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

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday May 4 that are worth another look.

Flat-rolled steel import prices were mostly stable week on week in South America on Friday May 1, after deals became scarce and negotiations for June-shipment cargoes finished with low interest from clients.

The European Commission’s (EC) antitrust authorities granted Europe’s largest copper smelter Aurubis unconditional approval for the €380 million ($417 million) acquisition of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo Group, the company said on May 4.

Mining and metalworking in Peru will gradually resume in May after a government order on Sunday May 3 targeted key industries for restarts.

Continuing weak buying interest pushed ferro-tungsten prices to a three-year low in Europe in the week to May 1.

The low-grade seaborne manganese ore indices retreated on May 1, hit by disappointing alloy tender prices and softening local alloys futures prices.

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The suspension of South32’s manganese ore operations at Groote Eylandt Mining Co (GEMCO) in Australia has been changing demand patterns among manganese ore buyers in Asia and this will benefit other manganese ore miners, market participants said on Wednesday April 24
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
The Brazilian Executive Management Committee for the Foreign Trade Chamber (Gecex-Camex) decided to increase steel import duties during one year to 25%, while establishing import volume quotas for 11 steel products, according to a document published on Tuesday April 23
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 will discontinue its lithium contract price assessments, effective October 2024.