IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from March 21

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday March 21 that are worth another look.

Non-ferrous scrap market participants in the United States are bracing for massive trade disruptions as a result of impending Chinese import restrictions – and a rumored quota system – set to take effect on Monday July 1.

The use of Fastmarkets MB’s iron ore indices in physical contracts continues to widen, with several market participants confirming in recent weeks that they settled 2019 term contracts using the Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe iron ore index as the base.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has lifted a ban on cobalt and copper concentrate exports imposed in February but maintained the threat of its future enforcement.

Copper concentrate deliveries from Mongolia’s Erdenet mine were disrupted in early March following the dismissal of several top managers in a restructuring program ordered by the country’s government, although production continued as normal, Fastmarkets has learned. The mine produces 530,000 tonnes per year of ores and is one of Asia’s biggest copper and molybdenum mines.

Vale has issued a warning over another potential iron ore production impact of as much as 10 million tonnes per year due to the suspension of operations at its Alegria mine in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.

What to read next
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.
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.