IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 12

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday June 12 that are worth another look.

German copper refiner Aurubis has released chief executive officer and executive board chairman Jürgen Schachler from his role two weeks prior to his scheduled departure. At the same time, the company has decided to discard its €320-million future complex metallurgy strategy due to higher than expected costs, Europe’s largest copper producer said on Wednesday June 12.

Minor metals could become the next commodities to be caught up in the trade war between the United States and China, market sources have warned. But the effects on the price for gallium and antimony have so far been minimal.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is developing a transformation plan for its Belval and Differdange long steel sites in Luxembourg, a company spokeswoman told Fastmarkets in the week beginning June 10.

The price in Europe for molybdenum oxide rose in the first half of the week ended Wednesday June 12, with a workers’ strike at Molymet’s Nos plant in Chile supporting sentiment in an already tightening market.

London-based commodities broker Sucden Financial has appointed Rafael Caporale as head of its new LME Options Market Making division, the company announced on Wednesday.

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European copper demand, particularly for wire rod, remains strong and seems to be outpacing broader macro-economic growth in the region, the chief executive officer of German producer Aurubis has said.
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The near-term prospects for Chinese copper smelting capacity amid near-zero treatment charges (TCs) will, to a certain extent, depend on plants’ exposure to spot TCs, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s copper division said on Tuesday, April 16
It will be very difficult for many Chinese copper smelters to compete with treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at record lows, according to the chairman of Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco