IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 17

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday May 17 that are worth another look.

The United States will give a 180-day window to its auto trading partners to reduce imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, essentially delaying potential Section 232 tariffs on these products, the White House said on Friday May 17. On the same day, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement had been reached to remove Section 232 tariffs from Canada and Mexico

Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges edged lower in the second week of May, with traders snapping up tender tonnages at low numbers while smelters hesitated on spot purchases.

The European Commission has initiated a review of its steel import safeguard measures, it said in a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on May 17.

Rumors that around 1,000 tonnes of bismuth held in Fanya warehouses might be auctioned dampened buying interest in China, causing the domestic Chinese bismuth price to plunge by 4% week on week on Friday.

The Chinese import price for bauxite will continue to rise gradually over the next 5-10 years on stronger domestic demand, Metro Mining chief executive officer Simon Finnis told Fastmarkets at the Alumina & Bauxite Conference held in Zhengzhou on May 16-17.

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Own-sourced copper output from Glencore’s African copper assets — KCC and Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo — surged by 68% year on year to 67,900 tonnes over the same period, while Glencore’s cobalt production fell by 39% year on year amid the DRC’s export quota system.
Copper’s long-term outlook is constrained by the industry’s limited ability to bring new supply online fast enough to meet rising demand, with permitting delays, higher capital costs and policy risks slowing project development, industry executives said at the FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday April 22.
Capital is flowing back into junior mining, but selectively. Investment is increasingly favouring development‑stage assets with clearer paths to production, supported by government funding and strategic partnerships. While demand for critical minerals underpins the cycle, early‑stage explorers continue to struggle for capital as investors prioritise discipline, ESG alignment and near‑term cash flow.
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 […]