LIVE FUTURES REPORT 26/09: LME zinc, copper prices climb higher; Al consolidates

The three-month copper price been struggling to hold ground after erasing last month’s rally to a three-year high but it was recently trading $59 per tonne higher than Monday’s close.

Zinc prices continued to rally this morning, hitting highs of $3,150 per tonne with over 20,000 tonnes of metal freshly cancelled in New Orleans. Zinc’s cash/three-month spread is currently at $57.50 per tonne backwardation while cash/October 2017 is now trading at $40 per tonne backwardation.

“We maintain our constructive view over the short, medium and long terms because we expect the fundamentals to tighten further in the remainder of 2017 and beyond. We think the weakness in prices over February-May mostly reflected transitory negative factors but we expect the global reflationary environment to endure, which should underpin zinc’s robust demand dynamics,” Metal Bulletin analyst Boris Mikanikrezai said.

The three-month lead price also climbed higher this morning, recovering from recent weakness.

Aluminium and nickel prices both dropped $5 as they continue to consolidate current levels.

Copper recovers 

• The three-month copper price was up $59 to $6,509 per tonne. 
• Stocks declined a net 100 tonnes to 305,150 tonnes 
• Shanghai Futures Exchange copper stocks fell to 141,318 tonnes in the week ended September 22, down 25,429 tonnes or 15.3% in a week. It was also the fifth consecutive week that SHFE copper stocks have declined. 
• “We remain bullish for copper’s fundamentals, but prices had started to look overstretched recently so some profit-taking seemed probable, which is now unfolding,” Metal Bulletin senior analyst William Adams said.

Base metals prices 

• The three-month aluminium price dipped $5 to $2,143 per tonne. Stocks declined 5,875 tonnes to 1,284,900 tonnes. 
• Nickel’s three-month price also dropped $5 to $10,575 per tonne. Inventories were up 2,736 tonnes to 383,298 tonnes. 
• The three-month zinc price increased $50.50 to $3,146.50 per tonne. Stocks declined 1,600 tonnes to 260,325 tonnes. 
• Lead’s three-month price declined $19.50 to $2,494.50 per tonne. Inventories declined 1,675 tonnes to 159,250 tonnes. 
• The three-month tin price was up $50 to $20,750 per tonne. Stocks remains unchanged at 2,070 tonnes.

Currency moves and data releases 

• The dollar index was up 0.27% to 92.85. 
• In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was down 0.75% to $58.61 per barrel. 
• Geopolitical tensions in East Asia heightened after North Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday that US president Donald Trump’s recent remarks are a declaration of war, and that Pyongyang has the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US planes. 
• The economic agenda is light today with mainly the CB consumer confidence and new home sales from the USA of note. 
• In addition, US Federal Open Market Committee chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to speak at the National Assn for Business Economics annual meeting in Cleveland.