IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 26

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 26 that are worth another look.

Workers at Tata Steel’s plant at IJmuiden in the Netherlands staged a lightning protest on May 26, but output was unaffected, the company said.

Japanese steel producers which use electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) are being forced into raising their purchasing prices for ferrous scrap feedstock despite there being no upward movement in their steel sales prices, sources in Japan have told Fastmarkets.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has cut its 2020 global mined copper forecast by 950,000 tonnes, equivalent to nearly 4 million tonnes of copper concentrates output, citing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several market participants have reported that sentiment has improved in the cobalt market, but the metal’s price continued to edge downward on May 26, showing that this has yet to put the brakes on the slide in spot prices.

South Africa will further ease nationwide restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 from June 1, allowing the vast majority of the economy to return to production, according to a public address by the country’s president on Sunday May 24.

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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.