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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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.
Long-term demand trends in the copper sector may reduce cyclical price moves driven by short term factors impacting sentiment, Freeport-McMoRan's chief executive officer Kathleen Quirk told Fastmarkets in an interview during the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2024.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ price assessments of calcined alumina on Thursday October 3 were delayed due to a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ India import aluminium scrap price assessments for Wednesday October 2 were delayed because of the Gandhi Jayanti public holiday in India. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Chilean copper producer Codelco has not yet concluded negotiations for its 2025 premium offer to European customers but remains optimistic that the recent stimulus in China will provide a further boost to demand, the company’s chairman told Fastmarkets.
The copper concentrates market was suffering from a dislocation that would probably lead to smelting cuts, the chairman of Chilean state-owned producer Codelco has said.