IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 8

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 8 that are worth another look.

The meeting of battery materials market participants at Antaike’s Battery Materials conference in Guiyang, China, came just as news broke of Glencore’s plan to put one of its copper-cobalt mines on care and maintenance – Fastmarkets covers the Chinese market reaction and other topics of discussion at the conference on August 7-8.

Scrap metal cargoes from Japan have been refused entry into South Korea over the past two weeks after the country’s customs started asking for certificates to prove radiation levels, sources told Fastmarkets.

German copper refiner Aurubis Group has forecast a continued weakening of the European copper market in its latest financial statement, indicating a significant dent to earnings as a result of subdued copper demand across the continent.

China’s domestic stainless steel prices increased over the past week amid unabated concerns over Indonesia’s export ban for unprocessed nickel ore, which is set to come into effect in 2022.

The spot price for gallium in China’s domestic market edged up on Wednesday August 7 after suppliers were unwilling to sell cargoes below 1,000 yuan ($142) per kg in response to announced production halts by major producers in the country.

What to read next
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