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EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 23/11: SHFE nickel strengthens; Zhuzhou Smelter’s new zinc project; midweek noble alloys prices

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Shanghai, as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday November 23.

November 23, 2017
By Generic people page
Base metals Copper

Nickel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange pushed higher during Asian morning trading on Thursday, broadly supported by the metal’s strong underlying fundamentals.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 02:32am London time
Latest three-month  LME Prices
  Price
($ per tonne)		  Change since yesterday’s close
($)
Copper 6,936 -18
Aluminium 2,100 -7
Lead 2,439 -24
Zinc 3,235 7.5
Tin 19,415 –
Nickel 11,910 70

SHFE snapshot at 10:33am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price
(yuan per tonne)		  Change since yesterday’s close
(yuan)
Copper  53,950 -160
Aluminium 15,030 35
Zinc 25,675 -5
Lead 18,575 -380
Tin  142,530 -220
Nickel  95,910 900

Zhuzhou Smelter, China’s largest zinc smelter, plans to build a new zinc smelting project with 300,000 tonnes per year of capacity, the company announced on November 20.

The US copper market noted some optimism for the first time in several months, with market participants at the American Copper Council’s autumn meeting noting some upward pressure on premiums due to rising freight and borrowing costs.

Ferro-titanium and titanium scrap prices have risen amid firm and consistent demand, see the key data from the November 22 pricing session in Lisbon, Portugal.

Spot ferro-tungsten prices outperformed the rest of the noble alloys in the first half of the week, drawing strength from thinning supplies and firm Chinese prices.

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