IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from February 19

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 19 that are worth another look.

Chinese wire rod producers are keeping export offers stable on expectations of improved demand in April, market sources told Fastmarkets, which kept prices flat in the past week amid sparse trading.

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama fell 2.8% month on month at the end of January 2020, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.

One of China’s largest copper smelters has locked in a major deal for supply at a time of reduced demand due to a virus-led logistics lockdown in the country.

The cobalt sulfate price in China has continued to rise because of spot tight availability while refineries that suspended operations during the Chinese New Year holiday (January 24-February 2) have gradually resumed operations.

Prices for tungsten concentrate and ammonium paratungstate (APT) in China will stay firm in the short term amid persistent supply tightness while the country’s producers gradually resume operations following the extended lunar new year break, market sources said on February 19.

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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.
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.
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