ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 24/10: LME base metals prices mixed; Comex copper hit by equities downturn; Trafigura to set up joint-venture smelter-refinery in Saudi Arabia

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday October 24.

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Tuesday October 23, with tin’s strong performance leading gains across half of the complex despite a strong US dollar index and broadly risk-averse investors. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Comex copper prices were dragged lower by a downturn in equity markets in morning trading, after beginning the week on solid footing.

Trafigura plans to set up an integrated copper, zinc and lead smelting-refining complex via a joint venture in Saudi Arabia, the commodities trading house said. 

Chilean national economic development agency Corfo, which owns the lithium-rich Salar de Atacama, has opened a dispute with US-based lithium producer Albemarle to seek an interpretation of a contract between the two parties by the International Chamber of Commerce. 

Ferro-vanadium prices continued to firm in the US and Europe last week, but both of those major markets still lag behind the price in the premium Chinese market. 

Brazil’s domestic flat steel sales volumes from distributors fell by 2.8% year on year in September, with the market losing momentum, national flat steel distributors’ association Inda said.

Brazilian steelmakers held back from further price increases in the domestic market due to falling Chinese prices and a stronger exchange rate for Brazil’s Real, Carlos Loureiro, president of national distributors’ association Inda, said.

What to read next
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.
Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.
Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Navigating market volatility with data-driven strategies for resilient mining operations
The publication of several of Fastmarkets' copper concentrates indices was delayed on Friday February 27 because of a technical error. Fastmarkets' pricing database has been updated.