IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from March 25

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday March 25 that are worth another look.

A motion to undo United States President Donald Trump’s blanket tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium has been denied, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) said in a ruling dated Monday March 25.

A ramp-up in Chinese zinc production is expected to accelerate in the second quarter of this year. This will be driven by the completion of upgrades at smelting facilities across the country and a surge in treatment charges amid a relatively oversupplied raw materials market, sources told Fastmarkets.

Vale’s Brucutu iron ore mine in Brazil will not resume normal operations as early as intended, the Brazilian miner said on Monday March 25.

China’s copper scrap imports dropped by 63% month on month in February and were half the level recorded in February 2018, Chinese customs data released on March 25 showed. 

Fastmarkets AMM hosted its 12th Steel Tube & Pipe Conference in Houston on March 20-21. Our reporters have summarized six key takeaways from the event.

What to read next
The most recent financial results published by base metals mining companies highlight just how inflation is affecting profit margins, with increasing wages, financing costs and input prices all hitting profits, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 28
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.