IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from November 14

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday November 14 that are worth another look.

China’s annual scrap consumption could reach 330 million tonnes by 2030 and account for up to half of the country’s steel output, according to the China Association of Metal Scrap Utilization (Camu).

Copper miners and smelters look set to agree the lowest annual benchmark for concentrate in eight years, according to initial indications for 2020 contracts tabled by both sides.

While the ferro-alloys industry prepares to gather in Budapest for the annual International Ferro-alloys conference on November 17-19, Fastmarkets looks at the key price moves since last year’s conference.

Cobalt briquettes produced by the Ambatovy joint venture in Madagascar have been approved by the London Metal Exchange for delivery against its physically-settled cobalt contract.

China exported just 1.9 tonnes of unwrought indium in September compared with 23.6 tonnes in September 2018, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

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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.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its non-ferrous and industrial minerals methodologies, via an open consultation process between October 8 and November 6, 2024. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.