Base metals prices diverged on the London Metal Exchange at the close of trading on Tuesday April 3, with copper rising but aluminium dropping below $2,000 per tonne for the first time since August 2017. Read more in our live futures report.
Here are how prices finished Wednesday afternoon.
Comex copper prices sustained momentum in the United States in morning trade, with the fundamental outlook optimistic for the remainder of the year.
China’s 10-largest copper smelters have set the base level for their treatment and refining charges for the second quarter of this year 10.3% lower than in the first quarter, Metal Bulletin has heard.
Also in base metals, nickel industry veteran Andy Otto has joined Stratton Metals Ltd as a senior trader.
In the steel market, an attempt by commodities conglomerate Vedanta Resources to acquire bankrupt Indian pipe producer Electrosteel Steels has been delayed after a challenge from another steelmaker, industry sources told Metal Bulletin.
Additionally, Indian steelmaker JSW and commodities conglomerate Vedanta Resources have launched competing bids to acquire insolvent steelmaker Essar Steel India, sources told Metal Bulletin.
The purchasing managers’ index for the Eurozone manufacturing sector fell to an eight-month low due to a slowdown in growth across all nations, according to data organization IHS Markit.
In raw materials, Australian miner Admiralty Resources will invest around $70 million to develop the Mariposa iron ore project in Chile’s northern Atacama region now that approval has been granted by national environmental agency SEA.
Meanwhile, Turkish domestic scrap prices have fallen over the past week amid weakening imported scrap prices.
