Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.

Key takeaways: The indices for locally produced brown testliner and fluting showed minor drops in February. Fastmarkets calculated its monthly PIX Testliner GCC index at $462.20 per tonne on March 3, down by $0.18 per tonne (0.04%) from $462.38 on February 3. Fastmarkets calculated its PIX Fluting GCC index at $438.15 per tonne on March […]

Fastmarkets has suspended its pricing for Iran steel billet and slab exports following the escalation of the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran and because relevant, relative pricing data is not immediately available.

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Saudi Arabia price, as part of its annual methodology review process.

Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.

QatarEnergy, the state-owned shareholder of Qatar aluminium producer Qatalum, has suspended the production of aluminium as the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US intensified, it said on Tuesday March 3.

European and US primary aluminium premiums could see further upside pressure on supply concerns following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit corridor for Middle Eastern aluminium exports and alumina imports.

Fastmarkets wishes to clarify that it will not publish its assessments for MB-STE-0782 Steel billet export, fob ports Iran, $/tonne and MB-STE-0781 Steel slab export, fob ports Iran, $/tonne for the week of March 2-8, 2026 due to a public holiday in Iran.

The escalating tensions between Iran and Israel since Saturday February 28 have heightened market concerns over potential disruptions to maritime trade routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz – a key transit corridor for Iranian material shipments bound for China.

Senior analyst Andy Farida offers reactive analysis on the impact the Middle East conflict could have on the aluminium market