The base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly lower during Asian morning trading on Friday. Zinc and sister metal lead bucked the general weakness, however, albeit with marginal gains.
Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.
| LME snapshot at 02.02am London time | ||
| Latest three-month LME Prices | ||
| Price ($ per tonne) | Change since yesterday’s close ($) | |
| Copper | 6,908 | -12 |
| Aluminium | 2,087 | 2 |
| Lead | 2,401 | -9 |
| Zinc | 3,227 | -8 |
| Tin | 20,990 | -35 |
| Nickel | 13,585 | -45 |
| SHFE snapshot at 10.02am Shanghai time | ||
| Most-traded SHFE contracts | ||
| Price (yuan per tonne) | Change since yesterday’s close (yuan) | |
| Copper (May) | 51,890 | -230 |
| Aluminium (May) | 13,975 | -20 |
| Zinc (May) | 24,895 | 35 |
| Lead (May) | 18,520 | 60 |
| Tin (May) | 144,440 | -470 |
| Nickel (July) | 102,910 | -910 |
The impact of the 10% aluminium tariff signed into law by US President Donald Trump on March 8 is already being felt on prices and premiums worldwide, and is affecting aluminium flows globally.
The prospect of a grand bargain between the European Union, the United States and Japan involving action to reduce steel and aluminium overproduction while abiding by global trading laws has been raised.
Wire rod prices have gone up in the US since domestic mills raised prices by $50 per ton ($2.50 per hundredweight), but the timing and full effect of that increase is still uncertain, market participants said.
The copper scrap market in the US is beginning to show signs of a renewed supply and demand equilibrium, propelled largely by aggressive offshore demand that has helped whittle down the supply accumulation witnessed in the fourth quarter.