IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 24

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday July 24 that are worth another look.

While Vedanta cheered over South Africa’s recent court ruling against the Zambian government’s liquidation of its majority-owned Konkola Copper Mines, Zambian officials rebuked the decision and denied the enforceability of the foreign ruling that determines the future of the country’s largest copper smelting assets.

Market participants are referring to a zinc concentrates deal between miner Teck Resources and smelter Nyrstar as a European benchmark, aligning with deals at the same level in Asia.

The downward trend in automotive sales in the United States, Europe and China is weighing on aluminium suppliers, although its impact on Constellium NV has been modest, the company’s top executive said.

The dramatic shift in the dynamics of the lithium market over the past four years has changed business practices and increased demand for price transparency.

Major swings in the prices of both nickel and tin over the past month could presage similar moves across the base metals complex, reflecting the waning influence of the US-China trade war on the metals markets.

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Asian spot copper premiums rose in the week ended Tuesday July 23, with premiums imported into China increasing on improved arbitrage terms. In the US market, supply failed to keep up with strong demand while in Europe participants were mostly off for the summer holidays
In the fourth episode of Fastmarkets critical minerals podcast Fast Forward, Freeport-McMoRan CEO and president Kathleen Quirk tells host Andrea Hotter why there's a preference to build and not build new supplies of copper right now
Demand for primary aluminium from the green transition remains a “brighter spot” for consumption amid an otherwise challenging downstream demand outlook, Eivind Kallevik, Norsk Hydro’s chief executive officer and president, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday July 23
Acquisition Company Limited (ACG) has agreed to buy the Gediktepe mine in Turkey — the company’s first deal as it works to build a sizeable mid-tier copper producer, its chairman and chief executive officer told Fastmarkets.
Copper market price speculation is driving the base metals narrative, head of research at UK-based services provider Sucden Financial Daria Efanova said during the company’s third-quarter metals webinar on Wednesday July 17.
Chinese mining giant CMOC reported a 178% year-on-year increase in cobalt metal production for the first six months of 2024, according to an announcement by the company on Friday July 12