enhance supply chain resilience further.
Latest steel news
Canada grants tariff relief to automakers
Canada grants tariff relief to automakers
Pittsburgh, 17 April (Argus) — The Canadian government will allow automakers to circumvent retaliatory tariffs to continue importing US-assembled vehicles if the companies keep making cars in Canada. Canada began taxing imports of US-made vehicles and parts on 9 April at a 25pc rate in response to a similar tariff the US had implemented. Canada's tariff on vehicle imports from the US will not apply to car companies that keep their Canadian plants running, the country's finance minister said this week. The measure attempts to prevent closures of auto plants and layoffs in the Canadian automotive sector that the US tariffs threaten to cause. Automaker Stellantis paused production at its Windsor, Ontario, assembly plant in early April to evaluate the US tariff on vehicle imports. The plant will re-open on 22 April, Stellantis said. General Motors also plans to reduce production of its electric delivery fan at its Ingersoll, Ontario plant. The slowdown will result in layoffs of 500 workers, the Unifor union said. The automotive industry in the US, Canada and Mexico has struggled to adapt its supply chains to the new tariffs because the US, Canada Mexico free trade agreement (USMCA) and its predecessor helped establish an interconnected North American auto sector. In another measure, companies in Canada will get a six-month reprieve from tariffs on imports from the US used in manufacturing, food and beverage packaging. The six-month relief also applies to items Canada imports from the US used in the health care, public safety and national security sectors. "We're giving Canadian companies and entities more time to adjust their supply chains and become less dependent on US suppliers," finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement. By James Marshall Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Cyclones disrupt BHP iron ore sales in January-March
Cyclones disrupt BHP iron ore sales in January-March
Sydney, 17 April (Argus) — Australian mineral producer BHP's iron ore sales fell by 3.9pc on the year in January-March, despite total production remaining largely flat, because of months of severe weather challenges in Australia. BHP iron ore output for the 2025 financial year will sit in the lower end of its 255mn-265.5mn t guidance , it said in February. BHP had expected to operate in the upper end of its guidance range before multiple cyclones hit Western Australia (WA) in January-February. The decline in BHP's production guidance comes entirely from its WA operations. The company increased its Brazilian Samarco iron ore production guidance closer to the upper end of its 5mn-5.5mn t range. BHP produced 1.6mn t of ore at Samarco in January-March, up by 39pc on the year. The company — which runs Samarco as a joint venture with Brazilian metal firm Vale — re-opened a concentration plant at the mine in December 2024. Total production at Samarco will reach 16mn t/yr by the end of the 2025 financial year, the company said on 17 April. But production declines at the company's WA mines were limited in January-March, decreasing by just 0.3pc on the year. This was partly because of the ramp up of production at BHP's South Flank mine in July-September 2024 . BHP's Samarco mine also buoyed its total iron ore sales in January-March. Exports from the site rose by 15pc on the year, partially offsetting a 4.3pc decline in shipments from the company's larger WA operations. Other producers also faced weather disruptions over January-March. Australian producer Mineral Resources revised down its 2025 iron ore production guidance by up to 2.4mn t after Cyclone Sean. Rio Tinto also lost 13mn t of shipments and will likely only reach the lower end of its production guidance range of 323mn-338mn t in 2025. By Avinash Govind BHP iron ore quarterly results Jan-Mar '25 Oct-Dec '24 Jan-March '24 q-o-q % ± y-o-y % ± Proudction (mn t) Western Australia 60.1 64.8 60.3 -7.1 -0.3 Samarco 1.6 1.5 1.2 11.1 39.3 Total 61.8 66.2 61.5 -6.7 0.5 Sales (mn t) Western Australia 59.2 64.3 61.9 -7.9 -4.3 Samarco 1.4 1.5 1.3 -4.2 14.9 Total 60.7 65.8 63.1 -7.9 -3.9 Source: BHP Argus' iron ore fines 62pc Fe price ($/t) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally
Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally
Tokyo, 16 April (Argus) — Japanese car producer Honda will produce a car model at its US facility instead of its domestic facility from as early as June, the company told Argus today, possibly to avoid the US' tariffs on foreign car deliveries. Honda will stop manufacturing the Civic Hybrid 5-door model at the country's eastern Yorii plant during June-July and switch the production to its US plant in the state of Indianna, the representative of the firm told Argus . Honda produced 3,000 units of the model during February and March, he added. This comes as part of the company's mid-to long term "optimisation strategy", according to the firm, reiterating that theproduction switch is not a countermeasure against the US' across-the-board 25pc tariff on automobile imports that took effect on 3 April. But