IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from July 29

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday July 29 that are worth another look.

The Peruvian federal government is drafting a new mining code to ensure legal certainty and social responsibility in the development of projects in the country, national president Martín Vizcarra said on Sunday July 28 during the country’s independence day festivities. The announcement was made following almost two weeks of public demonstrations and street blockades in the Arequipa region against Southern Copper’s Tía María copper project.

Citic Metal, the exclusive sales agent in China for ferro-niobium from Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), surprised the market by keeping its third-quarter price unchanged from the previous quarter, sources told Fastmarkets.

The uncertainty created by trade tensions, including the potential for US tariffs on the automotive sector, is deterring investment decisions in the industry and leading to reduced forecasts for growth, the top executive of Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro said.

Concerns about another possible round of auctions in the coming months for indium stocks held by the defunct Fanya Metal Exchange re-emerged among Chinese market participants after Southwest China’s Kunming Superior People’s Court announced the second trial result in an open court on Friday July 26, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

The discount for No2-grade copper scrap in China widened this month on higher availability because Chinese buyers have quickly used up the import quotas granted by the government.

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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.
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