IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 22

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 22 that are worth another look.

The dramatic consequences of the Covid-19-related lockdowns across Europe, and the corresponding shutdowns of industrial activities, have resulted in an enormous disruption to the supply chains across all sectors of the steel industry.

Chilean state-run copper producer Codelco has decided to halt all of its construction projects in the north of the country, including the underground phase of Chuquicamata, while the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the region, the company said on Saturday June 20.

China’s electrolytic manganese flake export price maintained its one-year low on Friday June 19 on lower offers from traders amid sluggish overseas demand, sources said.

Weak end-user demand pushed the ammonium paratungstate (APT) price in Europe and the United States down by 4.5% in the week to June 19, sources said.

The UG2 chrome ore market dipped
in the week to June 19 amid a lack of meaningful trading activity ahead of the release of July ferro-chrome tender prices, while spot Chinese ferro-chrome prices continued to show signs of softening.

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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.