IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from December 10

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday December 10 that are worth another look.

Export prices for Chinese cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized coil were mostly stable during the week to December 10 amid continued gains in the Chinese domestic market.

Copper production in Chile fell by a slight 0.1% year on year during October, with higher volumes mainly from Codelco, Escondida and Colluahasi almost enough to offset output drops at Antofagasta and Anglo American.

Reversing a recent re-commitment to its New Caledonian operations, Brazilian miner Vale told investors it would “exit VNC (Vale New Caledonia),” but some analysts wonder if or how Vale will extricate itself from the long-troubled South Pacific island venture.

The approval of €3.2 billion in subsidies by seven European Union members could generate a major mineral supply and processing chain to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in Europe.

South African state power utility Eskom was forced to implement stage 6 load shedding for the first time ever on Monday December 9 amid a severe lack of generating capacity.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.