The auto industry is well-positioned to accelerate the use of lower emissions steel and automakers are increasingly using the material to boost competitiveness in the EV market.

Guinea, the world's biggest bauxite producer, is considering plans to compel miners to curb exports of bauxite in a bid to halt the slump in the price of the key raw material for aluminium production, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.

Canadian miner Teck Resources and Korea Zinc have agreed to set treatment charges (TCs) for zinc concentrates at $85 per tonne this year, a slight adjustment from last year’s all-time low of $80 per tonne, four sources told Fastmarkets on Friday March 6.

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.

The recent wave of anti-dumping measures approved in Brazil has been met with some concern in China — the country most affected by the Brazilian government’s decisions in this case — but despite the negative impact, Chinese participants see the moves as just another phase of doing business.

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.

The US military is seeking proposals to expand domestic production of 13 critical minerals used in defense and high‑tech applications. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains amid heightened geopolitical tensions and growing risks to global commodities trade.

Liontown Resources has revived its previously deferred expansion study at its Kathleen Valley mine and is weighing near-term orders for long-lead equipment, its chief executive officer said – the clearest signal yet that growth planning is returning to the agenda as lithium market conditions stabilize.

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.