ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 05/10: Aluminium leads drop in LME base metals prices; Alunorte suspension drives alumina prices up; Concord enters supply deal with Century

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday October 4, with the three-month aluminium price logging the biggest percentage decline due to headwinds from a strong US dollar index. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

The suspension of alumina production at Hydro’s Alunorte facility has caused alumina prices to rebound, with the market wary of the Brazilian government’s next moves.

Concord Resources, which acquired a minority stake in New Day Aluminum Holdings earlier this week, has entered into a deal with Century Aluminum Co to supply its smelters with alumina produced at the Gramercy, Louisiana, refinery in the United States.

The chief executive officer of Vital Materials, one of China’s largest minor metals producers, told Fastmarkets in an interview that the organizational structure of the company is key to its continued success.

Meanwhile, Vital has acquired a high-performance sputtering targets production facility from German technology group Heraeus. The facility, located in Tuas, Singapore, will be integrated into Vitals’ thin-film material business unit.

The Eurozone purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.2 in September, with global trade concerns pushing confidence down to a nearly three-year low.

Swiss trading house Helvetia Resources will start commissioning three furnaces at its Karaganda ferro-silicon plant in Kazakhstan by the end of this year.