Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were down across the board this morning, Friday December 11, this after copper, zinc, nickel and tin set fresh highs for the year either on Thursday or earlier this morning.

Spot import prices for containerized ferrous scrap into Taiwan hit a historical high in the week to Friday December 11, because of delays to shipments from the United States West Coast, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

The base metals remain upbeat this morning, Wednesday December 9, with all the metals on the London Metal Exchange in positive territory on hopes that a US stimulus package may be on the way.

The base metals remain upbeat this morning, Tuesday December 8, and the underlying story remains the same, infrastructure spending, economic recovery, a mass of liquidity and the potential for more US stimulus.

The global economy looks stronger again - Chinese exports were up by 21.1% in November year on year - but the base metals were mixed on Monday December 7, having been exceptionally strong recently , so perhaps the market realizes a lot of the good news is baked in already.

China’s steel billet and slab imports in October decreased compared with September due to lower prices than other importers, although they maintained year-on-year rises.

Nearly two months after Chinese steel mills were verbally notified to halt imports of Australian coal, market participants and industry analysts tell Fastmarkets about the consequences of the ban and their predictions for its future.

The recent surge in copper prices might not lead to swathes of scrap being suddenly released into the market, as happened after a similar situation nearly a decade ago, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were once again mainly stronger this morning, Tuesday December 1, helped by strong Chinese Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data, but Shanghai Futures Exchange prices were more polarized.

A number of Chinese dealers and business entities are taking over Japanese scrapyards, or setting up scrap businesses in Japan, to secure sufficient supply of the steelmaking raw material for steel mills in China, market sources told Fastmarkets this week.