IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from October 4

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday October 4 that are worth another look.

Flat steel import prices were caught once again in the continuous global downtrend during the past week, as market participants await for Chinese offers to resume after the Golden Week and material from other origins was sold at lower levels.

It has been a hectic couple of years for LME chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain, his teams and members while the exchange works through the comprehensive list of plans and actions in its Strategic Pathway.

Chinese spot copper premiums hit 10-month highs in September, but market participants doubt the uptrend can last and expect a drop in the annual benchmark premium for 2020.

Low refined nickel stocks and a looming ban on exports of nickel ore from Indonesia are two factors creating a bullish nickel market, according to participants at the seventh Asian Nickel Conference held in Jakarta in mid-September.

Canadian mining company Strongbow’s investment in the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall – an internationally famous tin mine in the south-west of England, with a long heritage – is for the long term, reports Hassan Butt.

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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.
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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.