IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 9

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday July 9 that are worth another look.

Sinking product prices across the copper value chain are eroding processing margins for custom copper smelters, causing uncertainty as well as driving investments and consolidation in the industry.

The United States’ Section 232 tariffs have benefited certain steel producers but mostly negatively impacted others due to disruption to the global supply chain ecosystem, an NLMK USA executive said following the layoff of at least 80 employees at its Pennsylvania facility last week.

Italian steel re-roller Marcegaglia has warned that limiting imports of hot-rolled black stainless steel coil into Europe would “put at risk the viability of our stainless steel business,” chief executive officer Antonio Marcegaglia said in a letter to the EU published late last week.

Troubled UK long steel producer British Steel has reported “encouraging levels of interest” in the sale of the business after a number of bids were made before the June 30 deadline, the company said on July 5.

India’s Ministry of Steel is seeking stakeholder feedback by July 14 on a draft steel scrap policy that aims to reduce the country’s reliance on imports by establishing a network of recycling centers to collect and process ferrous scrap.

What to read next
Brazil's aluminium industry is further enhancing its sustainability by boosting renewable energy use and recycling, while mitigating risk from high-carbon imports
German copper producer Aurubis is among the least likely to consider reducing capacity despite record low treatment charges (TCs), according to its chief executive officer
European copper demand, particularly for wire rod, remains strong and seems to be outpacing broader macro-economic growth in the region, the chief executive officer of German producer Aurubis has said.
The process to place the smaller and less efficient of the two processing plants at Los Bronces on care and maintenance is expected to be completed by mid-2024 and comes as the company pushes value over volume, the chief executive officer of Anglo American Chile said
The near-term prospects for Chinese copper smelting capacity amid near-zero treatment charges (TCs) will, to a certain extent, depend on plants’ exposure to spot TCs, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s copper division said on Tuesday, April 16
It will be very difficult for many Chinese copper smelters to compete with treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at record lows, according to the chairman of Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco