IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from May 9

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday May 9 that are worth another look.

Aluminium traders in Europe have been switching business to the Italian port of Trieste in the past month, due to high stock levels leading to opportunistic trading. Market sources told Fastmarkets that the port is ideal for sending material into neighboring Central and Eastern Europe, with trucking costs relatively low.

The Chinese spot alumina price could rise over the course of 2019 despite new capacity planned this year due to new downstream aluminium projects which outpace the raw material’s capacity expansion, Fastmarkets learned during LME Asia Week in Hong Kong this week.

Guangxi Nanguo Copper’s cathode output is unlikely to be affected by a halt of its copper anode operation line in late April, market sources told Fastmarkets MB on the sidelines of LME Asia Week in Hong Kong this week.

The European ferro-molybdenum market moved up again in the first half of the week on the strength in the oxide market amid tight availability, which continues to support the alloy market.

Spot demand for cobalt sulfate in China following the Labor Day holiday (May 1-4) has been weak, with consumers continuing to conduct “hand-to-mouth” procurement, Fastmarkets learned during the latest pricing session.

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Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of several US base metal price assessments to a monthly basis, including MB-PB-0006 lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-SN-0036 tin 99.85% premium, in-whs Baltimore; MB-SN-0011 tin 99.85% premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-NI-0240 nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US and MB-NI-0241 nickel briquette premium, delivered Midwest US.
The news that President-elect Donald Trump is considering additional tariffs on goods from China as well as on all products from US trading partners Canada and Mexico has spurred alarm in the US aluminium market at a time that is usually known to be calm.
Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?
Copper recycling will become increasingly critical as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a special report published early this week.
Fastmarkets proposes to lower the frequency of its assessments for MB-AL-0389 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, US Midwest and MB-AL-0390 aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product US Midwest. Fastmarkets also proposes to extend the timing window of these same assessments to include any transaction data concluded within up to 18 months.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its non-ferrous and industrial minerals methodologies, via an open consultation process between October 8 and November 6, 2024. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.