IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from January 23

The London Metal Exchange’s warrant depository has begun to show delays after large amounts of warrants were canceled, sources told Fastmarkets MB. More than 130,000 tonnes of aluminium was freshly canceled on the exchange over the past two days, with traders expecting the cancellations to continue.

Privately-owned Sigma Broking Ltd has approached LME members to acquire B shares as it moves forward with a plan to become the first new Category I ring-trading entity since 2007, well-informed sources told Fastmarkets.

China’s imported volumes of copper scrap fell by almost one-third in 2018 from the year before, following the implementation of various scrap import barriers and a tariff on material from major supplier the United States.

The US hot-rolled coil market faces another important year in 2019, one that has already seen many unexpected developments, including a surprise decline in ferrous scrap prices in January. Fastmarkets AMM has summarized five of the most important developments that market participants should watch this year.

Major Chinese mills’ daily crude steel output increased in early January, but their finished steel inventory levels dropped slightly.