The CME is open to adding other contracts to its industrial metal portfolio, global head of metals products Young-Jin Chang said in an interview during LME Week in London.

If “challenging” was the word that many metals market participants used to summarise 2016 at the start of LME Week, they might be ending the week on a slightly more optimistic note.

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Sentiment is bullish for the copper market for the coming year amid possible supply strain from the mining side and higher-than-expected demand from China, while expectations for lower processing fees for copper concentrate are growing.

Copper prices are expected to average $2.15 per lb (about $4,739 per tonne) this year and $2.20 per lb next year, with the red metal unlikely to return to super cycle highs, according to the mining minister of Chile.

Freeport-McMoRan expects lower contractual treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for copper concentrates next year, reflecting the company’s expectation that an unexpectedly strong period for mined copper production may soon end, senior vp of sales and marketing Javier Targhetta told Metal Bulletin.

Here comes the third instalment of Geoffrey Sambrook's fictional trading tale.

Copper and nickel are expected to be the bull markets for 2017 despite their comparatively poor year-to-date performances, delegates said at Macquarie Research's LME Week Base Metals Outlook Seminar.

The London Metal Exchange needs to boost liquidity by further reducing its trading fees, fight back against over-regulation and ensure its own rules don’t disadvantage market users, particularly in the area of high frequency trading, the co-founder of Red Kite Group said.

Copper cathode producers and buyers are discussing more alternative options for next year’s long-term contracts after contractual volumes sold during the past two years have shrunk, market participants told Metal Bulletin.