IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 15

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 15 that are worth another look.

No market has been left untouched by the escalating coronavirus pandemic, but iron ore prices have proved relatively buoyant for the past two months compared with the price plunges we have seen in other commodities.

Industry association European Aluminium has launched a strategic plan to maximize Europe’s aluminium recycling rates and keep the material in active use.

Global mining company BHP has stopped tendering spot market copper concentrates from its Escondida mine, informed sources have told Fastmarkets.

Sentiment in Chinese domestic portside manganese ore prices for both low and high grades has strengthened following news that the lockdown in South Africa will be extended by another 14 days.

The output and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China tumbled by over 50% year on year in the first quarter of 2020 due to the effects of the Covid-19 virus on operations and end demand.

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The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), published on Wednesday March 4, was a new step in the bloc’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry and to support strategic supply chains in sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium.
Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its two existing CIF China port copper scrap prices and add three new grades on Monday March 16.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
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.
Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.