Non-ferrous scrap market participants in the United States are bracing for massive trade disruptions as a result of impending Chinese import restrictions – and a rumored quota system – set to take effect on Monday July 1.
The use of Fastmarkets MB’s iron ore indices in physical contracts continues to widen, with several market participants confirming in recent weeks that they settled 2019 term contracts using the Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe iron ore index as the base.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has lifted a ban on cobalt and copper concentrate exports imposed in February but maintained the threat of its future enforcement.
Copper concentrate deliveries from Mongolia’s Erdenet mine were disrupted in early March following the dismissal of several top managers in a restructuring program ordered by the country’s government, although production continued as normal, Fastmarkets has learned. The mine produces 530,000 tonnes per year of ores and is one of Asia’s biggest copper and molybdenum mines.
Vale has issued a warning over another potential iron ore production impact of as much as 10 million tonnes per year due to the suspension of operations at its Alegria mine in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.
