IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 8

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Friday May 8 that are worth another look.

The United States’ anti-dumping duties on imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Ukraine will remain in place, the Commerce Department said in the final result of its first five-year sunset review of the product.

Rio Tinto is partnering on a project to develop a zero-emission bus made of aluminium, which will be tested in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, next year.

Concerns about Brazilian iron ore supply resurfaced among market participants this past week due to expectations that exports of the product would be impeded by Covid-19-related lockdowns in the South American country and the rising number of infections.

Chile saw a 4.5% year-on-year increase in copper production during March despite some difficulties faced by the industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Chilean copper commission Cochilco said on Thursday May 7.

Prices in Southeast Asia’s steel billet market climbed over the past week due to surging demand from Chinese importers, sources told Fastmarkets.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.