ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 26/07: Nickel, tin lead pack in LME trading; Escondida union vote set for July 28; Freeport in early labor talks at Cerro Verde

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday July 26.

Nickel and tin led the pack in trading among base metals, with the rest of the complex demonstrating minimal movements on Wednesday July 25. Read more here in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Members of the main union at the Escondida copper mine in Chile are holding meetings to counter BHP’s latest contract offer, and the union will officially vote on July 28 on whether to accept the deal or strike.

Early negotiations are under way on a labor contract at the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, the country’s largest copper operation, according to majority owner Freeport-McMoRan. 

Freeport-McMoRan increasedits copper production by 13.4% in the first half of the year, led by major output gains at Grasberg in Indonesia. Freeport also is seeking an extension of its Indonesian subsidiary’s temporary special license that would allow it to remain in effect until all definitive agreements on its mining rights in the country are complete. 

Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest will decrease its pig iron shipment volumes because of planned increases to steel production once a new continuous casting machine starts up at its Ilyich Steel mill in Mariupol.

Prices of domestic hollow steel sections made in Europe remained flat this week but the preliminary decision made in the European Union’s safeguard case could push up prices soon.

Finally, Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe have gone up slightly over the past week, supported by the effects of the preliminary decision in the EU safeguard case.

What to read next
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Participants in the copper concentrates market are struggling to comprehend an “unstoppable” decline in treatment and refinement charges (TC/RCs), with every week bringing spot deals at fresh lows and rumors each “crazier” than the last, sources have told Fastmarkets
The US Department of Energy selected five base metals projects to receive more than $900 million in federal investment from its Industrial Demonstration Program (IDP), leading to a reduction of four million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to a statement by the Department on Monday March 25
Aluminium producer and recycler Constellium announced on Tuesday March 12 that the company is moving to test hydrogen utilization at an industrial scale as a power source in its casthouses
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-ALU-0002 alumina index, fob Australia and its MB-ALU-0010 alumina inferred index, fob Brazil, which were published incorrectly on Monday March 18.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ US base metals prices were published early during the week of March 11-15 following the daylight saving time change in the US on March 10.