IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 8

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday June 8 that are worth another look.

Workers at Italian flat steel producer ArcelorMittal Italia will go on strike on Tuesday June 9 to protest job cuts, presented as part of new industrial plan, Italian trade unions Fim, Fiom and Uilm said on June 6.

The main workers’ union representing employees of Cobre Panamá, Utramipa, is pressuring Panamanian authorities to reopen the largest copper mine in Central America as soon as possible due to the suspension of labor contracts in late April, Fastmarkets heard.

The market for high-carbon ferro-chrome in Europe ticked up in the week to Friday June 5 with some producers holding out for higher prices in the face of weak demand.

Seaborne prices for both low and high-grade manganese ore in China tumbled to seven-week lows in the week to June 5 after some miners reduced offer prices for July-delivery cargoes significantly amid a bearish sentiment prevailing in the domestic market, sources said.

Spot cobalt hydroxide payables came off their recent highs during the second half of last week with consumers having completed the bulk of their recent restocking drive.

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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.