IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from August 8

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday August 8 that are worth another look.

The meeting of battery materials market participants at Antaike’s Battery Materials conference in Guiyang, China, came just as news broke of Glencore’s plan to put one of its copper-cobalt mines on care and maintenance – Fastmarkets covers the Chinese market reaction and other topics of discussion at the conference on August 7-8.

Scrap metal cargoes from Japan have been refused entry into South Korea over the past two weeks after the country’s customs started asking for certificates to prove radiation levels, sources told Fastmarkets.

German copper refiner Aurubis Group has forecast a continued weakening of the European copper market in its latest financial statement, indicating a significant dent to earnings as a result of subdued copper demand across the continent.

China’s domestic stainless steel prices increased over the past week amid unabated concerns over Indonesia’s export ban for unprocessed nickel ore, which is set to come into effect in 2022.

The spot price for gallium in China’s domestic market edged up on Wednesday August 7 after suppliers were unwilling to sell cargoes below 1,000 yuan ($142) per kg in response to announced production halts by major producers in the country.

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