IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 10

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 10 that are worth another look.

Electric vehicles will shift to using solid-state batteries using lithium metal in the long term, but requisite developments in the manufacturing process mean batteries with liquid electrodes will remain in use until at least the late 2020s, DCDB Group managing partner Emily Hersch said.

Zambian villagers will be able to pursue mining giant Vedanta Resources in the United Kingdom in a case involving lost income due to water pollution from the the company’s Nchanga Copper mine, the UK Supreme Court decided in a ruling on Wednesday April 10.

Three major global trends could together create a need for more than 100 million tonnes of copper between now and 2040, transforming the market, Atlantic Copper chief executive officer Javier Targhetta said.

The second decade of the 21st Century has been marked by a drastic shift of powers in the global economy, which is opening new opportunities for business, professor Nuria Mas, head of economics department at IESE Business School, said at the 80th meeting of the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association in Barcelona, Spain, on April 8. 

Production has begun at EGA’s new Al Taweelah alumina refinery, in Abu Dhabi, casting more bearish sentiment on alumina prices.

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The suspension of South32’s manganese ore operations at Groote Eylandt Mining Co (GEMCO) in Australia has been changing demand patterns among manganese ore buyers in Asia and this will benefit other manganese ore miners, market participants said on Wednesday April 24
Brazilian aluminium supply coming from Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) is said to have tightened, helping to boost the P1020A ingot premium, market participants told Fastmarkets in the two weeks to Wednesday April 24
In anticipation of a tight market, copper concentrate traders have locked in 2025 volumes at notably low treatment charges, with deals being placed well below the long-term industry benchmarks
The Brazilian Executive Management Committee for the Foreign Trade Chamber (Gecex-Camex) decided to increase steel import duties during one year to 25%, while establishing import volume quotas for 11 steel products, according to a document published on Tuesday April 23
This move aligns with global demands for sustainability in the mining sector and sets Nexa on a path toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050
Fastmarkets will discontinue its lithium contract price assessments, effective October 2024.