EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 10/05: EV charging to boost copper demand; Horizonte looks to enter nickel, cobalt sulfate market; DLA nets $3 mln in April tungsten sale

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday May 10.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with copper leading the rest of the complex, except aluminium and lead, higher.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.55 am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne) Change since previous session’s close ($)
Copper 6,838 28
Aluminium 2,337 -29.5
Lead 2,290 -2
Zinc 3,091 14.5
Tin 21,135 25
Nickel 13,875 -50

SHFE snapshot at 10.55 am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne) Change since previous session’s close (yuan)
Copper (June) 51,220 350
Aluminium (June) 14,615 -15
Zinc (June) 23,780 80
Lead (June) 18,885 -65
Tin  (Sept) 145,720 320
Nickel  (July) 104,160 260

Private corporations are driving a renewed push to install the infrastructure required to charge plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), which will in turn lead to copper demand of more than 500,000 tonnes over the next decade, according to John Gartner, senior research director at Navigant Research.

Horizonte plc, which acquired the Vermelho project from Vale, is exploring whether the project can produce nickel and cobalt sulfate suitable for EV batteries, it said on Wednesday.

DLA Strategic Materials sold approximately 197,000 lbs contained of tungsten ores and concentrates and 1,291 short tons of ferro-chrome during its April offerings for the materials.

First-quarter revenue from the commodities business of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) fell 7% year on year to HK$267 million ($34 million), hurt by lower trading fees at the London Metal Exchange.

The United States’ Section 232 tariff on steel imports will help ease global steel overcapacity and boost domestic production, but it is only one step toward achieving those goals, according to industry executives.

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