IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from December 17

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 17 that are worth another look.

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia were stable during the past week, as suppliers’ attempts to achieve higher prices failed despite the recovery in downstream hot-rolled coil prices.

Market observers do not expect planned interruptions to power supply in South Africa by Eskom to affect deliveries from South32’s Hillside aluminium smelter, they told Fastmarkets.

Indonesian ferrous scrap buyers are still cautious about purchasing imported cargoes even after state-owned surveyor KSO Sucofindo resumed inspections this week.

Kris Vansanten, a Belgian entrepreneur specializing in restructuring distressed assets, has built up a 3.42% holding in the voting rights of Nyrstar NV, Nyrstar said in a notice on December 17.

Benchmark alumina prices have failed to trade above $300 per tonne since August 2019 and are likely to remain under pressure in 2020 partly because aluminium companies are diversifying along the supply chain, market participants said.