EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 29/03: China supply reform to support Ali prices; world manganese ore supply rises in Feb; South Korea’s exemption from 232 tariffs

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s office in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Thursday March 29.

Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly stronger during Asian morning trading on Thursday, with positive data from the United States overnight and a continued decline in geopolitical risk providing support.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 03.32am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 6,678 13
Aluminium 20,38.5 11.5
Lead 24,10.5 -14.5
Zinc 3,280 -4
Tin 20,805 -85
Nickel 13,040 -90

SHFE snapshot at 10.32am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne)  Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (May) 49,640 380
Aluminium (May) 13,845 105
Zinc (May) 24,790 -15
Lead (May) 18,640 -5
Tin (May) 140,780 90
Nickel  (July) 96,770 170

Chinese supply reform is expected to limit the country’s investments in new aluminium capacity, which combined with a ramp-up in demand growth could provide support to aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange, according to investment firm Cowen & Co.

World manganese ore supply rose by almost 20% year on year in February, due to South African miners ramping up production in response to rallying prices.

The US and South Korea have agreed on terms for a country exemption from the US’ Section 232 steel tariffs that is to take effect on May 1, the US Trade Representative said in a statement on Wednesday March 28.

The US’ bulk ferrous scrap export prices made strong gains in two cargo trades to emerging markets this past week, prompting East Coast exporters to raise dock buying prices ahead of what might be another upswing in domestic scrap pricing.

A shortage of crude indium material is pushing prices higher, market participants have told Metal Bulletin.

Tungsten miner W Resources has secured a development grant of €5.3 million ($6.58 million) for its La Parilla tungsten development in southwest Spain from the regional government, the Junta de Extremadura, it said on Wednesday.

And finally, Metal Bulletin has collated the main talking points from its 19th Asian Ferro-Alloys conference in Hong Kong on March 20-22. Click here to see what people discussed at the conference.

What to read next
Fastmarkets will amend the specifications of its existing price assessments for Europe/US lithium spot battery-grade and technical-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate to remove the US footprint, and will launch weekly price assessments for spot battery-grade and technical-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate for the United States and Canada on Thursday April 4.
This initiative marks a significant step towards reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions and championing the US in the global decarbonization effort
The most recent financial results published by base metals mining companies highlight just how inflation is affecting profit margins, with increasing wages, financing costs and input prices all hitting profits, sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 28
Century Aluminum is among those selected to start award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminium smelter, the company said on Monday March 25
Fastmarkets launched its first price assessment for MB-FEC-0024 Ferro-chrome 50% Cr, delivered Europe, $/lb Cr on Tuesday March 26.
Fastmarkets has amended the publication date of the latest European charge and high-carbon ferro-chrome benchmark to reflect the date from which the benchmark applies after the price was erroneously published on the date it was announced (March 25).