ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 13/12: LME base metals drift lower; Thailand’s Padaeng exits zinc distribution business; Greece holds emergency talks aimed at saving Larco

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday December 13.

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange had mostly drifted lower by the close on Wednesday December 12 but were confined to tight ranges throughout what was an unexceptional trading day. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

A historic backwardation in zinc forward prices had its first major casualty, with Thailand’s foremost zinc distributor Padaeng set to close that part of its business as a result.

The government of Greece has held emergency meetings to keep state-owned ferro-nickel company Larco in production.

KME, a major European copper alloy producer, has received approval from the European Commission to acquire counterpart Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing (MKM) after five months of investigation over competition concerns, the EC said on December 11.

Glencore has flagged customer non-performance on some of its cobalt sales in the second half of the year – a time when hydroxide supplies have ramped up and realized prices for metal, sulfate and intermediates have fallen.

Aluminium scrap exports from the United States surged to a four-year high in October after global buyers took advantage of soaring supply volumes and rock-bottom prices in the domestic market.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.