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

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

Sentiment was unusually bearish at this year’s Cesco week in Santiago, Chile, with copper market participants increasingly concerned that sluggish demand in China will limit the upside potential of the red metal price. 

Steel market participants in the United Kingdom and Europe renewed calls for the European Union and the UK to reach an agreement and avoid continued market uncertainty after the UK was granted a six-month extension to delay Brexit until Thursday October 31.

A safeguarding investigation into imports of semi-finished iron products, non-alloy steel and steel rebar by Egypt’s Ministry of Trade & Industry could lead to a fall in billet, rebar and scrap prices.

In copper, Antofagasta is running a series of projects to help the company achieve its targeted reduction in emissions over the next few years, a move that would both lower its carbon footprint and cut costs, the company’s chief executive officer told Fastmarkets in an interview during the annual Cesco Week in Santiago, Chile. Separately, Mopani Copper Mines Plc confirmed that it restarted operations at its Nkana and Mufulira mines in Zambia on Wednesday April 10 following an investigation into five fatalities at the two sites earlier this year.

Expectations for steel slab prices remained weak in most regions of the world in the week ended Thursday April 11 despite low availability of material from producers in the CIS.

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The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), published on Wednesday March 4, was a new step in the bloc’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry and to support strategic supply chains in sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium.
Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its two existing CIF China port copper scrap prices and add three new grades on Monday March 16.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.
Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.