IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from April 2

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday April 2 that are worth another look.

China’s threshold for electric vehicles to receive subsidies in 2019 has been increased again while the value of subsidies has been cut sharply, which was expected by the majority of market participants who are now cautiously checking the resulting impact on the battery supply chain. 

The global market for direct-reduced (DR)-grade pellets continues to suffer from a shortage after being aggravated by Vale’s dam collapse in late January, which has pushed the DR pellet premium up further, Fastmarkets has learned.

Tianqi Lithium Kwinana Pty Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese lithium producer Tianqi Lithium, has signed two strategic supply agreements for battery-grade lithium hydroxide separately with SK Innovation Co Ltd and EcoPro BM Co Ltd, the producer said.

Copper stocks in Shanghai-bonded warehouses rose for a fifth consecutive month in March, hitting a 20-month high by the end of the month, after Chinese smelters continued to deliver cargoes into the bonded zone to take advantage of an export arbitrage that has been in place since mid-February.

Treatment charges for spot zinc concentrate continued to rise in March with deals over the $300-per-tonne mark made for clean cargoes.

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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.
Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Navigating market volatility with data-driven strategies for resilient mining operations
The publication of several of Fastmarkets' copper concentrates indices was delayed on Friday February 27 because of a technical error. Fastmarkets' pricing database has been updated.