IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 26

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday August 26 that are worth another look.

China’s hot-rolled coil prices dropped in both the spot and futures markets on August 26, amid escalating trade tensions between that country and the United States.

While the major Chinese stainless steel mills are expected to release their September tender prices for domestic ferro-chrome this week, the majority of market participants expect a price increase in near future tenders, including for September, Fastmarkets understands.

Brazilian aluminium producer Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) has signed an agreement to buy Arconic’s operations in Itapissuma, in Brazil’s northeastern state of Pernambuco, for $50 million, CBA announced on August 26.

Glencore AG has provided a $5-million loan facility to First Cobalt Corp to complete work associated with a recommissioning and expansion of its refinery in Canada.

China’s imports of copper scrap totaled 130,000 tonnes in July, down by 39.3% from the same month last year, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

What to read next
The most recent financial results published by base metals mining companies highlight just how inflation is affecting profit margins, with increasing wages, financing costs and input prices all hitting profits, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 28
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.