ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 15/08: LME base metals broadly lower; Escondida union delays strike; MJP aluminium stocks rise

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday August 15.

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday August 15.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were broadly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday August 14, under pressure from a continued surge in the US dollar index while a tendency toward risk-aversion continued to work its way through the commodities landscape. Read more here in our live futures report.

Here is how prices looked at the close of trading:

The main union at Escondida copper mine has delayed a scheduled strike and agreed to extend talks with mine owner BHP.

Primary aluminium stocks at the three main Japanese ports (MJP) of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka rose 1.1% month on month in July, according to data from Marubeni Corp.

Australian zinc miner New Century Resources has started zinc concentrate production at its newly refurbished Century zinc mine.

Warehouse queues emerged at LME-listed sheds in July after a surge in cancellations last month, especially in the exchange’s aluminium inventory, according to LME data.
Swedish state-owned iron ore producer LKAB has restarted pellet deliveries after a fire on the railway line connecting its Kiruna mine in northern Sweden to the Norwegian port of Narvik forced deliveries to be suspended, a company spokesman told Metal Bulletin.

Turkish steel producers extended their absence from the deep-sea scrap markets while the political crisis between their country and the United States continued.

And finally, steel mills in Russia’s central region around Moscow intend to impose another increase in prices for hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheet due to the weakness of the national currency, Metal Bulletin heard.

What to read next
Copper demand in data centers is accelerating as artificial intelligence drives higher power needs, advanced cooling systems and greater infrastructure requirements. This trend highlights both the opportunities and challenges around sustainability, domestic production and global supply chains.
Fastmarkets proposes to clarify and amend some of the specifications for MB-ZN-0005 Zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US, US cents/lb; MB-PB-0006 Lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US, US cents/lb; MB-SN-0011 Tin grade A min 99.85% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US, $/tonne; MB-NI-0240 Nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US, US cents/lb; and the corresponding all-in prices for all of these including the quality, unit and location.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ MB-ALU-0002 Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonne for Monday September 8 was delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Aurubis has secured long-term access to 75,000 tonnes per year of copper-gold concentrate from Troilus Gold's Quebec project starting as early as 2028, as the German smelter responds to what it describes as an "increasingly constrained" market for clean copper concentrate.
Tristan Pascall, chief executive officer of Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals, gave an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets on Friday August 29, in which he explains why Africa is the best place to build large copper mines, and gave his opinion of the outlook for the nickel, gold and copper sectors.
Cost and availability concerns around copper have accelerated aluminium substitution in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, with aluminium now used in an estimated 40% of global units, Lionel Chapis, Norsk Hydro’s senior vice president of Hydro Precision Tubing, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday August 26.