IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from June 14

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday June 14 that are worth another look.

Chinese imports from the US of products including metals concentrates and non-ferrous and ferrous scrap are eligible for two rounds of applications for exclusion from Chinese tariffs, according to a new policy document seen by Fastmarkets. The document from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council implies that some Chinese metals importers will be able to buy these products without paying tariffs of as much as 25%.

With an international career that has spanned senior positions with some of the biggest companies and mines for non-ferrous metal production, Sonami president Diego Hernandez tells Andrea Hotter about the multiple roles that led him to the pinnacle of copper mining

In a new metals fraud case, state-owned Chinalco Shanghai Copper alleges that one of its trading subsidiaries paid more than $6 million for 900 tonnes of domestically warehoused copper from another trader, Jiangsu Trade Gold Supply Chain Management, only to discover that the material did not exist, company documents seen by Fastmarkets show.

Cuts to South Africa’s production of ferro-chrome have added to bearish market sentiment in China amid predictions that increased availability of raw materials will weigh on ore prices, Fastmarkets heard in the week ended Friday June 14.

The queue for aluminium at London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses at Port Klang, Malaysia, operated by Istim, edged down to 109 days at the end of May, according to the latest LME data.

What to read next
The most recent financial results published by base metals mining companies highlight just how inflation is affecting profit margins, with increasing wages, financing costs and input prices all hitting profits, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 28
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.