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Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up across the board during Asian morning trading on Thursday, reversing the previous day’s losses on a weaker dollar and easing trade tensions.
Check Fastmarkets MB’s live futures report here.
Nickel premiums in China, the United States and Europe remained unchanged over the week amid limited activity, an unstable import window in Shanghai and participants’ absence from the market.
The tin premium in Europe remains at a 21-month high amid continued uncertainty over Indonesian supply, while thin spot activity and a closed import arbitrage window kept premiums firm in the United States and China.
A global shortage of refined copper and an improved macroeconomic backdrop are likely to boost copper prices in the first quarter of 2019, according to Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners’ head of metal and mine research, Xiaohong Wang.
South African miners will continue to need road transportation to get their material to port, according to Thembalani Gantsho, joint chief executive officer of Kudumane Manganese Resources.
Manganese alloy smelters are under pressure to scale back production due to the smaller margins achieved on suppressed alloy prices, Ferroglobe chief executive officer Pedro Larrea said during Fastmarkets’ International Ferro-alloys Conference in Lisbon.
Manganese ore prices are overheated compared with production costs and manganese alloy prices, making them prone to a decline next year, panelists said at Fastmarkets’ 34th International Ferro-alloys conference in Lisbon this week.