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

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday August 5 that are worth another look.

The United States will impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country from the start of September, according to US President Donald Trump, which could hit shipments of metals and minerals from China to the US and suppress commodity consumption in the former.

JSW Steel (USA) has filed a complaint against the United States government, acting by and through the Commerce Department, for denying its requests for exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel.

China’s exports of lithium carbonate soared in the first half of this year from a year earlier because of a domestic supply surplus that pressured prices lower, making them attractive to foreign buyers.

Aluminium alloys from China will be subject to at least 20% in tariffs by September, while for hundreds of steel products it will be at least 35% if the latest round of tariffs threatened against China take effect, sources indicated to Fastmarkets.

Competition in the copper departments of major miners is heating up to the extent that they are turning to trading to generate greater revenue.

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Own-sourced copper output from Glencore’s African copper assets — KCC and Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo — surged by 68% year on year to 67,900 tonnes over the same period, while Glencore’s cobalt production fell by 39% year on year amid the DRC’s export quota system.
Copper’s long-term outlook is constrained by the industry’s limited ability to bring new supply online fast enough to meet rising demand, with permitting delays, higher capital costs and policy risks slowing project development, industry executives said at the FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday April 22.
Capital is flowing back into junior mining, but selectively. Investment is increasingly favouring development‑stage assets with clearer paths to production, supported by government funding and strategic partnerships. While demand for critical minerals underpins the cycle, early‑stage explorers continue to struggle for capital as investors prioritise discipline, ESG alignment and near‑term cash flow.
Copper in concentrate production from Ivanhoe Mines' Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fell to 61,906 tonnes in the first quarter, down by 54% from 133,120 tonnes a year earlier, with the company now evaluating local third-party concentrate purchases to advance the ramp-up of its on-site smelter, according to an April 13 production release as the market focused its attention on the impact of global sulfuric acid shortages during CESCO Week in Chile from April 13-17.
China's planned sulfuric acid export ban from May 1, historic lows for copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and a fragmenting 2026 benchmark system dominated CESCO Week 2026 in Santiago from April 13-17.
The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]