EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 14/06: SHFE base metals prices largely up; Tharisa acquires stake in Karo Mining Holding; smelter restarts drive US alumina imports up

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday June 14.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with nickel climbing more than 2% on strong buying interest, while lead was the sole metal in negative territory.

The most-traded September nickel contract price on the SHFE jumped to 117,040 yuan ($18,276) per tonne as at 10.14am Shanghai time, up 2,320 yuan per tonne from Wednesday’s close.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.12am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price
($ per tonne)
 Change since Wednesday’s close ($)
Copper 7,212 -45
Aluminium 2,277.50 2.5
Lead 2,473.50 -11.5
Zinc 3,199 -17
Tin 20,870 -5
Nickel 15,595 -30

SHFE snapshot at 10.14am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price
(yuan per tonne)
 Change since Wednesday’s close (yuan)
Copper  53,790 260
Aluminium 14,705 35
Zinc 24,345 75
Lead 20,330 -175
Tin  147,890 390
Nickel  117,040 2,320

Tharisa has acquired a 26.8% stake in Karo Mining Holding, a platinum group metals (PGM) and base metals project in Zimbabwe, for $4.5 million, the South African chrome miner has announced.

The United States boosted its consumption of alumina significantly in the first quarter of 2018, attributed to the restart of primary aluminium smelting capacity in the country.

US mills have filed duty-circumvention cases versus Vietnamese cold-rolled and coated flat-rolled steel made from South Korean substrate.

China’s crude steel and finished steel output both rose year on year in May, helped by higher prices and improved producer margins.

China’s coke futures surged ahead during morning trading on Thursday, while finished steel and iron ore contracts saw only minimal fluctuations.