IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from October 4

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday October 4 that are worth another look.

Flat steel import prices were caught once again in the continuous global downtrend during the past week, as market participants await for Chinese offers to resume after the Golden Week and material from other origins was sold at lower levels.

It has been a hectic couple of years for LME chief executive officer Matthew Chamberlain, his teams and members while the exchange works through the comprehensive list of plans and actions in its Strategic Pathway.

Chinese spot copper premiums hit 10-month highs in September, but market participants doubt the uptrend can last and expect a drop in the annual benchmark premium for 2020.

Low refined nickel stocks and a looming ban on exports of nickel ore from Indonesia are two factors creating a bullish nickel market, according to participants at the seventh Asian Nickel Conference held in Jakarta in mid-September.

Canadian mining company Strongbow’s investment in the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall – an internationally famous tin mine in the south-west of England, with a long heritage – is for the long term, reports Hassan Butt.

What to read next
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.
Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.
Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Navigating market volatility with data-driven strategies for resilient mining operations
The publication of several of Fastmarkets' copper concentrates indices was delayed on Friday February 27 because of a technical error. Fastmarkets' pricing database has been updated.