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

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

Chinese stainless steel prices in both the domestic and export markets fell over the past week amid bearish sentiment stemming from the high inventories held at a major mill in eastern China.

More of the world’s copper looks likely to be priced in China from next year, with the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) set to launch a new contract tradable by international market participants.

Elysis, the Alcoa-Rio Tinto joint-venture, has produced its first batch of carbon-free aluminium, which will be shipped to co-investor Apple this month, Apple told Fastmarkets on December 5.

Glencore has cut its production guidance for cobalt in 2020 to 25,000-33,000 tonnes, down by about a third from 2019’s 41,000-45,000 tonnes, the Swiss miner-trader said this week.

The price of alumina in China fell to its lowest since May 2017 this week amid an abundance of material coming in from the seaborne market despite an already oversupplied domestic market.

What to read next
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Fastmarkets has corrected its alumina index inferred prices, which were published incorrectly on Tuesday July 15.
The United States' copper recycling industry is ramping up pressure on policymakers to impose some form of export controls on high-purity copper scrap, arguing that current trade dynamics – particularly with China – are distorting prices, weakening domestic capacity and undermining national security goals.
Fastmarkets launched two new price assessments for Indonesia’s domestic trade in nickel ore on Tuesday July 15. The two price assessments are for domestic trades of Indonesian laterite ores with 1.6% and 1.2% nickel content. Indonesia now accounts for 60% of the global nickel supplies and while there is an official government reference price, known […]
US copper scrap market participants are shifting from COMEX to LME pricing in response to extreme price volatility and a new 50% copper import tariff. The change is influencing discount formulas, export strategies and long-term trading dynamics across the sector.
The proposal follows preliminary discussions with the market and internal analysis of price usage, which suggests low market liquidity and a lack of demand. Specifically, Fastmarkets is proposing to discontinue: MB-CU-0410 Copper rod premium, ddp Midwest US, US cents/lbQuality: Purity of 99.95-99.99%. Thicknesses of 8 millimeters or 0.3125 inchesQuantity: Min 25,000 poundsLocation: Delivered US MidwestUnit: US […]