IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from February 6

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday February 6 that are worth another look.

Brazilian miner Vale has declared force majeure on a number of iron ore and pellet contracts with customers following the halt of its Brucutu mine in the state of Minas Gerais, the company said on Tuesday February 5.

Ghana Manganese has been ordered to cease operations by Ghana’s minister of lands and natural resources due to inconclusive data.

Aurubis AG is searching for strategic alternatives for its flat-rolled product business after the proposed sale of the division to peer Wieland Werke was rejected by the European Commission, the German copper producer said on February 6.

Russian steelmaker Severstal plans to start construction of new blast furnace in 2019, using additional volumes of pig iron for its own needs, chief financial officer Alexey Kulichenko said in a conference call on February 5.

International mining companies that oppose the new mining code in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are a lot closer to resolving their outstanding issues than they were a year-ago, but work remains to be done, the chief executive officer of Canadian miner Barrick said.

What to read next
The publication of Fastmarkets’ Shanghai copper premiums on Monday December 23 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of several US base metal price assessments to a monthly basis, including MB-PB-0006 lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-SN-0036 tin 99.85% premium, in-whs Baltimore; MB-SN-0011 tin 99.85% premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-NI-0240 nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US and MB-NI-0241 nickel briquette premium, delivered Midwest US.
The news that President-elect Donald Trump is considering additional tariffs on goods from China as well as on all products from US trading partners Canada and Mexico has spurred alarm in the US aluminium market at a time that is usually known to be calm.
Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?
Copper recycling will become increasingly critical as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a special report published early this week.
Fastmarkets proposes to lower the frequency of its assessments for MB-AL-0389 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, US Midwest and MB-AL-0390 aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product US Midwest. Fastmarkets also proposes to extend the timing window of these same assessments to include any transaction data concluded within up to 18 months.