IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 28

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday May 28 that are worth another look.

The Chinese government is examining an industry proposal to discard the use of the term “scrap” by officially renaming certain copper scrap products as “recyclable copper raw materials” to reflect the high purity of the furnace-ready feed, sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Fastmarkets.

Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) had its banking accounts frozen by the local federal government on Monday May 27, amid a corruption probe in the country that also implicates a former executive of state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Auroch Minerals has signed a binding agreement with fellow Australian miner Minotaur Exploration to acquire its Western Australian Saints and Leinster nickel sulfide deposits for Australian $1.5 million ($1.03 million), Fastmarkets learned on May 28.

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas will invest 1.23 billion Reais ($305 million) to revamp the No3 blast furnace (BF) at its Ipatinga mill, located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

European lead and zinc smelter Recylex has again been granted a reprieve from debtors regarding repayments of loans that its German subgroup took out to finance asset investment, but will also be on the hook for a €26.7-million ($29.9-million) fine from the European Union, the company said on May 24.

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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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US copper scrap market participants are shifting from COMEX to LME pricing in response to extreme price volatility and a new 50% copper import tariff. The change is influencing discount formulas, export strategies and long-term trading dynamics across the sector.