IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 14

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday August 14 that are worth another look.

A series of press reports relating to the changes in Indonesia’s nickel ore export ban policy amid volatile nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange has left market participants baffled, Fastmarkets understands.

China announced a third round of copper scrap import quotas on August 14, allowing a select list of importers to bring an additional 87,680 tonnes of copper scrap into the country by the end of 2019, according to the Bureau of International Recycling.

The suspension of iron ore exports from SL Mining’s operations at Marampa in Sierra Leone left stockpiles of more than 500,000 tonnes of concentrates at the mine in the Port Loko district, according to the company.

Trading volumes on the London Metal Exchange declined by 6% in the first half of 2019, parent company Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing said in its own half-year results announcement.

The conspicuous absence of Turkish mills from the East Coast ferrous scrap export market has started to take its toll, with Boston docks lowering prices effective from Tuesday August 13 and headwinds in global rebar prices likely to drag scrap prices lower.

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US export controls on recycled copper would have unintended consequences that could weaken the country’s domestic recycling and manufacturing ecosystems, the president of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) said.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments for nickel 4x4 cathode, nickel briquette and nickel uncut cathode premiums in-whs Rotterdam was delayed on Tuesday July 16 because of a reporter error.
Fastmarkets has corrected its alumina index inferred prices, which were published incorrectly on Tuesday July 15.
The United States' copper recycling industry is ramping up pressure on policymakers to impose some form of export controls on high-purity copper scrap, arguing that current trade dynamics – particularly with China – are distorting prices, weakening domestic capacity and undermining national security goals.
Fastmarkets launched two new price assessments for Indonesia’s domestic trade in nickel ore on Tuesday July 15. The two price assessments are for domestic trades of Indonesian laterite ores with 1.6% and 1.2% nickel content. Indonesia now accounts for 60% of the global nickel supplies and while there is an official government reference price, known […]
US copper scrap market participants are shifting from COMEX to LME pricing in response to extreme price volatility and a new 50% copper import tariff. The change is influencing discount formulas, export strategies and long-term trading dynamics across the sector.