IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from December 4

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday December 4 that are worth another look.

French special steelmaker Ascoval, part of the British Steel group, is to supply 140,000 tonnes per year of semi-finished products, rectangular blooms, to rail manufacturing specialist BSFR (British Steel France Rail) to be processed into rails for the SNCF Réseau national train network at its plant in Hayange, France.

The Chinese government has approved a seventh round of copper scrap import quotas for this year at lower volumes compared to the previous batch, Fastmarkets has learned.

Hebei Steel, China’s second largest steel mill, released its purchase price for silico-manganese at 5,950 yuan ($844) per tonne for December delivery, down by 150 yuan per tonne from its November tender price, market sources told Fastmarkets on December 4.

Global nickel premiums were unchanged in the week ended Tuesday December 3 amid limited spot activity while participants were busy focusing on long-term contract negotiations or celebrating regional holidays.

Taiwanese buyers of zinc ingot have signed 2020 annual supply contracts with major zinc producers at lower premiums compared with this year, sources with knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets.

What to read next
Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia is set for a major revival, after years of under-investment and political uncertainty. The move is being driven by a convergence of capital, government support and shifting geopolitics, according to a senior executive at CopperTech Metals.
With time, it is natural that low-carbon aluminium will be valued, and that the market will pay a green premium because clients are each day demanding more certificates, Anderson Baranov, chief executive officer of Norsk Hydro Brazil told Fastmarkets in an interview on Thursday October 30.
Explore the evolving market for base metals as nickel faces competition from lithium iron phosphate alternatives.
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0003 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which was published incorrectly on Thursday October 30 due to a technical error. MB-ALU-0010 Alumina index inferred, fob Brazil was published in error as $340.40 per dry metric tonne. It has been corrected to $341.49 per dmt. MB-ALU-0003 Alumina index adjustment to fob Australia index, Brazil was […]
As global smelting margins weaken, a quiet revival is taking shape in the United States as new copper smelting and refining projects gather momentum. Policy shifts, strategic incentives and the push for industrial resilience are driving investment that could close America’s long-standing processing gap and reshape its role in the global copper market.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia assessment for Thursday October 30 was delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.