IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 4

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Monday May 4 that are worth another look.

Flat-rolled steel import prices were mostly stable week on week in South America on Friday May 1, after deals became scarce and negotiations for June-shipment cargoes finished with low interest from clients.

The European Commission’s (EC) antitrust authorities granted Europe’s largest copper smelter Aurubis unconditional approval for the €380 million ($417 million) acquisition of Belgian-Spanish recycler Metallo Group, the company said on May 4.

Mining and metalworking in Peru will gradually resume in May after a government order on Sunday May 3 targeted key industries for restarts.

Continuing weak buying interest pushed ferro-tungsten prices to a three-year low in Europe in the week to May 1.

The low-grade seaborne manganese ore indices retreated on May 1, hit by disappointing alloy tender prices and softening local alloys futures prices.

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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.