ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 14/08: LME base metals hit hard; South32 closes on Arizona Mining deal; physical cobalt prices down

With the exception of lead, base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at the close of trading on Monday August 13, hindered by widespread risk aversion amid escalating trade tensions and a tumbling Turkish lira. Read more here in our live futures report.

Here is how prices looked at the close of trading:

South32 Ltd has completed the acquisition of Arizona Mining, building further on the Perth, Australia-headquartered zinc portfolio at a time of relatively limited greenfield mine supply.

Physical cobalt prices dropped again last week with opportunities to restock with competitively-priced cobalt units from China continuing to fuel aggressive selling in Europe.

The Commonwealth of Independent States’ export billet market was quiet amid the uncertainty created by the news about the US doubling import duties for Turkish steel on Friday.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has started a safeguard investigation into flat steel imports to members of the Eurasian Economic Union, the commission said on August 7.

German steelmaker Salzgitter expects that its strip business unit will achieve higher sales in 2018 supported by the European Commission’s safeguard case, the company said on Monday August 13.