ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 29/11: LME metals move higher; Koç Metalurji to halt production in January for maintenance; Techint CEO still working during Argentinian bribery case investigation

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday November 29.

Base metal prices were resurgent on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday November 28, with prices for the entire complex closing higher compared with the previous day. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

Turkish long steel producer Koç Metalurji intends to halt steel production to allow maintenance work during the first month of 2019, a mill source told Fastmarkets on Wednesday.

Techint chief executive officer Paolo Rocca continues to work as usual despite being included in an investigation in Argentina into alleged payments made by the company to government officials in 2008, the steel group’s Ternium and Tenaris subsidiaries said.

European prices for mesh-quality wire rod were flat across the northern and southern parts of the continent on Wednesday, with consumer buying firmly limited to small, near-term business.

Steelmakers in Ukraine were continuing operations and shipments as normal on Wednesday despite the country imposing martial law at 9am local time after the latest military clash with Russia.

Turkish steel producers have continued to hold back from the deep-sea scrap market and were not expected to resume purchasing activity any time soon, sources said on Wednesday.

Iranian exporters of semi-finished steel products, billet in particular, have come under pressure from the increasing presence of Chinese suppliers in the global market.

Yvonne Li