IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 17

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 17 that are worth another look.

Precious metals prices would support zinc and lead mining even if the global markets crashed, including those for base metals, panelists said at Fastmarkets’ International Lead & Zinc Conference in London on Tuesday April 16. 

Copper’s three-month price on the London Metal Exchange climbed above $6,600 per tonne at the close of trading on April 17, buoyed by strong gross domestic product figures out of China while a softer dollar index below the psychological level of 97 supported afternoon buying.

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama declined by 7.7% month on month in September, data released by major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp on Wednesday showed.

An appeals court in Argentina has reversed a decision that allowed the inclusion of Paolo Rocca, the chief executive officer of Italian-Argentine steel conglomerate Techint, in a probe on the alleged bribery of government officials in 2008.

Fastmarkets’ battery raw materials team summarizes eight key takeaways from last week’s Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai.

What to read next
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of several US base metal price assessments to a monthly basis, including MB-PB-0006 lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-SN-0036 tin 99.85% premium, in-whs Baltimore; MB-SN-0011 tin 99.85% premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-NI-0240 nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US and MB-NI-0241 nickel briquette premium, delivered Midwest US.
The news that President-elect Donald Trump is considering additional tariffs on goods from China as well as on all products from US trading partners Canada and Mexico has spurred alarm in the US aluminium market at a time that is usually known to be calm.
Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?
Copper recycling will become increasingly critical as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a special report published early this week.
Fastmarkets proposes to lower the frequency of its assessments for MB-AL-0389 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, US Midwest and MB-AL-0390 aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product US Midwest. Fastmarkets also proposes to extend the timing window of these same assessments to include any transaction data concluded within up to 18 months.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its non-ferrous and industrial minerals methodologies, via an open consultation process between October 8 and November 6, 2024. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.