IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 12

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 12 that are worth another look.

German copper refiner Aurubis has released chief executive officer and executive board chairman Jürgen Schachler from his role two weeks prior to his scheduled departure. At the same time, the company has decided to discard its €320-million future complex metallurgy strategy due to higher than expected costs, Europe’s largest copper producer said on Wednesday June 12.

Minor metals could become the next commodities to be caught up in the trade war between the United States and China, market sources have warned. But the effects on the price for gallium and antimony have so far been minimal.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is developing a transformation plan for its Belval and Differdange long steel sites in Luxembourg, a company spokeswoman told Fastmarkets in the week beginning June 10.

The price in Europe for molybdenum oxide rose in the first half of the week ended Wednesday June 12, with a workers’ strike at Molymet’s Nos plant in Chile supporting sentiment in an already tightening market.

London-based commodities broker Sucden Financial has appointed Rafael Caporale as head of its new LME Options Market Making division, the company announced on Wednesday.

What to read next
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
This move aligns with global demands for sustainability in the mining sector and sets Nexa on a path toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050
Fastmarkets has corrected the pricing rationale for MB-AL-0302 aluminium 6063 extrusion billet premium, ddp North Germany (Ruhr region), $/tonne, which was published incorrectly on Friday April 19. No prices were corrected.