ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 13/12: LME base metals drift lower; Thailand’s Padaeng exits zinc distribution business; Greece holds emergency talks aimed at saving Larco

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange had mostly drifted lower by the close on Wednesday December 12 but were confined to tight ranges throughout what was an unexceptional trading day. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

A historic backwardation in zinc forward prices had its first major casualty, with Thailand’s foremost zinc distributor Padaeng set to close that part of its business as a result.

The government of Greece has held emergency meetings to keep state-owned ferro-nickel company Larco in production.

KME, a major European copper alloy producer, has received approval from the European Commission to acquire counterpart Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing (MKM) after five months of investigation over competition concerns, the EC said on December 11.

Glencore has flagged customer non-performance on some of its cobalt sales in the second half of the year – a time when hydroxide supplies have ramped up and realized prices for metal, sulfate and intermediates have fallen.

Aluminium scrap exports from the United States surged to a four-year high in October after global buyers took advantage of soaring supply volumes and rock-bottom prices in the domestic market.