EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 10/12: SHFE zinc leads the complex down; US Treasury moves Rusal deadline to Jan 21; Nov Cu blister copper RC drops

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB’s offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Monday December 10.

All base metals prices, barring that of aluminium, on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell during Asian morning trading on Monday December 10 amid disappointing economic data out of China.

Check Fastmarkets MB’s live futures report here.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the expiration of general licenses related to the UC Rusal sanctions to January 21 from January 7.

Click here for trade log for cobalt sulfate in China including transactions, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets MB.

Refining charges(RC) for blister copper imported into China dropped for the fifth consecutive month amid uncertainty over overseas supply and lower spot interest during annual negotiations.

Having witnessing a decline since mid-November due to producers’ book-squaring needs in the run up to the end of year, Chinese cobalt sulfate prices posted a modest rebound ahead of the weekend last week after an earlier sell-off in the spot market dried up.

The United States Treasury must maintain its sanctions on companies associated with Oleg Deripaska until he relinquishes control of both EN+ and Rusal and receives no benefit from them, a senior US senator said.