ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 04/01: Lead, tin defy trend as base metals drift lower on LME; Glencore facility restart to add 100,000T of zinc to market; Lomas Bayas mine begins government-mediated talks with union

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

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close on Wednesday January 3, with lead and tin the only metals to finish the day in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the end of the day on Wednesday.

Glencore said it will add 100,000 tonnes of zinc, or roughly 200,000-220,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates, to the market in 2018 via a facility restart.

Meanwhile, Glencore’s Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile has begun government-mediated talks with its labor union after workers rejected the company’s latest contract offer.

US steel product import volumes fell by more than 10% month on month and year on year in December, marking the second month of significant volume declines.

US stainless steel scrap prices, have started the year with a move higher due to a rise in nickel prices on the LME.

Steelmaker Nucor Corp has raised its prices for steel sheet products by $40 per ton ($2 per hundredweight) effective immediately, exceeding the price increases imposed by US mills on the West Coast.

Argentina’s ArcelorMittal Acindar has appointed Marcelo Marino Pena Luz as its new chief executive officer, the company said Tuesday. He replaces José Ignacio Giraudo in the position.

What to read next
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.
How much Canadian aluminium is being diverted from the US to Europe, when will it arrive and what impact will it have on premiums? The market appears to be split, but that could all change at the end of June, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday April 17.
Tariffs are creating a short-term period of volatility, but are not shifting conviction on the long-term fundamentals of the copper market, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Copper has said
Producers of copper appear to be adopting the public mantra of “keep calm and carry on” while trade tensions escalate. But this belies an underlying mood of concern that not just they, but the wider industry, has assumed
How tariffs, economic uncertainty and innovation are shaping the future of US copper production
Read special correspondent Andrea Hotter's coverage from CESCO Week 2025 and learn more about the growing demand for copper