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Global markets are grappling with the economic fallout from the US-Iran conflict. Increased costs and trade disruptions are the new norm, leading to noticeable inflation in freight and energy sectors, even as a broader demand recovery remains elusive. Here's how different sectors are being affected today: 🏗️Metals & Mining: European steel markets are quiet. Buyers are hesitant, leading to flat or falling prices. The ongoing conflict is driving up costs for imported materials, adding to the pressure. Meanwhile, iron ore prices have bounced back from their February lows, largely due to soaring freight costs on key routes like Brazil-to-Asia, a direct result of fuel supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. 🚜Agriculture: Distillers corn oil (DCO) prices are surging, pushed higher by rising crude oil costs and energy supply issues linked to the conflict. This is compounded by biofuel demand and existing tariff-related trade shifts. Overall, market prices are being dictated by logistics and input costs rather than strong consumer demand. While end-user purchasing is cautious, upstream markets are still feeling the pinch of higher freight rates and earlier supply shocks, keeping costs high despite moderate demand. Stay up to date with our latest coverage: https://fmrkts.com/4eUOTp1 #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #MiddleEastDaily

Competition in China’s EV market is relentless and that pressure is shaping how global leaders think about strategy. 🎯 In the latest episode of our Fast Forward podcast, Andrea Hotter speaks with Stella. Li, Executive Vice President at BYD, who explains how intense competition and fast followers have pushed the company to keep raising the bar. What begins as imitation quickly becomes a catalyst: pushing BYD to move faster, innovate deeper and build stronger long‑term advantages. It’s a candid look at how “bleeding competition” in China is not just squeezing margins, but actively redefining what it takes to stay ahead in EVs, and why technological leadership can’t stand still. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Stella Li on Fast Forward to discover how competition, innovation and global expansion are shaping the future of mobility: https://fmrkts.com/42FPcwD #FastForwardPodcast #EVs #Automotive #BatteryTechnology #GlobalCompetition Fastmarkets Metals and Mining

Tensions in the Middle East continue to elevate freight and energy costs, disrupting trade flows and impacting both pricing and availability across several commodity chains. Here's what you need to know: 🏗️Metals & Mining: Logistics constraints are tightening the market. Middle East-origin blast furnace pellets bound for China are largely blocked and high freight costs are pushing up ferrous scrap prices, squeezing margins for Turkish steelmakers. 🚜Agriculture: Rising crude oil prices are lifting oilseed and vegetable oil futures. Soybean and corn futures have firmed up in response to the surge in crude and wheat prices. 🌳Forest Products: Energy-related costs are affecting pricing and output. Poland’s recycled containerboard prices are up due to higher gas prices, while US paper and board production dropped 5.9% in Q1 amid rising input, fuel, and transport costs. Stay up to date with our latest coverage: https://fmrkts.com/4t8fmTF #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #ForestProducts #MiddleEastDaily

The conflict between the US and Iran continues to drive up energy costs and disrupt shipping, impacting freight, insurance, and trade flows across several commodity markets. Here's how different sectors are being affected: ⛓️ Metals and Mining: Logistics challenges are affecting both raw materials and finished steel. Scrap markets report higher freight and fuel costs, while Saudi Arabia's hot-rolled coil imports have slowed, with deliveries being redirected away from the Strait of Hormuz. 🌱 Agriculture: High fuel costs are a major factor for vegetable oils. While demand signals are mixed, freight rates within Asia are uneven, and CME soyoil futures have climbed with rising crude oil prices. 🌲 Forest Products: The conflict and fuel prices are dominating conversations. Framing lumber prices are mostly firm or rising, except for southern pine, which has seen prices drop as mills look to clear inventory. Stay up to date with our latest coverage: https://fmrkts.com/4eiPv7W #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #MiddleEastDaily

Markets are reacting to supply losses and trade restrictions linked to Iran, which are tightening availability in the steel chain and keeping logistics and energy costs high. Here's what's affecting your market today: ⚙️Metals and mining: ✔️Reduced Iranian output and restricted regional shipping are reshaping global trade flows and increasing costs ✔️Iran has banned exports of 66 steel product categories to secure domestic supply while damaged mills are repaired ✔️Buyers in the Middle East are now looking to alternative suppliers, including China, for semi-finished steel ✔️In Saudi Arabia, billet import prices have risen due to supply disruptions. European producers are also facing higher energy and scrap costs as German gas prices climb 🚜Agriculture: ✔️While US spot vegetable oil markets were subdued, they remain supported by tight supply and strong biofuel demand, which is linked to elevated energy prices stemming from the tensions Get a deeper dive into our coverage of the conflict and its impact on trade and logistics: https://fmrkts.com/49hSiL1 #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #MiddleEastDaily

