IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 24

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 24 that are worth another look.

While Vedanta cheered over South Africa’s recent court ruling against the Zambian government’s liquidation of its majority-owned Konkola Copper Mines, Zambian officials rebuked the decision and denied the enforceability of the foreign ruling that determines the future of the country’s largest copper smelting assets.

Market participants are referring to a zinc concentrates deal between miner Teck Resources and smelter Nyrstar as a European benchmark, aligning with deals at the same level in Asia.

The downward trend in automotive sales in the United States, Europe and China is weighing on aluminium suppliers, although its impact on Constellium NV has been modest, the company’s top executive said.

The dramatic shift in the dynamics of the lithium market over the past four years has changed business practices and increased demand for price transparency.

Major swings in the prices of both nickel and tin over the past month could presage similar moves across the base metals complex, reflecting the waning influence of the US-China trade war on the metals markets.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.