IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 19

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 19 that are worth another look.

German diversified industrial group Thyssenkrupp has detailed its restructuring plan, confirming plans to sell shares in its steel business and sell or close its heavy plate sites.

Swedish state-owned iron-ore producer LKAB has confirmed that all production at its Kiruna mine has stopped following a seismic event on Monday, the company said on May 19.

Demand for copper products is likely to continue to worsen, Aurubis said even while reporting a profit for the second quarter of its financial year.

A string of Covid-19 cases among staff at Polyus PJSC, Russia’s largest gold mine and main antimony ore supplier, could threaten exports of concentrates from the country, sources have said.

China’s domestic prices of vanadium alloy products including ferro-vanadium and vanadium nitrogen continued to rise, though marginally, in the past week due to improved sentiment amid some positive signs in the downstream steel market, sources told Fastmarkets.

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US export controls on recycled copper would have unintended consequences that could weaken the country’s domestic recycling and manufacturing ecosystems, the president of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) said.
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The United States' copper recycling industry is ramping up pressure on policymakers to impose some form of export controls on high-purity copper scrap, arguing that current trade dynamics – particularly with China – are distorting prices, weakening domestic capacity and undermining national security goals.
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