EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 08/06: Nickel leads SHFE base metals downward; demand prospects supportive for copper; copper mine development becoming more difficult

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Singapore as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday June 8.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down across the board during Asian morning trading on Friday, with nickel prices, under pressure from the weakening buyer sentiment seen in the stainless steel sector and bouts of profit-taking, leading the decline.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 2.53am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price
($ per tonne)
 Change since Thursday’s close ($)
Copper 7,243 -4
Aluminium 2,292 7
Lead 2,487 -9
Zinc 3,153 -10
Tin 21,210 -10
Nickel 15,460 40

SHFE snapshot at 9.58am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price
(yuan per tonne)
 Change since Thursday’s close
(yuan)
Copper  53,940 -220
Aluminium 14,895 -190
Zinc 24,365 -95
Lead 20,385 -260
Tin  152,280 -1,180
Nickel  115,940 -2,070

Healthy copper demand will persist, supported by growth in emerging economies and the metal’s application in the growing electric vehicle market, according to panelists at Metal Bulletin’s fourth annual copper seminar on Wednesday.

Copper mine development is becoming increasingly difficult due to a range of factors, according to industry participants, and during a time when more supply is needed to meet a looming deficit.

China’s environmental checks to damp copper output in Jiangxi province as primary copper smelting capacities have been partly suspended, sources told Metal Bulletin on Thursday.

Assertions that cobalt could soon be eliminated altogether from electric vehicles (EVs) are simply wrong, according to the chief executive officer of First Cobalt.

The European Commission is to introduce new trade defense rules that will come into force on June 8, it said on Thursday.

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