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.

What to read next
US export controls on recycled copper would have unintended consequences that could weaken the country’s domestic recycling and manufacturing ecosystems, the president of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) said.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments for nickel 4x4 cathode, nickel briquette and nickel uncut cathode premiums in-whs Rotterdam was delayed on Tuesday July 16 because of a reporter error.
Fastmarkets has corrected its alumina index inferred prices, which were published incorrectly on Tuesday July 15.
The United States' copper recycling industry is ramping up pressure on policymakers to impose some form of export controls on high-purity copper scrap, arguing that current trade dynamics – particularly with China – are distorting prices, weakening domestic capacity and undermining national security goals.
Fastmarkets launched two new price assessments for Indonesia’s domestic trade in nickel ore on Tuesday July 15. The two price assessments are for domestic trades of Indonesian laterite ores with 1.6% and 1.2% nickel content. Indonesia now accounts for 60% of the global nickel supplies and while there is an official government reference price, known […]
US copper scrap market participants are shifting from COMEX to LME pricing in response to extreme price volatility and a new 50% copper import tariff. The change is influencing discount formulas, export strategies and long-term trading dynamics across the sector.