Copper's versatile applications and robust demand shape a complex global market outlook for 2024, with stable prices in the US, a mild recovery in China, and weak conditions in Europe, while Q4 forecasts suggest upward price pressure.

Market participants shared insight into the market dynamics for copper, nickel, zinc, lead and tin during LME Week, which ran September 30-October 4

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the methodology for its audited non-ferrous price assessments and indices, as part of its announced annual methodology review process.

Freeport-McMoRan is in the process of ramping up its new copper smelter in Gresik, Indonesia, in a move that has seen the company switch away from being a marketer of concentrates as it becomes a fully integrated producer in the country, the company's chief executive officer Kathleen Quirk told Fastmarkets in an interview during the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2024.

Long-term demand trends in the copper sector may reduce cyclical price moves driven by short term factors impacting sentiment, Freeport-McMoRan's chief executive officer Kathleen Quirk told Fastmarkets in an interview during the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2024.

Chilean copper producer Codelco has not yet concluded negotiations for its 2025 premium offer to European customers but remains optimistic that the recent stimulus in China will provide a further boost to demand, the company’s chairman told Fastmarkets.

The copper concentrates market was suffering from a dislocation that would probably lead to smelting cuts, the chairman of Chilean state-owned producer Codelco has said.

New mining frontiers were emerging but, ahead of the London Metal Exchange’s LME Week event, industry executives have warned of a supply squeeze, with regulatory hurdles and the costs of being ‘green’ hindering the production of copper and other critical minerals

German copper producer Aurubis is maintaining a premium of $228 per tonne FCA for 2025 for its European clients, Aurubis has confirmed to Fastmarkets.

Critical metal refiner Nth Cycle became the first company in the US to produce premium nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) this week, when it began commercial-scale operations on Monday September 9