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

Here are five Fastmarkets MB that you might have missed on Friday January 10 that are worth another look.

ArcelorMittal has increased its offer price for hot-rolled coil in Europe with immediate effect, sources told Fastmarkets on January 10.

The waiting time for aluminium at Istim’s warehouse in Port Klang, Malaysia rose to more than a month at the end of December 2019 compared with 11 days at the end of November, according to the latest LME queue report.

China’s imports of manganese ore were around 30.68 million tonnes in the first 11 months of 2019, registering an increase of around 22.5% from 25.04 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2018, according to official but unconfirmed data from Fastmarkets.

Zinc was thinly traded in most of Asia in 2019, but in December many deliveries were diverted to warehouses in Singapore, raising many eyebrows. Fastmarkets investigates the changing trend.

Previous weakness in the Chinese battery-grade lithium markets traveled through into the seaborne lithium hydroxide market which fell by 4.7% week on week on Thursday January 9, while the delivered, duty-paid Europe and United States compound prices both fell on the availability of cheaper spot material.