ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 02/05: LME base metals hit by stronger dollar; spot zinc TCs steady; Chinese FeV exporters raise offer prices

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday May 2.

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were split at the close of trading on Tuesday May 1, with copper, zinc and lead ending the day lower due to pressure from a stronger dollar index. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at Tuesday’s close:

Spot zinc concentrate treatment charges basis cif to major East Asian ports remained flat while lead concentrate terms declined marginally in April.

Chinese ferro-vanadium exporters increased their offer prices in the week ended April 27 amid recovering prices in Europe, while US ferro-vanadium prices stagnated due to inactivity in the spot market. Read more in our Global Vanadium Wrap.

The 250,000-tonne-per-year pipe mill of United Arab Emirates-based Conares Steel started production on April 29, chief executive officer Bharat Bhatia told Metal Bulletin.

Prices for domestic steel rebar and imported steel billet in the United Arab Emirates decreased this week on poor demand, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Flat steel import prices in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia remained unchanged this week due to limited demand, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Holidays in Turkey and across much of Europe for the traditional May 1 Labor Day resulted in no change in prices for Turkish imports of deep-sea scrap from European and US suppliers, sources said.

What to read next
Own-sourced copper output from Glencore’s African copper assets — KCC and Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo — surged by 68% year on year to 67,900 tonnes over the same period, while Glencore’s cobalt production fell by 39% year on year amid the DRC’s export quota system.
Copper’s long-term outlook is constrained by the industry’s limited ability to bring new supply online fast enough to meet rising demand, with permitting delays, higher capital costs and policy risks slowing project development, industry executives said at the FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday April 22.
Capital is flowing back into junior mining, but selectively. Investment is increasingly favouring development‑stage assets with clearer paths to production, supported by government funding and strategic partnerships. While demand for critical minerals underpins the cycle, early‑stage explorers continue to struggle for capital as investors prioritise discipline, ESG alignment and near‑term cash flow.
Copper in concentrate production from Ivanhoe Mines' Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fell to 61,906 tonnes in the first quarter, down by 54% from 133,120 tonnes a year earlier, with the company now evaluating local third-party concentrate purchases to advance the ramp-up of its on-site smelter, according to an April 13 production release as the market focused its attention on the impact of global sulfuric acid shortages during CESCO Week in Chile from April 13-17.
China's planned sulfuric acid export ban from May 1, historic lows for copper concentrates treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and a fragmenting 2026 benchmark system dominated CESCO Week 2026 in Santiago from April 13-17.
The proposal would align the index more closely with physically traded volumes in the region, and enable it to adjust to evolving market conditions. This proposal follows an observed widening of the spread between trader and smelter purchase components of the index and is aligned with a majority of market feedback. Additionally, Fastmarkets seeks feedback […]