Reuben Brothers is in advanced discussions to sell a majority stake in metals warehouse company, Metro International Trade Services, to Yunnan Jiu Tian Investment Holdings Group, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Some strength emerged in the three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Monday July 9, with all of the metals posting gains that averaged 1% as at 7.06am London time.

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday July 9.

Base metals, with the exception of lead, were all up on the Shanghai Futures Exchange during Asian morning trading on Monday July 9, with copper leading a corrective rally after weeks of selling.

Correspondent Dalton Barker recaps the week in the non-ferrous markets.

After a two-year period of super-fast growth, the expansion of London Metal Exchange warehouses in Asia slowed significantly over the past year. But what lies behind the change - especially as LME storage space in Europe has also continued to dwindle?

Global steel scrap prices softened in the week ended Friday July 6, amid a fall in demand across most regions. Turkey booked no new deep-sea cargoes and the Indian market was also quiet, while prices on the East Coast of the United States remained flat due to a lack of deals.

Steel slab prices in July will be relatively stable in Brazil thanks to steady fundamentals, and will hold up in Asia despite soft demand, market participants told Metal Bulletin on Friday July 6.

The European Commission (EC) told EU member states on Thursday July 5 of its intention to introduce provisional safeguard measures on steel imports in the form of a tariff rate quota (TRQ).

Due to a data error, Metal Bulletin’s spot premium assessment for Shanghai in-warehouse copper ER cathodes was published incorrectly on Monday June 11.