IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 3

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 3 that are worth another look.

Mills in India and Pakistan have returned to the market for bulk scrap and have booked cargoes from the United States over the past few days, sources told Fastmarkets on June 3.

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama rose by 4% month on month at the end of April 2020, according to data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 has hit the Antofagasta region of Northern Chile, which is home to a cluster of major copper mines, Fastmarkets understands.

The government of South Africa has eased the country’s lockdown, yet the continued threat of Covid-19 will dampen the recovery in chrome and manganese ore supply.

The United States Department of Commerce has launched an investigation under Section 232 into whether the current inflow of vanadium imports threatens to impair national security.

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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.
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