IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 14

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday May 14 that are worth another look.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s major long steel producer, has decommissioned the first section of its blooming plant as a part of a strategy for sustainable development, the company said on May 14.

The European Commission’s (EC) prior surveillance of imports of certain aluminium products originating in certain third countries will expire on Friday May 15.

Daye Nonferrous has maintained its mission to construct a brand new copper smelting facility despite the uncertain outlook for commodity demand and price volatility, Fastmarkets understands.

Spot payables for cobalt intermediates moved higher in the first half of this week after buyers in Asia reviewed their nearby stock levels in the context of a slower-than-expected restart in shipping from South Africa, and border closures between Tanzania and Zambia.

Vanadium producer Largo Resources has postponed construction of its ferro-vanadium conversion plant at its Maracas Menchen mine in Brazil due to Covid-19 preventative measures, the company said in its first-quarter earnings release on Tuesday May 12.

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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.