this may not be entirely convincing since Honda just started producing the model in February, leaving room for speculation that the transfer is part of a wider strategy to reduce delivery costs to the US market. Honda did not disclose whether the Indiana plant will procure auto parts from its suppliers in Canada or Mexico . Japanese auto industry is still bracing for further developments in the US tariff policy on automobile and auto parts, although US president Donald Trump on 14 April suggested possibly pausing the tariff. Tokyo and Washington will hold a ministerial talk this week to negotiate trade issues, including the levy on auto delivery, along with the 24pc "reciprocal" tariffs the Trump administration separately imposed on Japanese imports. Japanese government is hoping to negotiate for a better tariff deal during the 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariff imposition by the US government, and the automobile industry is seen as a key sector to settle the deal. The US president has long expressed his dissatisfaction against the auto trade imbalance between two countries. Japan exported around 1.3mn units of passenger vehicles to the US in 2024, while Japan purchased around 23,000 units of US passenger vehicles in 2023. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Fortescue announces electric drills deal
Australia's Fortescue announces electric drills deal
Sydney, 16 April (Argus) — Australian iron ore and energy company Fortescue has announced a A$350mn ($222mn) deal with Swedish firm Epiroc to buy over 50 electric drill rigs aimed at reducing emissions at its iron ore operations in Western Australia (WA). Fortescue expects the drills to reduce annual diesel consumption by around 35mn litres once it fully replaces diesel-powered equipment by 2030. The new fleet will cut more than 90,000t of CO2 emissions annually, Fortescue Metals chief executive officer Dino Otranto said on 16 April. The fleet includes autonomous electric platform and contour drills, and the first equipment arrived at Fortescue's Solomon mine in early April. The deal is part of the company's plan to replace its diesel-powered equipment by 2030. It signed a $2.8bn deal with Swiss-German manufacturer Liebherr in 2024 for a battery-powered truck fleet for its mining operations. Fortescue plans to replace around 800 pieces of heavy mining equipment with zero emissions equivalents and deploy 2-3GW of renewable energy and battery storage across the Pilbara region by the end of this decade, Otranto said. Fortescue is currently building a 190MW solar farm at its Cloudbreak mine, which will reduce annual diesel consumption by a further 125mn l. Safeguard mechanism results The company reported covered scope 1 emissions of 1.96mn t of CO2e across seven facilities in the first compliance year of Australia's reformed safeguard mechanism , which was just over 100,000t of CO2e above a combined baseline of 1.85mn t of CO2e. Facilities earn Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs) under the scheme if their emissions are below baseline or must surrender Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) or SMCs if emissions are above the threshold. Fortescue earned 49,749 SMCs for its Solomon Power Station and surrendered the units across four other facilities that exceeded their baselines. It also surrendered 57,753 ACCUs, while two of its facilities — the Christmas Creek Mine and Eliwana Mine — will have to manage a combined excess of 49,382t of CO2e in future under applications for multi-year monitoring periods (MYMP), which allow eligible facilities to report under the safeguard scheme for periods of up to five years ( see table ). Fortescue expected to exceed emissions baselines by around 120,000t of CO2e in the 2023-24 year, it said in 2024. ACCU generic, generic (No AD) and human-induced regeneration (HIR) spot prices have remained below A$35 ($22) over the past two months, having declined steadily from mid-November because of lower buying interest from safeguard companies and strong SMC issuances. By Juan Weik and Susannah Cornford Fortescue's 2023-24 safeguard mechanism results t CO2e Facility Covered emissions Baseline ACCUs surrendered SMCs surrendered SMCs issued MYMP net position Solomon Mine 452,137 390,033 42,926 19,178 Solomon Power Station 316,859 366,608 49,749 Christmas Creek Mine 372,251 351,986 20,265 Cloudbreak Mine 295,132 267,459 8,411 19,262 Rail 254,871 241,706 4,002 9,163 Eliwana Mine 164,894 135,777 29,117 Iron Bridge Mine 104,560 100,000 2,414 2,146 Total 1,960,704 1,853,569 57,753 49,749 49,749 49,382 Source: Clean Energy Regulator 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.
Metal movers: Will the EU steel safeguards changes hit imports?
Podcast - 25/03/17Metal Movers: What do the return of Trump tariffs mean for steel and scrap?
WhitePaper - 25/02/11Steel: What is the cost of going green?
Social and political pressures have put green steel at the forefront of the agenda in the European sector, with heavy investment going into new projects and offtake deals being inked with green premiums. But what exactly is green steel, and what is its value?
Explore our steel products
Key price assessments
