Base metals
Overview
From vehicle lightweighting to increased demand for copper to wire our connected world, base metals are used widely in manufacturing industrial and consumer products, and demand is only going to increase. Base metals are the most connected to the futures market already so what does even more demand mean for commodity investments?
Argus provides base metals premiums in the most active trading regions around the world, in addition to data from the world’s metals exchanges on a real-time (additional fees apply) or 30-minute delay basis.
Base metals coverage
Argus delivers price data on over 300 base metals through the LME, CME and COMEX, as well as proprietary assessments. Our market news and analysis spans copper, aluminium, nickel, lead, tin, zinc and other base metals crucial to commercial and industrial enterprises.
Track premiums in the most active trade regions and use our daily analysis to better understand the link between the physical and paper markets to better navigate futures, options and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Investors that do take positions on the financial markets can use Argus tools to highlight arbitrage opportunities and receive alerts when prices reach upper and lower threshold limits on their contracts of interest.
Highlights of Argus global base metals coverage
- Value-added exchange data tools offer a deeper level of insight to the standard exchange feed windows (calculated derived cash, global view of all exchanges on a single screen, threshold alerts).
- Full suite of non-ferrous scrap prices can be analysed to detect correlations or leading indicators for base metals prices.
- Currency and unit of measure conversions allow easy comparison of exchange data in different regions of the world to identify arbitrage opportunities.
- Base metals workspaces facilitate an holistic view of each individual market’s performance.
Latest base metals news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global base metals industry.
Australia's Arafura secures new NdPr oxide offtake deal
Australia's Arafura secures new NdPr oxide offtake deal
Sydney, 20 March (Argus) — Australian producer Arafura Rare Earth will supply between 100-300 t/yr of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide to Dutch trader Traxys Europe, bringing the company closer to its offtake target of 3,552 t/yr. Arafura has agreed to supply at least 100 t/yr of NdPr oxide to Traxys for five years, but can choose to sell up to 300 t/yr of the material. The deal is priced in terms of NdPr ex-works China prices, the company said on 20 March. Arafura indicated that it planned to link offtake deals to equity agreements , it said in an investor call in January. But the offtake deal with Traxys does not appear to include an equity component. Arafura is currently developing the 4,400 t/yr Nolans project, a combined mine and NdPr refinery in Western Australia (WA). The company is aiming to secure offtake deals accounting for 80pc of the project's capacity. German manufacturer Siemens has already agreed to buy 520 t/yr of NdPr from Arafura, with South Korean firms Hyundai and Kia taking an additional 1,500 t/yr of the material. Arafura has committed to sell 2,320 t/yr of oxide from the Nolans project since 2023. Arafura is continuing to negotiate offtake agreements with Asian, European, and US consumers. Firms have expressed interest in buying up to 4,740 t/yr of NdPr oxide from the company, beyond the 2,320 t/yr already committed to customers and above Nolans' production capacity. The rare earth developer has received extensive government support on its Nolans project. Australia's federal Labor government agreed to invest A$200mn ($126mn) into the project in mid-January. It previously committed A$840mn to the project in March 2024. But Arafura is not alone. Australian officials have backed other rare earths projects over recent years, including Iluka Resources' Eneabba refinery in WA. Argus ' praseodymium-neodymium oxide min 99pc fob China price has been rising over the last three months. The price reached $61,850/t on 19 March, when it was last assessed, up from $54,500/t three months earlier. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Canberra backs Li battery projects in Western Australia
Canberra backs Li battery projects in Western Australia
Sydney, 20 March (Argus) — Australia's federal government will partly underwrite four lithium-ion battery projects in Western Australia (WA), boosting the state's energy storage capacity by 2.6GWh from late 2027. Canberra is supporting the projects through its Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), which sets a revenue floor on big battery projects for up to 15 years. The government has not revealed the specific revenue floors linked to the newly underwritten projects. Australian renewable energy developer PGS Energy will build the largest of the four newly-underwritten batteries, a 1.2GWh energy storage system in Marradong. The company's Marradong battery will be co-located with a solar farm and connected to WA's South West Interconnected System (Swis), a grid stretching across its most populous regions, once it becomes operational. French energy producer Neoen is also developing a 615MWh project just outside Perth, under the scheme. The company has been building large batteries across Australia, with public support, for multiple years. Its Collie Battery Energy Storage System is connected to Swis, and has been storing and discharging 877MWh of energy since October 2024. The two other batteries underwritten on 20 March are smaller, with a combined capacity of 780MWh, and located in rural parts of the state. The Australian government's latest funding announcement comes just months after it on 11 December 2024 underwrote eight other Australian battery projects capable of storing 3.6GWh of power under the CIS. Those projects were scattered across the country, covering three states but excluding WA. Canberra will also underwrite another set of batteries, with a combined capacity of 16GWh, in September. Over 100 projects, with a combined capacity of 135GWh, have applied to be part of CIS' September funding round. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
India's OMC raises March chrome ore prices
India's OMC raises March chrome ore prices
Mumbai, 19 March (Argus) — India's state-owned Odisha Mining (OMC) increased chrome ore base prices in its March auction. OMC set the base price for 48-49.99pc ore from its South Kaliapani mines at 19,500 rupees/t ($225.42/t), up from Rs18,848/t at its February auction because of limited high-grade ore availability in the domestic market. OMC will not sell 50-51.99pc ore from its Sukrangi mines in March and kept the base price at Rs19,634/t set in February's auction. State-owned trading firm MSTC will, on OMC's behalf, offer 45,000t of 42-54pc friable chrome ore from South Kaliapani and Sukrangi on 20 March. This is up from the 34,500t offered in OMC's February auction. The company is also offering 5,700t of 30-44pc lumps, chips and fines from OMC's Bangur mines. India's domestic 60pc ferro-chrome prices were rangebound at Rs99,000-103,000/t ex-works on 18 March. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Altilium produces first 100pc recycled cells at UK BIC
Altilium produces first 100pc recycled cells at UK BIC
London, 18 March (Argus) — UK-based battery recycler Altilium has produced its first cells using end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries and gigafactory waste at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UK BIC) in Coventry. The cells will now undergo a validation study with a leading carmaker, Altilium said. EU regulations require EV batteries to have minimum levels of recycled lithium, cobalt and nickel from 2031, with the level rising in 2036. "This milestone marks the first time full battery circularity has been achieved in the UK, from recovering critical minerals… to manufacturing a new battery for validation with a leading UK automotive OEM," Altilium chief operating officer Christian Marston said. Altilium's planned recycling plant in Teesside will produce 30,000 t/yr of cathode active material, enough to meet nearly 20pc of forecast UK demand by 2030. Altilium's recycled materials are also of a higher quality than mined materials, and offer significant reductions in climate change impacts and cost, according to research by Imperial College London released last month. Lifecycle analysis has determined that Altilium's recycled materials could have a 74pc smaller climate change impact than primary mined materials from a Chinese supply chain, according to consultancy Minviro. By Chris Welch Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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