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

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday December 19.

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.

What to read next
The US is launching its first Strategic Minerals Reserve at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, designed as a platform for storage, refining and recycling to strengthen supply chain security.
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-AL-0346 Aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam, $/tonne that was published incorrectly on Tuesday August 19.
The US is confronting a copper supply shortfall, but one company believes that it already holds the key to unlocking hundreds of thousands of tonnes of refined copper – right here, right now.
When the US opted not to impose Section 232 tariffs on copper cathode imports last month, the market breathed a sigh of relief.
The publication of the affected price was delayed for 29 minutes. The following assessment was published late: MB-ZN-0110 Zinc spot concentrate TC, cif China, $/per tonne This price is a part of the Fastmarkets Base Metals Physical Prices package. For more information or to provide feedback on the delayed publication of this price or if you […]
The publication of Fastmarkets’ price assessments of the base metals arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel for Friday August 1 were delayed due to reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.