ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 04/10: LME base metals up again; Lithium market analysis explores news at forefront of contract talks; Chinese firm seeks LME Category II membership

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday October 4.

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were up again at the close of trading on Wednesday October 3, with aluminium’s three-month price gaining by more than 4% due to a full closure of Norsk Hydro’s alumina operations in Brazil although lead struggled against trade woes. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Fastmarkets MB pricing reporters and analysts provide their lithium market data insights and analysis, along with a summary of the market news likely to dominate contractual discussions, while negotiations gather pace ahead of LME Week 2018.

Chinese futures brokerage firm Nanhua Futures has taken steps to attain Category II clearing membership on the LME, with a particular focus on trading LME warrants, Fastmarkets understands.

Iran’s export prices for semifinished steel products, slab in particular, dropped during the week ended October 3 with suppliers trying to attract customers while the country faces pressure from trading sanctions imposed by the United States.

The Brazilian government has started a review of anti-dumping duties on imports of heavy plate from China, Ukraine, South Korea and South Africa.

The molybdenum oxide and alloy markets in Europe were virtually unchanged on deals reported at midweek, with last week’s small price recovery stalling during a week-long holiday in key dealer China, sources told Fastmarkets MB on Wednesday.

Largo Resources Ltd continued to reach new production heights at its Maracas Menchen Mine in the third quarter, with the company achieving record vanadium pentoxide production and vanadium recovery rates.