Metals Industry News

The London Metal Exchange has approved the Category II membership resignation of independent clearing firm GH Financials Ltd with effect from 11:59pm London time on Monday February 4, the exchange said in a note to members.

Rainer Herforth has left Nizi International after 17 years with the commodity trader, Fastmarkets has learned.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower during low-volume morning trading on Monday February 4, shrugging off the downward trend in LME inventories.

Nyrstar is unlikely to have made a profit in the fourth quarter last year, according to details released by the company on Friday February 1.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed this morning, Monday February 4, with copper down by 0.4% at $6,116 per tonne and zinc leading on the upside with a 0.6% gain. Aluminium, nickel and lead were all up by 0.2% and tin was little changed.

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday February 1 that are worth another look.

Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) dropped further at the end of January, with smelters in China breaking away from the quarterly procurement price floor amid an outlook for a tightening in supply later this year.

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Friday February 1, with most futures prices ending the week higher amid continued weakness in the US dollar index and LME stock drawdowns.

The London Metal Exchange has outlined the terms in which it will conduct its electronic price discovery trial of nickel, introducing a trade-at-settlement (TAS) functionality and setting out a scheduled start date of March 18, the exchange said in a notice to members on Friday February 1.

The price of copper on the Comex exchange in the United States edged lower in the final session of trading on Friday February 1, with the market awaiting further news on US-China trade talks.

First Quantum Minerals has resumed copper production at its Las Cruces mill in Spain after a land slippage last week, by processing lower-grade stockpiled ore.

Chilean copper producer Codelco has reached an agreement with the workers’ unions representing its Chuquicamata and Gabriela Mistral divisions, the miner said on Thursday January 31.

Copper and zinc stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses were up week on week on Friday February 1 despite thin trading ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, while other base metals stocks were little changed.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange consolidated lower during morning trading on Friday February 1, hampered by weaker-than-expected Chinese PMI data and while the Chinese New Year holiday next week kept Asian markets idle.

Copper stocks at Shanghai-bonded warehouses rose again in January after sustained losses in the import arbitrage between London and Shanghai, while a relatively bullish outlook on Chinese zinc demand after the Lunar New Year holiday led to an uptick in shipments of zinc cargoes into the bonded zone.

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Friday February 1 *

A summary of Glencore’s production results for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as its production guidance for 2019.

Further weakness in China’s Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), that fell to 48.3 in January from 49.7 in the prior month, was enough to dent confidence in the base metals market this morning, Friday February 1, with prices for the most part weaker as a result.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed within narrow ranges during Asian morning trading on Friday February 1, the last trading day ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays on February 4-10.