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

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

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange climbed by more than 4% at the close of trading on Friday May 24, soaring beyond $12,300 per tonne amid a slight softening of the dollar index and while investors sought to cover shorts ahead of the next week’s bank holiday in the United Kingdom.

Codelco expects to maintain current copper output at around 1.68 million tonnes per year over at least the next decade, the Chilean state-owned miner said, despite operational changes and sector headwinds.

Fastmarkets’ assessment of the tin warrant premium available on the LME climbed by more than 60% on Tuesday, reaching its highest level on record amid a flurry of higher-quality stock inflows.

Jiangxi Copper International Trading Co Ltd president Su Li has stepped down from his role, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed.

Belgian battery materials manufacturer Umicore SA has reached an agreement with Freeport Cobalt to acquire the latter’s cobalt refining and cathode precursor business at the Kokkola refinery in Finland.

What to read next
Navigating LME nickel: A cautious optimism amid bearish sentiment
There’s broad agreement that DeepSeek has upended the artificial intelligence (AI) sector by developing a cutting-edge large language model that uses less computational power, but whether improved AI efficiency cuts demand for copper in the data centers used to power it is a matter of debate.
Aluminium demand in India is set to continue its sharp growth over the next three years, fueled by an expanding automotive sector in the South Asian country, Fastmarkets heard at the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) international conference held in Jaipur on January 28-30.
After a consultation period, Fastmarkets is increasing the publication frequency of two copper concentrates index coefficients — MB-CU-0422 copper concentrates counterparty spread and MB-CU-0423 copper concentrates Co-VIU — from monthly to fortnightly.
Over a decade since its first attempt, Glencore appears to have taken another tilt at Rio Tinto.
Participants in the market for copper scrap and blister in China, the world’s largest importer of copper raw materials, expect there to be fiercer competition for material in 2025, industry sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday January 9.