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

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

Automaker Ford Motor Co, China’s Huayou Cobalt and South Korean battery supplier LG Chem have joined forces in a blockchain project to monitor cobalt supplies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an executive at Ford said.

Lead’s three-month price on the London Metal Exchange surged to its highest level since August 2018 during afternoon trading on Monday February 4, breaching the nearby $2,100-per-tonne support level while nickel and zinc futures similarly gathered momentum.

A Brazilian court has decided that iron ore miner Vale should halt operations at eight tailings dams in the country’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais, where a dam failed recently, the company said on Monday.

The Malaysian government’s decision to stop levying anti-dumping duties on imported material will create a more level playing field for hot-rolled coil producers in China and Indonesia that are looking to export to Malaysia, market sources told Fastmarkets MB.

Mexico’s steel industry association Canacero has demanded the renewal of a safeguarding duty of 15% imposed on imports of steel products, after it expired on January 31, it told Fastmarkets on Monday.