Glencore trader Hu Qiang has been released without charge 15 months after being arrested in a crackdown on illegal imports of secondary lead waste in China, Fastmarkets has learned.
Miner-smelter Nyrstar expects the most recent outage at its Port Pirie lead smelter in Australia to last for 12 weeks, owner Trafigura confirmed to Fastmarkets on Tuesday August 13.
South Korean copper producer LS Nikko shut its Onsan II smelter for unplanned maintenance on Thursday August 8, affecting concentrate throughput, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets.
China exported 2,807 tonnes of ferro-vanadium (basis 75% vanadium) in the first half of 2019, a drop of 17.9% from 3,419 tonnes over the same period in 2018, according to official but unconfirmed data seen by Fastmarkets.
Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia remained stable over the past week despite weaker currencies in some markets following a flare-up in trade tensions between China and the United States.
