IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 18

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 18 that are worth another look.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing will launch US dollar-denominated London Metal Mini Futures for six base metals starting Monday August 5, the exchange said recently.

Nickel’s three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its rally throughout afternoon trading on Thursday July 18, closing just below $15,000 per tonne amid a continued flurry of technical buying and a seven-year low in LME stocks.

Turkey’s Kar Madencilik has started producing primary pure magnesium metal (grade min 99.95%) at a smelter rented from Esan Eczacibasi, now called Kar Magnesium Smelter.

Aluminium producer Alcoa reported a net loss of $402 million in its 2019 second quarter results on July 17.

China’s 10 biggest copper smelters have set a treatment and refining charge purchase price floor of $55 per tonne/5.5 cents per lb for the third quarter of this year, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets on Thursday.

What to read next
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.