EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 05/01: SHFE copper retreats; Tailings dam collapses; Strike at Enami’s copper smelter in Chile

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia, bringing the key news and market stories on Friday January 5.

January 5, 2018

By Ellie Wang

SHFE copper prices retreated in Asian morning trading on Friday January 5 after surging in the previous afternoon’s session, as the market awaits US payroll numbers due out tonight.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 0232 London time
Latest 3M LME Prices
	Price ($/t)	Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper	7206	20.5
Aluminium	2249	3.5
Lead	2573.5	2.5
Zinc	3356	0.5
Tin	19915	40
Nickel	12600	-40

SHFE snapshot at 0232 Shanghai time
Most traded SHFE contracts
	Price (yuan/t)	Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (Feb)	54890	-290
Aluminium (Feb)	15065	15
Zinc (Feb)	25965	-15
Lead (Feb)	19410	5
Tin (May)	144850	-460
Nickel (May)	98910	-270

Hernic Ferrochrome has suffered a tailings dam collapse as it prepares to start hosting site visits for prospective buyers, market sources told Metal Bulletin.

Brazilian ferrous scrap export volumes fell by 3.64% in 2017, according to figures released by national foreign trade ministry MDIC on Thursday January 4.

Striking workers at Empresa Nacional de Mineria’s (Enami’s) copper smelter in Chile are expected to vote on a new contract offer from the company this week, Metal Bulletin understands.

Brazilian flat steel import volumes nearly doubled year on year in 2017, mostly because of increased shipment volumes of heavy plate, cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG).