EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 27/04: SHFE Ali, Ni prices up on renewed sanction concerns; Vale targeting premium nickel product mix; PPS awards zinc tender at lower premium

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday April 27.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up during Asian morning trading on Friday, with only copper prices weakening.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 02.55 am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne) Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 6,935.50 -29.5
Aluminium 2,268.50 -6.5
Lead 2,336 0
Zinc 3,124.50 -10.5
Tin 21,315 -85
Nickel 14,230 -5
SHFE snapshot at 09.56 am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne) Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (June) 51,550 -40
Aluminium (June) 14,440 75
Zinc (June) 23,825 140
Lead (June) 18,240 15
Tin  (July) 147,600 840
Nickel  (September) 104,160 810

Brazilian diversified miner Vale is seeking to boost its nickel business margins by focusing on a premium product mix instead of selling high-quality products to markets that do not require such material.

Pressure from overseas buyers has continued to hold the heat on copper scrap consumers in the United States, with the competition pushing some scrap prices higher.

South Korea’s Public Procurement Service (PPS) has awarded a 1,000-tonne zinc tender at a premium of $140 per tonne, slightly lower than the premium it had awarded for another zinc tender earlier this month.

Brazilian mining company Nexa Resources has received the preliminary environmental license for its $354 million Aripuanã underground zinc-lead-copper project in Brazil.

Lead recycler Recylex’s sales dropped by more than one-fifth year on year to €95.3 million ($116.2 million) in the first three months of 2018 due to a maintenance shutdown at a major smelter and falling prices for lead, the company said on Thursday.

David Rawlinson, Mark Shaer and Darren Fowler have left the base metals trading desk of ADM Investor Services International, Metal Bulletin understands.