IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 2

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday April 2 that are worth another look.

Tata Steel has reduced output at its steel production sites in India and Europe due to decreased demand, and to obey the temporary regulations imposed to tackle the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said on Wednesday April 1.

Norsk Hydro has decided to postpone adding 95,000 tonnes per year to capacity at the Husnes aluminium plant in Norway in light of the rapidly deteriorating market conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rio Tinto has declared force majeure on shipments of copper cathode from its Kennecott copper mine in the US state of Utah following a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near the site last month.

Concerns that a tailings dam leak at a Chinese molybdenum mine could affect supplies pushed prices up in the first half of the week, but the uptrend is only expected to be short-lived, sources told Fastmarkets.

Minor metals and ores and alloys producers that rely on shipping routes out of South Africa are warning that practical barriers to producing and transporting material outweigh any technical green light to export, amid conflicting instructions from the country’s authorities.

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After a consultation, Fastmarkets is increasing the publication frequency of its non-exchange-deliverable equivalent-grade (EQ) copper cathode premium, CIF Shanghai, from once a week to twice a week.
New plans to introduce block trades for bilaterally negotiated transactions on the London Metal Exchange are aimed at enhancing liquidity and transparency without harming the exchange’s core physical user base, chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain told Fastmarkets.
The London Metal Exchange has unveiled a series of proposals which, if successful, could accomplish what it failed to achieve close to a decade ago: bringing the investment community into the fold.
The primary aluminium premium for duty-unpaid units in Rotterdam edged higher in the week to Tuesday September 3, while the wider European market found continued support from high replacement costs and tight nearby inventories despite slow consumer demand.
Market participants are converging on Bali in Indonesia for the Fastmarkets International Critical Minerals & Metals Summit (ICMMS) on September 5 and 6, so ahead of the event, we capture the main themes facing the global nickel market.
Fastmarkets has amended the MB-NI-0256 nickel low-carbon briquette premium, cif global to include all shapes of exchange deliverable Class 1 nickel metal.