IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from March 12

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 12 that are worth another look.

The development of the futures market in China has been a “double-edged sword” for the domestic ferro-silicon industry, leading to more flexibility for market participants and wilder price swings than prior to its existence, one speaker said at Fastmarkets’ Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong this week.

The London Metal Exchange is prepared for whatever outcome arises from the planned departure of the UK from the European Union, including a so-called “hard” Brexit, its chief executive officer said on Tuesday March 12.

Consolidation among copper-consuming companies is likely to continue and is being driven by an ever more competitive market for copper products, panelists at Fastmarkets’ International Copper conference in Amsterdam said on March 12.

Iron ore miner Vale has temporarily suspended port activities at its Guaíba Island Terminal in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro on orders of the Mangaratiba city government, it said on Monday March 11.

In the scrap sector, the United States’ aluminium and copper scrap export volumes to China (including Hong Kong) tumbled in 2018, hitting 14-year and 18-year lows respectively although overall exports of non-ferrous scrap rose year on year. Meanwhile, improved broad-based demand from global steelmakers significantly boosted US ferrous scrap exports last year, successfully offsetting lower annual shipments to Turkey.

What to read next
Participants in the market for copper scrap and blister in China, the world’s largest importer of copper raw materials, expect there to be fiercer competition for material in 2025, industry sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday January 9.
Africa’s first transcontinental rail network, known as the Lobito Corridor, which aims to eventually connect almost the entire regional copper-cobalt belt with additional links across sub-Saharan Africa, is on track to break ground early in 2026, a senior official at the US Department of State told Fastmarkets.
The availability of relatively untapped resources, a huge influx of Chinese investment and a rapid licensing system have helped the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to become one of the world’s three key producers of copper.
The European steel and aluminium scrap industries urged the European Commission on Wednesday January 15 against taking action to curb scrap exports after domestic industry metals producers backed measures to do just that.
Renewed US-China trade tensions with Donald Trump’s second presidential term could bolster Southeast Asia’s aluminium scrap industry in 2025, particularly amid still-growing Chinese demand, sources told Fastmarkets by Tuesday, January 14.
European steel and aluminium producers have urged the European Commission to take immediate and effective action to tackle "scrap leakage" so that the European Union can meet its sustainable development aims and secure industrial competitiveness.