IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 20

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday July 20 that are worth another look.

Steel products output in Ukraine reduced by 4.6% year on year in January-June 2020 to 9.03 million tonnes, according to a report published by national steel union Ukrmetallurgprom on Thursday July 16.

Brazilian copper and brass products manufacturer Termomecanica is set to take its internationalization plans further and to increase the focus on its recent investment in the aluminium business, while its chief executive officer of 22 years hands over to its former industrial operations director.

Mexico’s federal government will not cancel a $200 million debt owed to public authorities if Grupo Villacero goes ahead with the acquisition of domestic steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa), Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in a press conference on Friday July 17.

Cobalt metal is trading at the time of publication in mid-July at prices around an 11-month low since breaking through a price floor just above $15 per lb that had been set in December 2019.

Low and high-grade manganese ore prices in the Chinese seaborne market continued to extend losses in the week to July 17, despite the fact that the lower-than-expected offer prices for August shipments provoked improved liquidity, Fastmarkets understands.

What to read next
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.