Aluminium crossed the $2,200-per-tonne mark and copper continued to extend its bullish rally on the London Metal Exchange during morning trading on Thursday February 25, with a softer US Dollar Index supporting higher prices in the complex.

Apart from nickel on the London Metal Exchange, the rest of the base metals on both the LME and Shanghai Futures Exchange were once again stronger this morning, Thursday February 25.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have risen yet again to an all-time high after buyers perceived that the tight availability of spot material likely will not loosen up before domestic mills begin a series of maintenance outages.

For a fourth trading day in a row, copper’s three-month price on the London metal Exchange rose to a new year-to-date high on Tuesday February 23, while the rest of the base metals traded slightly lower than where they were on Monday, when they all reached fresh 2021 highs.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, although copper prices on both exchanges remain strong this morning, Tuesday February 23, while tightness on the LME dominates.

Chile’s Corfo on Friday February 19 filed an arbitration process with the International Chamber of Commerce against United States-based lithium miner Albemarle for allegedly underpaying royalties on its lithium sales, Corfo confirmed to Fastmarkets on Monday February 22.

Curitiba-based Brazilian agriculture consultancy Agrural have called Brazil’s soybean harvest “the slowest in ten years” as...

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were up significantly across the board this morning, Monday February 22, with all base metals on the LME setting fresh multi- month or year highs.

Century Aluminum sees United States President Joe Biden’s reinstatement of Section 232 tariffs on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a signal of his support for the tariff program implemented by his predecessor, an interpretation shared by many in the US aluminium market.

Copper traders are starting to place bets that the metal will hit $12,000 per tonne by December but market makers say bullishly positioned options are dragging the metal's price higher sooner than that.