ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 13/12: Lead, zinc rise as LME base metals mixed; Glencore to restart Lady Loretta zinc mine in 2018; EV revolution said a ‘disruptive force’ to metals

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday December 13.

Lead and zinc closed in positive territory on Tuesday December 12, a mixed day for London Metal Exchange base metals despite news that Glencore will restart its Lady Loretta mine. Read more in our live futures report.

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

Glencore will add 100,000 tonnes of zinc to the market when it restarts its mothballed Lady Loretta mine in the first half of next year, the company said on December 12, bringing material back after a two-year pause.

The rise of electric vehicles will be a “disruptive force” to the metals industry, with higher prices required to incentivize a supply-side response and the next generation of mine products, according to Glencore chief executive officer Ivan Glasenberg.

Chile’s Empresa Nacional de Mineria has suspended operations at its Paipote copper smelter in the country’s Atacama region after workers took strike action, the state-owned company said on Tuesday.

The United States posted further gains in imports and exports of brass mill products during October, fueled by the automotive and construction industries, according to the Copper & Brass Fabricators Council.

The American Iron and Steel Institute expects US President Donald Trump’s administration to turn in a key report on its Section 232 investigation into steel imports by the January 16, 2018, deadline.

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