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

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 26 that are worth another look.

China’s steel industry has faced difficulties in production and sales since the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, which has led to some 78,000 infections and close to 2,700 deaths in the country so far.

Metal and ferro-alloy suppliers in Europe are reporting strong call-offs on sales to European consumers, some of which are stocking up in preparation for any disruptions that might be caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection.

The Shanghai cif copper cathode premium rose to a two-month high on Tuesday February 25 amid improving sentiment following an increase in market activity, while rates in Europe and the United States were unchanged.

Chinese nickel premiums increased in the week to February 25, along with one in the United States, but European premiums remained flat, near a perceived bottom, sources told Fastmarkets.

Molybdenum prices in South Korea and Europe dropped sharply this week on slowing demand in Asia amid the novel coronavirus.

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Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ US base metals prices were published early during the week of March 11-15 following the daylight saving time change in the US on March 10.