IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from December 30

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday December 30 that are worth another look.

Fastmarkets reviews how much of the EU safeguarding import quota allowances for hollow sections has been used and by who, with an estimation of when they will be exhausted country by country at the current usage rates.

The benchmark premium paid for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) in the first quarter of 2020 has settled at $83 per tonne on a cif basis over the London Metal Exchange cash price. The settlement represents a decrease of 14.4% or $14 per tonne from the fourth-quarter benchmark of $97 per tonne, which was set at the end of September.

The spot lead concentrate treatment charge (TC) dropped in December in the first downward movement for six months. Fastmarkets assessed lead spot concentrate TC, high silver, cif China at $150-170 per tonne on December 27, down from $170-185 per tonne in November.

The discount for copper scrap imported into China has narrowed in December because Chinese consumers returned to the spot market to fill quotas granted for the first quarter of 2020. Fastmarkets assessed the copper scrap No2 copper (birch/cliff) imported into China 94-96%, LME/Comex discount, cif China at 35-40 cents per lb on Monday December 30. That compared with 38-40 cents per lb a month ago. 

Trading activity in the major global billet markets was reduced in the week ended Friday December 27 due to participants being away for the Christmas and New Year festive season. 

What to read next
Mitsui & Co has locked in long-term copper concentrate supply by acquiring 40% offtake rights to Argentina's Josemaria deposit, while Fortescue has completed its acquisition of Peru's Cañariaco project for approximately C$139 million ($101 million), marking the latest in a wave of offtake deals and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) while majors race to secure supply amid an increasingly constrained market and record-low treatment charges (TCs).
The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), published on Wednesday March 4, was a new step in the bloc’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry and to support strategic supply chains in sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium.
Fastmarkets will increase the frequency of its two existing CIF China port copper scrap prices and add three new grades on Monday March 16.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.