IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 11

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday April 11 that are worth another look.

Growing demand for lithium compounds used in lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries such as lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide over the past three years has prompted lithium producers to expand total production while diversifying their investments in different lithium operations to ramp up production faster and diminish asset risk.

Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco believes restarting operations at its Chuquicamata smelter in late April is still feasible with ramp-up happening in the second half of May, although market participants are expecting it to resume in June or July.

A summary of the monthly copper output from different mines in the major production hub of Chile for February 2019, as well as the month-on-month and year-on-year differences.

Healthy growth in nickel demand from the stainless steel and battery sectors and shrinking inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metals Exchange bode well for nickel prices, according to Macquarie Capital senior commodities consultant Jim Lennon. 

Cobalt prices rose again on Wednesday April 10 as buyers have continued to restock while encountering newfound metal tightness into the second quarter of this year.

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The influential annual treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) benchmark that sets the price that smelters charge miners to process their copper concentrate could be at risk, according to multiple market sources, although most believe the system, or elements of it, will remain
Fastmarkets' initial low-carbon premium for nickel briquettes captured existing regional price differences, with growing awareness and legislative incentives indicating there is potential for a strong market to emerge
The Chilean government is pushing ahead with plans for a new copper smelter despite the global smelting crisis, Chile’s minister of mining, Aurora Williams told Fastmarkets, adding that the state will also play a key role in developing the country’s premium lithium assets
Just under two weeks ago, the chair of BHP made a phone call to his counterpart at mining peer Anglo American and set in motion a flurry of activity designed to create the largest copper producer in the world
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