IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from January 27

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday January 27 that are worth another look.

The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the United States will be applied to select downstream steel and aluminium products, President Donald Trump announced late on Friday January 24.

The discount for copper scrap imported into China has narrowed in January with the level expected to remain flat until the scrap renaming policy takes effect in July.

Greek authorities will liquidate majority-state-owned multi-metal miner Larco, one of Europe’s largest ferro-nickel producers, before selling off assets to investors, the country’s energy minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on January 27.

UG2 chrome ore prices cif China were steady in the week ended Friday January 24, with trading activity stalled during the Chinese new year holiday, which has been extended to February 2 amid health concerns over the spread of a coronavirus infection.

Vital Materials’ purchase of 3,609 tonnes of indium removes the last of the minor metal supplies once held in the now defunct Fanya Metal Exchange, which enables the company to lock in several years of indium supplies from its own “surface mine” and at low prices by historical standards.

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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.
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.