IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from March 6

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday March 6 that are worth another look.

Most flat steel import prices in South America have remained unchanged in the week ended March 6, in a market lull before the start of negotiations for May shipments, although sellers were indicating that more expensive offers would be presented in the weeks ahead.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has forecast that refined copper usage in 2020-21 will increase year on year by 1.5%, owing in part to sustained economic growth in the United States.

Nickel demand from China is likely to decline more than anticipated because of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, Nornickel said during its earnings call.

The battery-grade lithium carbonate price in China broke its steady streak in the week to Thursday March 5 after producers cut offers to meet cash flow needs, while European and US battery-grade prices fell by over 4% week on week.

Key data from the chrome pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending March 6.

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Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on March 20 2026 due to a technical error.
Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on February 27 2026 due to a backend calculation error. Fastmarkets has also corrected the indices' rationale and all related inferred indices.