Tata Steel has reduced output at its steel production sites in India and Europe due to decreased demand, and to obey the temporary regulations imposed to tackle the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Wednesday April 1.

Norsk Hydro has decided to postpone adding 95,000 tonnes per year to capacity at the Husnes aluminium plant in Norway in light of the rapidly deteriorating market conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rio Tinto has declared force majeure on shipments of copper cathode from its Kennecott copper mine in the US state of Utah following a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near the site last month.

Concerns that a tailings dam leak at a Chinese molybdenum mine could affect supplies pushed prices up in the first half of the week, but the uptrend is only expected to be short-lived, sources told Fastmarkets.

Minor metals and ores and alloys producers that rely on shipping routes out of South Africa are warning that practical barriers to producing and transporting material outweigh any technical green light to export, amid conflicting instructions from the country’s authorities.