EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 03/01: SHFE zinc higher while copper falls; Higher Indonesian Ni ore exports to de-bottleneck supply; US aluminium premium starts 2018 steady

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Wednesday January 3.

Zinc prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) were well supported by falling overseas stock levels in Asian morning trading on Wednesday January 3, while copper pared overnight gains.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 0202 London time
Latest 3M  LME Prices
  Price ($/t)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 7200

-16.5

Aluminium

2256

-9

Lead

2558.5

0.5

Zinc

3339

-8

Tin

19920

85

Nickel

12570

-85

SHFE snapshot at 0202 Shanghai time
Most traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan/t)  Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (Feb) 54910

-340

Aluminium (Feb)

15080

5

Zinc (Feb)

25930

80

Lead (Feb)

19360

340

Tin (May)

144940

-1000

Nickel (May)

98900

-270

See here for the latest global ferro-alloy price list as reported by American Metal Market and Metal Bulletin price reporters.

Indonesia had awarded quotas for 20.4 million tonnes of nickel ore exports by November 2017 after its export ban was relaxed at the start of the year, but Chinese customs data shows that only a small proportion of the ore was shipped to China, its biggest consumer.

The US Midwest aluminium premium has remained flat this week, with market participants saying that high prices on the London Metal Exchange are keeping buyers on the sidelines in the short term.

Commercial Metals Company’s acquisition of four Gerdau reinforcing bar mills will give the steelmaker a dominant position in the US market, industry analysts said.

Click here for a summary of base metals premiums across the globe for the week to Tuesday January 2.