IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 26

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday April 26 that are worth another look.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is doomed unless President Donald Trump’s administration removes Section 232 tariffs – and the threat of quotas – from steel and aluminium imported from the United States’ neighbors, two trade experts said.

Warrant traders are reporting an uptick in European zinc warrants available on the London Metal Exchange amid fresh inflows of material this month, while a strong backwardation in the metal’s nearby spreads has left participants questioning what is incentivizing buying.

Lead and zinc recycler Recylex reported sales revenue of €75.8 million ($84.76 million) in the first quarter of 2019, a fall of 20% year on year due to major maintenance shutdowns and falling prices for lead and zinc, the company said on Wednesday April 24.

Anglo American’s refined copper production increased by 4% in the first quarter of 2019 due to rising higher-grade ore output at its Los Bronces and El Soldado mines in central Chile.

If the United States places import tariffs on cars produced in Germany it could trigger an economic slowdown in Germany, corporate audit director of Czech steel distributor Ferona, Jan Moravec, said at Eurometal’s Regional Meeting in Central Europe held in Prague on April 25.

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Copper in concentrate production from Ivanhoe Mines' Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fell to 61,906 tonnes in the first quarter, down by 54% from 133,120 tonnes a year earlier, with the company now evaluating local third-party concentrate purchases to advance the ramp-up of its on-site smelter, according to an April 13 production release as the market focused its attention on the impact of global sulfuric acid shortages during CESCO Week in Chile from April 13-17.
China's planned sulfuric acid export ban from May 1, historic lows for copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and a fragmenting 2026 benchmark system dominated CESCO Week 2026 in Santiago from April 13-17.
The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]
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.
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