ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 18/09: LME base metals prices await direction; Rusal gets OK to negotiate some contracts with existing US customers; Indonesia to become major battery-grade Ni supplier, analyst says

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday September 18.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange showed mixed movement on Monday September 17, with the complex awaiting new direction. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has said it will allow Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal to negotiate some new contracts with existing customers, provided they are “consistent with past practices.”

Indonesia will become a major source of battery-grade nickel despite a lack of nickel sulfide resources, Macquarie Capital senior commodities consultant Jim Lennon said last week.

The disparity between aluminium prices on the LME and bullish factors in the physical market were key talking points at Metal Bulletin’s 33rd Aluminium Conference in Berlin last week.

Spot market copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) were stable during early September, with smelters picking up tonnes for the fourth quarter and traders angling bets on 2019 terms in recent tenders.

Seaborne iron ore concentrate prices in China have continued to rise on limited domestic supply, while winter production restrictions have begun to affect the northeastern region of the country.

Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia were flat over the past week due to a lack of transactions, with buyers holding back from further procurement in hopes of lower offers.

Indian rerolling-grade hot-rolled coil continued to drive down prices for imports of the product sold into Vietnam.

What to read next
Asian spot copper premiums rose in the week ended Tuesday July 23, with premiums imported into China increasing on improved arbitrage terms. In the US market, supply failed to keep up with strong demand while in Europe participants were mostly off for the summer holidays
In the fourth episode of Fastmarkets critical minerals podcast Fast Forward, Freeport-McMoRan CEO and president Kathleen Quirk tells host Andrea Hotter why there's a preference to build and not build new supplies of copper right now
Demand for primary aluminium from the green transition remains a “brighter spot” for consumption amid an otherwise challenging downstream demand outlook, Eivind Kallevik, Norsk Hydro’s chief executive officer and president, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday July 23
Acquisition Company Limited (ACG) has agreed to buy the Gediktepe mine in Turkey — the company’s first deal as it works to build a sizeable mid-tier copper producer, its chairman and chief executive officer told Fastmarkets.
Copper market price speculation is driving the base metals narrative, head of research at UK-based services provider Sucden Financial Daria Efanova said during the company’s third-quarter metals webinar on Wednesday July 17.
Chinese mining giant CMOC reported a 178% year-on-year increase in cobalt metal production for the first six months of 2024, according to an announcement by the company on Friday July 12