ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 06/07: Macroeconomic uncertainty drives sell-off in LME base metals; Ball Corp to shut Cuiabá, Brazil, beverage packaging plant; Gécamines implements new corporate structure

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday July 5, pressured by macroeconomic uncertainty amid continued sell-offs in copper, zinc and tin prices. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Metals packager Ball Corp plans to cease production at its beverage packaging plant in Cuiabá, Brazil.

DRC miner Gécamines has rolled out a new corporate structure, implementing a more decentralized organization and a drive to promote a new generation of younger managers.

Former Trafigura base metals trader Ben Thomson joined Viant Commodities as of last month to look after the company’s European business, Metal Bulletin has learned.
 
Italian steelmaker Marcegaglia has completed the divestment of its tube and pipe operations in the United States by selling its galvanized tube production plant in Munhall, Pennsylvania, to Synalloy.

Baowu Steel, China’s largest steelmaker, is adding 4.03 million tonnes to its hot metal capacity and 3.61 million tonnes to crude steel capacity at its Zhanjiang city production site in Guangdong province.

Export pig iron prices from the Black Sea have risen this week, with Italian buyers accepting higher prices after a long silence in the market.

GFG Alliance, the parent company of international metals group Liberty House, has acquired the 800,000-tonne-per-year freehold and cargo-handling services of Bird Port in Newport, South Wales, in the United Kingdom.