IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 2

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday June 2 that are worth another look.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has initiated an inquiry as to whether imports of heavy steel plate from four nations and the island of Taiwan cause injury to domestic producers.

Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a provisional power supply agreement with Zambian state-owned utility Zesco Ltd after a long-term supply contract between the copper producer and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) expired.

The International Tin Association (ITA) has echoed “emergency calls” to protect vulnerable artisanal miners during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is said to jeopardize a decade of progress in responsibly sourcing metals and minerals.

The EU’s plan to make electric vehicles a centerpiece of the continent’s economic recovery has injected significant confidence into the global cobalt market, and has also renewed momentum for responsible sourcing across the whole supply chain, according to the head of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).

Bulk alloys markets in Europe are coming under sustained pressure from weak demand, with prices for manganese alloys dropping through May, while ferro-silicon prices have been falling since April, sources said.

What to read next
Market participants shared insight into the market dynamics for copper, nickel, zinc, lead and tin during LME Week, which ran September 30-October 4
The Western world’s industrial strength is beginning to drop, but Jakob Stausholm, chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, said at a London Metal Exchange seminar that there was “plenty of demand to be unlocked from reindustrialization.”
Demand for zinc was expected to grow by 2030, despite the challenges facing both the supply and demand sides, Andrew Green, executive director of the International Zinc Association, said in an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets during LME Week in London
Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the methodology for its audited non-ferrous price assessments and indices, as part of its announced annual methodology review process.
Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on its pricing methodology and product specifications for non-ferrous materials and industrial minerals, as part of its announced annual methodology review process.
Freeport-McMoRan is in the process of ramping up its new copper smelter in Gresik, Indonesia, in a move that has seen the company switch away from being a marketer of concentrates as it becomes a fully integrated producer in the country, the company's chief executive officer Kathleen Quirk told Fastmarkets in an interview during the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2024.