EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 16/01: Rio Tinto Q4 production results; Felipe Williams joins Sterlite Copper; European APT prices climb

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Shanghai, as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Tuesday January 16.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly lower during Asian morning trading on Tuesday, with only tin prices in positive territory.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.28am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne) Change since previous session’s close ($)
Copper 7,188 -22
Aluminium 2,213 -14
Lead 2,563 -24
Zinc 3,396 -27
Tin 20,305 5
Nickel 12,600 -230

SHFE snapshot at 11.28am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne) Change since previous session’s close (yuan)
Copper (March) 54,610 -380
Aluminium (February) 14,785 -255
Zinc (March) 26,085 -275
Lead (February) 19,010 -175
Tin  (May) 145,000 160
Nickel  (May) 98,160 -2,050

Rio Tinto has released its fourth-quarter production results for the three months ended December 31. Click here to see a summary of these results.

Vedanta subsidiary Sterlite Copper has hired Felipe Williams as director of business development to be based in the Chilean capital of Santiago, Metal Bulletin understands.

The Brazilian steel institute, Aço Brasil, was “surprised” when the country’s finance ministry accepted that the adoption of anti-dumping tariffs against imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from China and Russia would be “detrimental” to the national industrial chain.

Spot prices for ammonium paratungstate (APT) climbed last week in Europe, buoyed by tightening availability of the material and strong downstream demand, as the market considered the effects of Xiamen Tungsten being temporarily denied its export license.

Russian producers have significantly increased their prices for hot- and cold-rolled steel sheet from January production for domestic buyers, amid favorable export market sentiment.

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