IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from September 26

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday September 26 that are worth another look.

Traded volumes and open interest have remained high for the CME’s aluminium premiums futures contracts even after spot market volatility eased this year, Sean Kessler, manager of metals products at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange said on Wednesday September 25.

China’s domestic stainless steel prices rose late last week on costlier nickel, and maintained those gains over the first three days of this week.

The global refined copper market was in a deficit of 220,000 tonnes in the first half of 2019, up from a deficit of 177,000 tonnes in the same period in 2018, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said this week.

Mining and metallurgical group OM Holdings has warned that third-quarter manganese ore production at its Bootu Creek mine in Australia’s Northern Territory will drop by 103,000 tonnes following a fatality in August.

Current seaborne market conditions have prompted Vale to cut its iron ore pellet production guidance for 2019 to 43 million tonnes from 45 million tonnes previously, the Brazilian mining company said on September 26.

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The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]
Until now, aluminium has been hard to move, not hard to find. Global aluminium supply had remained technically intact, even as output was curtailed in parts of the Gulf, inventory buffers were drawn down or repositioned, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely disrupted.
Global aluminium producers face heightened uncertainty over power supplies, with oil and gas prices elevated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets is extending the consultation period for the methodology of several of its black mass payables indicators and prices, and is also proposing changes to the names of CIF South Korea and EWX Europe black mass prices.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is expanding its footprint beyond its historic hydro-powered Canadian base, targeting Europe, Asia and Latin America as part of a deliberate diversification strategy, according to the unit’s chief executive officer.
Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on March 20 2026 due to a technical error.