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.

What to read next
Asian spot copper premiums rose in the week ended Tuesday July 23, with premiums imported into China increasing on improved arbitrage terms. In the US market, supply failed to keep up with strong demand while in Europe participants were mostly off for the summer holidays
In the fourth episode of Fastmarkets critical minerals podcast Fast Forward, Freeport-McMoRan CEO and president Kathleen Quirk tells host Andrea Hotter why there's a preference to build and not build new supplies of copper right now
Demand for primary aluminium from the green transition remains a “brighter spot” for consumption amid an otherwise challenging downstream demand outlook, Eivind Kallevik, Norsk Hydro’s chief executive officer and president, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday July 23
Acquisition Company Limited (ACG) has agreed to buy the Gediktepe mine in Turkey — the company’s first deal as it works to build a sizeable mid-tier copper producer, its chairman and chief executive officer told Fastmarkets.
Copper market price speculation is driving the base metals narrative, head of research at UK-based services provider Sucden Financial Daria Efanova said during the company’s third-quarter metals webinar on Wednesday July 17.
Chinese mining giant CMOC reported a 178% year-on-year increase in cobalt metal production for the first six months of 2024, according to an announcement by the company on Friday July 12