EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 10/04: SHFE copper prices jump; Codelco reaches wage deal at Chuquicamata; Stefan Boel to leave Aurubis

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday April 10.

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange strengthened during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, after a further cooling in trade tensions between the United States and China led to increased buying interest among investors.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.55am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 6,896.50 66.5
Aluminium 2,148.50 9.5
Lead 2,382.50 -2.5
Zinc 3,242.50 31.5
Tin 21,215 35
Nickel 13,550 115

SHFE snapshot at 10.55am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne)  Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper  51,020 410
Aluminium 14,360 90
Zinc 24,505 150
Lead 18,445 -110
Tin  144,740 -10
Nickel  101,330 1,700

Codelco’s Chuquicamata division has reached an agreement with its supervisors’ union for a new labor contract, the Chilean copper producer announced on Monday.

Stefan Boel, executive board member at Aurubis, will leave the German copper smelter-manufacturer on July 31.

A wave of labor negotiations at several of the world’s leading copper mines is taking place this year and could have a significant impact to the global copper supply and prices.

Sanctions levied by the US Department of the Treasury last week against UC Rusal are expected to change the flow of aluminium supply in the US, as buyers and sellers are grappling with what the absence of Russian supply will mean for the market.

Chinese tungsten concentrate prices came under pressure last week because of weak buying interest, with exporters of ammonium paratungstate and ferro-tungsten adjusting their offers downward.

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