ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 19/09: Copper prices rise on LME, Comex; Russia’s Industrial Metallurgical Holding starts rebar production at Tula Steel; Brazil flat steel producers announce October price hike

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday September 19.

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange closed 2% higher on Tuesday September 18, with the base metals complex shrugging off the escalating trade dispute between the United States and China. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Comex copper prices rebounded in morning trading in the US even after President Donald Trump applied more tariffs on Chinese goods, further raising tensions between the two nations.

Russia’s Industrial Metallurgical Holding began producing steel rebar at its new Tula-Steel subsidiary facility last week.

Brazilian flat steel producers have announced another price increase to be imposed on distributors and industrial clients in October and are also negotiating price increases for annual contracts with automakers, according to national flat steel association Inda.

European domestic stainless steel prices are likely to stabilize as the European Union safeguard quota for stainless steel imports is taken up, according to Roeland Baan, chief executive officer of Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu.

Brazilian flat steel sales volumes declined by 0.8% year on year in August due to the weak performance of the country’s economy, according to national flat steel association Inda.

Most flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been stable over the past week, although demand increased slightly in the United Arab Emirates, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Physical iron ore was trading at higher prices, following on from a much stronger performance in the paper market.

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