Increasing demand for graphite cathode for new energy vehicles (EV) and its cheaper price compared with synthetic graphite is turning the attention of the market to the price of flake graphite, delegates at Fastmarkets’ Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai heard last week.

Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners moved closer to exiting London Metal Exchange warehousing operations on Tuesday April 16, with the sale of its European sheds and stocks to Dutch logistics company Kloosterboer.

The Fanya Exchange on Wednesday April 24 will auction 34.64 tonnes of the indium stock held in its warehouse, after the first auction in January failed to attract any bidders.

In legal action, the American Institute for International Steel has requested that the United States Supreme Court hear its case that the President Donald Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel violate the US Constitution. In Europe, Dutch trade union FNV is preparing to take legal action to fight Tata Steel Europe's sale of the Segal hot-dipped galvanizing line in Belgium, which was proposed as part of Tata’s move to form a joint venture with ThyssenKrupp, the union told Fastmarkets on April 16.

US ferrous scrap exports were significantly lower in January versus the previous month due to lower shipments to major destinations such as Turkey and Taiwan, where demand was limited due to weak finished steel sales.