IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 1

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 1 that are worth another look.

Vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals has agreed to buy multiple South African production assets for $68 million, it said on Wednesday May 1. The South Africa-based miner will acquire Duferco Vanadium Investment Holding’s Vanchem plant, the ferro-vanadium business of its subsidiary South African Japan Vanadium (SAJV), and all the shares in subsidiary Ivanti Resources. 

A strike has broken out at Minsur’s San Rafael tin mine in Peru, the world’s fifth-biggest tin producer. Minsur notified the Peruvian stock exchange on April 30 of what it called an illegal strike of indefinite duration.

Weak United States aluminium premiums and increased ocean shipping costs led to a continued narrowing of the estimated arbitrage between Southeast Asia warehouses and the US Midwest. Fastmarkets assessment for the average monthly midpoint of the P1020 US Midwest aluminium premium was at $418.87 per tonne in April, flat from March.

The UK government has agreed to provide long steel producer British Steel a loan worth £120 million ($156 million) to cover the annual bill from the European Union for the company’s carbon emissions, government business secretary Greg Clark told the UK Parliament on Wednesday May 1.

Australian lithium spodumene concentrate producer Mineral Resources has announced lower first-quarter spodumene production at its Mount Marion mine in Western Australia. It produced 106,683 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate, at the Mount Marion operation in the south-central region of the state, in the January-March quarter, down by 7.23% from the 115,000 tonnes produced in the previous quarter, Mineral Resources said this week.

What to read next
The MB-AL-0408 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, cif Mexico was published at 3:02pm London time on May 20 instead of the scheduled time of 3-4pm on May 27. The erroneous price has been removed from Fastmarkets’ pricing database. The price will next be published on May 27 at its usual time. This price is a part of the Fastmarkets […]
The US trade roller coaster ride seems to be flattening, with signs of potential moderation and stability. It appears increasingly likely that our original expectation that the US Trump administration would primarily use the threat of tariffs as a negotiating strategy will be correct. While we do not expect to the US tariff position return to pre-2025 levels, we believe the overall US tariff burden is more likely to settle at around 10-30% globally rather than the elevated rates of 50-100% that seemed possible in recent weeks.
To increase transparency, Fastmarkets has further clarified how it handles price movements during periods of low liquidity. Factors that Fastmarkets may consider during times of low liquidity include, but are not limited to: market fundamentals such as changes in inventory levels, shipments, operating rates and export volumes; relative fundamentals of similar commodities in the same […]
The publication of the following price was delayed for 10 minutes: MB-ALU-0002 Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonne This price is a part of the Fastmarkets Base Metals package. For more information or to provide feedback on the delayed publication of this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter […]
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
MB-STE-0926 Green steel, differential to steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe, €/tonne was initially incorrectly input within the range of €30-40 per tonne. The correct differential is €20-40 per tonne. MB-STE-0925 Green steel base price, reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe, inferred, €/tonne was incorrectly input at €685-720 per tonne. The correct inferred price is €675-720 […]