ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 19/12: LME base metals fall as dollar index rises; Glencore’s Katanga Mining to pay $22.5-mln settlement to OSC; Novolipetsk Steel to increase Lipetsk pig iron output

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday December 18, with continued strength in the US dollar index limiting price action while lead futures gained more than 2% against a backdrop of multiyear lows in LME inventories. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Glencore’s Katanga Mining Ltd will pay the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) around $22.5 million as part of a settlement over the copper-cobalt producer’s historical disclosures.

Novolipetsk Steel, Russia’s largest steelmaker, will increase pig iron output at its Lipetsk site to meet its own production needs, the company said.

French bank Natixis, information technology firm IBM and commodities trading group Trafigura have been working together for some time on a blockchain project for commodity trade finance in crude-oil transactions in the United States.

Wang Chi-wei, a former vice president of Jiangxi Copper, has officially been arrested on corruption charges, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the People’s Republic of China said.

Aqua Metals is nearing completion of the first phase of a two-stage capital improvement program, in addition to implementing a plan to begin processing a portion of hard metallic lead into lead ingots.

Flat-rolled steel sales from Brazilian distributors increased by 3% year on year in November due to a slow recovery in the steel market.