IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from January 27

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 27 that are worth another look.

The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the United States will be applied to select downstream steel and aluminium products, President Donald Trump announced late on Friday January 24.

The discount for copper scrap imported into China has narrowed in January with the level expected to remain flat until the scrap renaming policy takes effect in July.

Greek authorities will liquidate majority-state-owned multi-metal miner Larco, one of Europe’s largest ferro-nickel producers, before selling off assets to investors, the country’s energy minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on January 27.

UG2 chrome ore prices cif China were steady in the week ended Friday January 24, with trading activity stalled during the Chinese new year holiday, which has been extended to February 2 amid health concerns over the spread of a coronavirus infection.

Vital Materials’ purchase of 3,609 tonnes of indium removes the last of the minor metal supplies once held in the now defunct Fanya Metal Exchange, which enables the company to lock in several years of indium supplies from its own “surface mine” and at low prices by historical standards.

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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