Base metals prices were putting in a strong performance on the last trading day before the Chinese New Year holiday, with all the metals, with the exception of an already strong tin, seeing gains this morning, Wednesday February 10.

Junior miner Bacanora Lithium has signed a new joint venture agreement with offtake partner Ganfeng Lithium after the latter exercised the option to increase its stake in the Sonora lithium project to 50%, it said on February 1.

Chinese steelmakers have been actively bidding for Japanese import scrap cargoes at prices above the China domestic market level in recent days, sources have told Fastmarkets.

Start, Rio Tinto’s new digital sustainability label, uses blockchain technology to encrypt key information about the company’s aluminium, functioning like a “digital filing cabinet,” vice president of sales marketing at Rio Tinto Aluminium Tolga Egrilmezer told Fastmarkets.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mainly weaker, while those on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mainly firmer this morning, Thursday February 4, with the weaker dollar likely weighing on dollar-denominated prices.

Market fundamentals have reasserted their influence on copper pricing in the first quarter of 2021, but macro forces are expected to push and pull the red metal’s price in the near term, driving volatility.

Market participants in the aluminium industry are calling for more transparency in low-carbon aluminium pricing, following recent global initiatives to lower carbon emissions that have created greater demand for such products.

Base metals prices on both the London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, albeit with a downside bias, during morning trading on Tuesday February 2, while silver was consolidating below highs but above its recent trading range.

The American Metals Supply Chain Institute (AMSCI) is urging President Joe Biden to eliminate steel and aluminium tariffs in an effort to lower domestic costs and boost employment in the United States' metals supply chain.

Fastmarkets publishes trade logs for its key price assessments and indices to bring more transparency into the markets it covers and the pricing process it applies.