IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 5 key stories from September 11

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Wednesday September 11 that are worth another look.

Australian multi-metal miner Blackstone Minerals considers Vietnam a reliable and equitable jurisdiction for nickel production and export once the Indonesian ore export ban comes into effect in January 2020, chief executive officer Scott Williamson told Fastmarkets last week.

Zambian copper production will drop by 11.6% this year after a series of tax reforms have led to production cost hikes, an industry body said in a statement on September 11.

Brazilian flat and long steel producer Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) has extended a blast furnace maintenance outage by several weeks, market participants told Fastmarkets on September 11.

The recent rise in ferro-vanadium and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) import interest in China will likely add further downward pressure on the Chinese domestic market, market sources told Fastmarkets during the Ferro-alloynet International Vanadium Conference on Tuesday September 10.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEX) has made a proposal to the board of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to buy the stock exchange, combining the two companies.

What to read next
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.