IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from September 23

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories from Monday September 23 that are worth another look.

China has announced a fourth round of copper scrap import quotas to allow an extra 31,658 tonnes of copper scrap into the country by the end of 2019, the environmental ministry said on September 23.

Faced with high and increasing emissions costs during a period of challenging market conditions, the steel industry is driving a change toward carbon neutral and fossil-fuel-free steel production in a bid to evolve and stay afloat.

The market for low carbon ferro-chrome (0.10% C) in Europe rose on Friday September 20, indicating that prices had bottomed-out at a historic low level, with demand remaining subdued.

The federal court in Belém, Brazil, has lifted one of the embargoes on Alunorte’s new bauxite residue deposit area, producer Norsk Hydro announced on September 20.

Chinese ferro-silicon smelters held their offer prices, which earlier this month hit a 27-month low, last week in expectation of renewed demand from consumers in the steel sector ahead of a national holiday next week, while in Europe steelmakers seemed in no rush to replenish their ferro-alloys feedstocks.

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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 […]
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.