IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 2

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 2 that are worth another look.

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.

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Until now, aluminium has been hard to move, not hard to find. Global aluminium supply had remained technically intact, even as output was curtailed in parts of the Gulf, inventory buffers were drawn down or repositioned, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely disrupted.
Global aluminium producers face heightened uncertainty over power supplies, with oil and gas prices elevated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets is extending the consultation period for the methodology of several of its black mass payables indicators and prices, and is also proposing changes to the names of CIF South Korea and EWX Europe black mass prices.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is expanding its footprint beyond its historic hydro-powered Canadian base, targeting Europe, Asia and Latin America as part of a deliberate diversification strategy, according to the unit’s chief executive officer.
Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on March 20 2026 due to a technical error.
Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on February 27 2026 due to a backend calculation error. Fastmarkets has also corrected the indices' rationale and all related inferred indices.