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.

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.