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.
