IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from September 25

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday September 25 that are worth another look.

Global long steel consumption was expected to reach 851 million tonnes in 2019, up by 2.4% year on year although mounting political uncertainties such as trade wars and the UK’s intended exit from the EU may soften this growth, according to steelmaker Celsa.

Despite concerns of low prices and poor demand, the aluminium market still has growth potential due to the automotive industry, McKinsey & Company’s Benedikt Zeumer said at Fastmarkets’ International Aluminium Conference held in Athens, Greece.

The Shanghai copper cathode premium moved higher in the week to Tuesday September 24, with continued opportunities in the London-Shanghai arbitrage prompting increased market interest, while flat demand caps premiums in Europe and the United States.

Fastmarkets outlines some of the key topics likely to dominate discussions when participants of the battery raw materials and electric vehicle supply chain gathers in Amsterdam this week.

The lingering electricity restrictions in Inner Mongolia in China, which disrupted domestic silico-manganese production, failed to provide any support to the alloy price but dampened local alloy smelters’ manganese-ore purchasing appetite, market sources told Fastmarkets.

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.