IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from February 22

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday February 22 that are worth another look.

Coal trading has become too risky, a trader said on Thursday February 21 following news that customs authorities in Dalian, a major city in northeastern China, had slashed the yearly coal import quota for ports under their jurisdiction by 25%.

Zinc smelters have submitted bids for treatment charges (TCs) of up to $280 per tonne for annual contracts, kicking off concentrate supply negotiations ahead of the International Zinc Association (IZA) conference to be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, February 24-27.

Aluminium scrap exports from the United States surged to a five-year high in November, putting 2018 on track to be the highest-volume export year for the metal since 2014, while copper scrap shipments retreated.

The domestic Chinese battery-grade lithium hydroxide spot price fell by more than 3% in the week to Thursday February 21 although the carbonate assessment held firm – a pattern that was reversed in the seaborne market, where the carbonate price dropped week on week and the hydroxide price was steady.

Brazil’s apparent consumption of steel totaled 1.54 million tonnes in January, down 5.6% from 1.63 million tonnes during the same month in 2018, national steel association Instituto Aço Brasil said on Friday February 22.

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Mexico’s production and consumption of long steel fell year-on-year in May due to weakness in the country's construction sector, but posted a month on month gain, according to the latest data from the Mexican steel chamber, CANACERO.
To increase the transparency of our methodology, Fastmarkets clarifies that the quotation period of the MHP nickel payable indicator is the month of delivery, or the month M. Any data points Fastmarkets received otherwise will be normalized to the M month based on the monthly spreads of the prevailing exchange-traded Class-1 nickel reference price, or […]
This price is a part of the Fastmarkets scrap package. For more information on our North America Ferrous Scrap methodology and specifications please click here. To get in touch about access to this price assessment, please contact customer.success@fastmarkets.com.
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