Trade groups representing different segments of the aluminium industry appealed to the incoming United States presidential administration to take contrary actions on the Section 232 aluminium tariffs.

Buyers have started withdrawing from the spot market in key importer Vietnam in the week to Friday January 15 due to growing sentiment of a price downtrend, market sources told Fastmarkets.

The London Metal Exchange base metals failed to hold on to the excitement from US President-elect Joe Biden’s speech overnight, with zinc and nickel the hardest hit and copper once again falling below $8,000 per tonne on Friday January 15 and most of complex trading in negative territory.

The base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mainly weaker this morning, Friday January 15, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly firmer in line with the stronger Chinese fundamentals.

Annual zinc ingot supply contracts in Northern Europe and Italy have been negotiated for 2021 at markedly lower premiums than in previous years.

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States have reached their highest level in at least 60 years, Fastmarkets has learned.

Mills in Bangladesh purchased three bulk cargoes in the last week, with prices easing gently, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday January 14.

Rio Tinto’s New Zealand Aluminium Smelter (NZAS) in Tiwai Point will continue to operate until December 31, 2024 after reaching an electricity agreement with Meridian Energy, the producer said on Wednesday January 13.

The base metals on the London Metal Exchange and on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed this morning, Thursday January 14, with prices generally holding up in high ground but some weakness is showing up on the charts in the likes of zinc.

Russia’s agriculture ministry has proposed a €20/mt increase from March on a planned wheat export duty as the government...