IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 28

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 28 that are worth another look.

The Chinese government is examining an industry proposal to discard the use of the term “scrap” by officially renaming certain copper scrap products as “recyclable copper raw materials” to reflect the high purity of the furnace-ready feed, sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Fastmarkets.

Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) had its banking accounts frozen by the local federal government on Monday May 27, amid a corruption probe in the country that also implicates a former executive of state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Auroch Minerals has signed a binding agreement with fellow Australian miner Minotaur Exploration to acquire its Western Australian Saints and Leinster nickel sulfide deposits for Australian $1.5 million ($1.03 million), Fastmarkets learned on May 28.

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas will invest 1.23 billion Reais ($305 million) to revamp the No3 blast furnace (BF) at its Ipatinga mill, located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

European lead and zinc smelter Recylex has again been granted a reprieve from debtors regarding repayments of loans that its German subgroup took out to finance asset investment, but will also be on the hook for a €26.7-million ($29.9-million) fine from the European Union, the company said on May 24.

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The influential annual treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) benchmark that sets the price that smelters charge miners to process their copper concentrate could be at risk, according to multiple market sources, although most believe the system, or elements of it, will remain
Fastmarkets' initial low-carbon premium for nickel briquettes captured existing regional price differences, with growing awareness and legislative incentives indicating there is potential for a strong market to emerge
The Chilean government is pushing ahead with plans for a new copper smelter despite the global smelting crisis, Chile’s minister of mining, Aurora Williams told Fastmarkets, adding that the state will also play a key role in developing the country’s premium lithium assets
Just under two weeks ago, the chair of BHP made a phone call to his counterpart at mining peer Anglo American and set in motion a flurry of activity designed to create the largest copper producer in the world
Brazilian aluminium supply coming from Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) is said to have tightened, helping to boost the P1020A ingot premium, market participants told Fastmarkets in the two weeks to Wednesday April 24
In anticipation of a tight market, copper concentrate traders have locked in 2025 volumes at notably low treatment charges, with deals being placed well below the long-term industry benchmarks