The Iran conflict is causing significant disruptions in global markets, tightening supply and lifting risk costs across trade-dependent markets, with shipping and energy uncertainty showing up first in industrial availability and pricing. Here's how this is impacting key industries: ⚒️In metals and mining, US aluminum billet prices are climbing due to tighter supply. Major producers like Aluminium of Bahrain, Emirates Global Aluminium, and Qatalum have declared force majeure on some orders following missile damage, leading to operational shutdowns and further constraining the market. Similarly, steel markets are feeling the impact of lost Iranian supply, which is driving up slab offers in Southeast Asia. 🚜In agriculture, vegetable oil futures, including crude palm and soybean oil, have seen modest gains as geopolitical tensions keep the market on edge. These developments are creating uncertainty in industrial availability and pricing. Stay informed on how these market shifts could affect your business. Read more: https://fmrkts.com/4mR0mYK #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #ForestProducts #MiddleEastDaily

When exposure only becomes clear at month‑end, teams are left reacting rather than managing risk. In volatile conditions, even moderate price movements can materially impact margins. The Fastmarkets Risk Management Suite is designed to help treasurers, risk managers and procurement teams move toward more timely, structured risk insight. See how the suite enables teams to: ✔️ Replace manual modeling with Monte Carlo‑based analytics ✔️ Assess and demonstrate hedge effectiveness before execution ✔️ Align risk limits with board‑approved tolerance levels The result is clearer risk visibility, more consistent reporting and better‑informed decisions, without added complexity. ▶️ Book a 1:1 walkthrough to see the tools in action: https://fmrkts.com/4mWMX1t Fastmarkets Metals and Mining Fastmarkets Forest Products Fastmarkets Agriculture #CommodityTrading #RiskManagement #Procurement #Treasury #Fastmarkets

Markets continue to adjust to disruption linked to the Middle East conflict, with higher energy and freight costs and uneven trade flows shaping pricing and buying behaviour across commodities. ⚒️ In metals and mining, impacts are diverging. Some steel products are seeing firmer prices as costs rise and supply risks increase, while other segments remain constrained by wide bid-offer gaps and cautious buying. European heavy plate prices moved higher amid steady bookings and higher energy costs, while seaborne iron ore pellet premiums remained capped due to ample domestic Chinese supply despite ongoing shipment uncertainty. 🌳 In forest products, weak demand is limiting suppliers’ ability to pass on higher costs. Planned price increases for pulp imports into China have been withdrawn, with buyers resisting higher numbers despite rising logistics and transport costs. The result is an increasingly uneven pricing landscape, with cost-led support in parts of steel contrasting with softer downstream demand signals elsewhere. Our latest coverage looks at how the conflict continues to affect trade flows, logistics and pricing across metals, forest products and agriculture over the past 24 hours. Read more: https://fmrkts.com/4cx4Joy #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #ForestProducts #MiddleEastDaily

As of today, disruption linked to the conflict involving Iran is tightening shipping and trade routes, lifting freight and risk costs, and forcing rerouting that’s now feeding through into physical offers and trade flows. Across markets: 📈 Metals and mining: Asia billet sellers have raised offers as hopes for a prompt reopening of the Strait of Hormuz fade, with Iranian semi‑finished exports effectively unavailable to some buyers. 📈 Agriculture: Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed to a multi‑session high, supported by rising geopolitical risk. 📈 Forest products: Suzano announced a 6.25% price increase for its boxboard line in Brazil, citing cumulative inflation and short‑term pressure linked to the conflict. Fastmarkets has been tracking developments over the past 24 hours, with on‑the‑ground insights into how the conflict is reshaping pricing, supply expectations and trade flows across metals, agriculture, forest products and freight. Read the latest analysis and market commentary from our global team: https://fmrkts.com/4u2emRP #Fastmarkets #Commodities #Metals #Agriculture #MiddleEastDaily