IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 18

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday July 18 that are worth another look.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing will launch US dollar-denominated London Metal Mini Futures for six base metals starting Monday August 5, the exchange said recently.

Nickel’s three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued its rally throughout afternoon trading on Thursday July 18, closing just below $15,000 per tonne amid a continued flurry of technical buying and a seven-year low in LME stocks.

Turkey’s Kar Madencilik has started producing primary pure magnesium metal (grade min 99.95%) at a smelter rented from Esan Eczacibasi, now called Kar Magnesium Smelter.

Aluminium producer Alcoa reported a net loss of $402 million in its 2019 second quarter results on July 17.

China’s 10 biggest copper smelters have set a treatment and refining charge purchase price floor of $55 per tonne/5.5 cents per lb for the third quarter of this year, sources close to the matter told Fastmarkets on Thursday.

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The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]
Until now, aluminium has been hard to move, not hard to find. Global aluminium supply had remained technically intact, even as output was curtailed in parts of the Gulf, inventory buffers were drawn down or repositioned, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely disrupted.
Global aluminium producers face heightened uncertainty over power supplies, with oil and gas prices elevated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets is extending the consultation period for the methodology of several of its black mass payables indicators and prices, and is also proposing changes to the names of CIF South Korea and EWX Europe black mass prices.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is expanding its footprint beyond its historic hydro-powered Canadian base, targeting Europe, Asia and Latin America as part of a deliberate diversification strategy, according to the unit’s chief executive officer.
Fastmarkets has corrected its copper concentrates treatment and refinement charge indices, which were published incorrectly on March 20 2026 due to a technical error.