IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 15

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 15 that are worth another look.

The world’s biggest copper consumer could be getting ready to start spending, analysts told Fastmarkets. Analysts expect China’s State Grid Corp of China, whose budget comprises 50% of the country’s annual copper demand, to come good on promises to increase investment on the nation’s electronic grid by 5% this year.

China’s alumina market is showing signs of a recovery following the emergence of higher offer prices by domestic producers this week due to a number of production cuts in the country, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday August 14.

International inquiries for cobalt metal from China picked up quickly over the past week after the premium that the Chinese metal price holds against the European price narrowed sharply on August 14.

Southwestern China’s Kunming Intermediate People’s Court will auction all of the 18,661 tonnes of antimony ingots held by the collapsed Fanya Metal Exchange in late August, according to an official notice seen by Fastmarkets on August 15.

Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco began operations at Chuquicamata’s subterranean phase on August 14, with an aim to increase mine life by 40 years and to improve the division’s productivity, the company said.

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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.
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