IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 2

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday August 2 that are worth another look.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly weaker at the close of trading on Friday August 2. The downturn was largely prompted by fresh tariff threats against China by United States President Donald Trump that sparked caution among investors and prompted them to reduce risk-exposure in commodities.

Chinese customs authorities are considering introducing a new import standard for zinc concentrates to alleviate pollution of smelting operations, according to a consultation document seen by Fastmarkets. 

China’s customs agency has held discussions with the country’s major copper smelters with the aim of creating stricter limits on impurities contained in imported copper concentrates, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets.

Soaring iron ore prices have pushed Chinese hot metal costs up above those for ferrous scrap in recent months, stimulating greater use of the secondary raw material, according to calculations by Fastmarkets’ research team.

In battery raw materials, international cobalt prices increased on stronger sentiment in China and higher offer prices while the battery-grade lithium hydroxide spot price fell sharply for the week to Thursday August 1 after China’s lithium market moved lower due to ample availability of material and depressed demand.

What to read next
The price was initially published as $60-70 per tonne and has since been corrected to $60-68 per tonne. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated to reflect this change. The price rationale was correct. For more information or to provide feedback on this correction notice or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data […]
Copper smelters struggling with record low treatment and refining charges (TCs/RCs) won’t be able to look to the Cobre Panama mine to ease market tightness any time soon.
Robert Yildirim aims to make CoreX a top 50 mining giant, expanding in nickel, chrome and renewables.
Fastmarkets has amended the name of the price assessment for nickel ore 1.8% basis 15-20% Fe water content: 30-35% Si:Mg ratio<2 lot size 50,000 tonnes, cif China. The name of the price has been shortened to nickel ore with 1.8% nickel content, cif China to enhance its readability and alignment with other Fastmarkets nickel ore […]
After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets has discontinued this price due to low market liquidity. All short-term forecasts associated with this price (or these prices) produced by the Fastmarkets research team, if any, have also been discontinued. If you have any comments on the discontinuation of this price, please contact Natasha Porter by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please […]
This guide explores current price trends, breaks down the key copper scrap grades and provides a global outlook for 2025.