IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 22

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday May 22 that are worth another look.

A consortium of commodities companies and financial institutions is planning to launch an inventory management system focused on the use of blockchain and other digital methods to manage the post-trade processing of transactions for metal commodities.

The liquidation order issued by the government of Zambia that would allow it to take control of Konkola Copper Mines, the copper-producing assets held in the African country by global metals producer Vedanta, has sent shockwaves through the global industry.

A decline in output from the automotive market in Europe has negatively affected demand in the vanadium and ferro-chrome markets, with prices for both materials falling to multi-month lows.

Germany’s Aurubis has agreed to acquire copper-tin recycler Metallo Group in a €380 million ($424 million) share purchase deal, it said on Wednesday May 22.

Troubled United Kingdom-based long steel producer British Steel has been placed into compulsory liquidation following an order from the UK high court, the UK official receiver – part of the UK’s Insolvency Service – said on Wednesday.

What to read next
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 […]