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

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday February 27 that are worth another look.

A vessel contracted by Brazil-based miner Vale is grounded off the coast of the country’s north-eastern Maranhão state, having suffered damage after leaving the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal earlier this week.

Growing Chinese copper output and an imbalance in trade terms between China and the west have led to a rising need for the European copper industry to guard its interests, panelists at Fastmarkets’ International Copper Conference in Amsterdam said on February 27.

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in South Korea, the largest export market for Chinese stainless steel, is likely to apply additional pressure on stainless steel prices in Asia, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

The Chinese domestic price for silico-manganese has drifted downward significantly in recent assessments because some alloy smelters reduced their offer prices to attract buying interest and generate cash amid the sluggish demand circumstances created by the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, market participants have told Fastmarkets.

The Chinese cobalt sulfate price softened in Fastmarkets’ midweek assessment after some suppliers cut their offers to lock in profits amid concerns of a waning market in March.

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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.