PRICING NOTICE: Discontinuation of single numbers for base metals premiums

Metal Bulletin has today discontinued the publication of single numbers for base metals as of August 28, 2018.

After a two month consultation period, Metal Bulletin has decided to stop assessing single-number base metals premiums after feedback from market participants and exchanges said that these numbers are not widely used by the industry, who prefer to use the low-high premium assessments, in particular the midpoint of the ranges.

The single-number base metal premiums that will stop being priced are as follows:

    • Aluminium P1020A premium, cif Shanghai, spot, $/tonne
    • Aluminium P1020A premium, cif MKP (Main Korean Ports), duty-free, spot, $/tonne
    • Aluminium P1020A premium, in-warehouse Rotterdam, duty-unpaid, spot, $/tonne 
    • Copper premium, Grade A cathode, in-warehouse Shanghai, spot, $/tonne 
    • Copper premium, Grade A cathode, cif Shanghai, spot, $/tonne 
    • Copper premium, Grade A cathode, cif South Korea, spot, $/tonne 
    • Copper premium, Grade A cathode, cif Leghorn (Italy), spot, $/tonne 
    • Nickel premium, 99.80% purity full plate, in-warehouse Shanghai, spot, $/tonne 
    • Nickel premium, 99.80% purity full plate, cif Shanghai, spot, $/tonne 
    • Zinc premium, 99.995% purity ingot, in-warehouse Shanghai, spot, $/tonne 
    • Zinc premium, 99.995% purity ingot, in-warehouse Singapore, spot, $/tonne

If you have any comments on the discontinuation of these assessments, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to the low-high premium ranges, please contact Perrine Faye by email at: pricing@metalbulletin.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Perrine Faye, re: discontinuation of single numbers’.

All historical data relating to these prices prior to their suspension will remain available in the pricing section of the Metal Bulletin website. 

To see all Metal Bulletin’s pricing methodology and specification documents go to www.metalbulletin.com/prices/pricing-methodology

What to read next
Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-STE-0523 Steel scrap shredded auto scrap, consumer buying price, delivered mill, $/gross ton, weekly composite, which was published incorrectly since June 14.
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-CO-0020 cobalt hydroxide 30% Co min, cif China, $/lb price, which was published incorrectly on Friday July 26.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ manganese ore seaborne indices for Friday July 26 was delayed due to an error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated.
Asian spot copper premiums rose in the week ended Tuesday July 23, with premiums imported into China increasing on improved arbitrage terms. In the US market, supply failed to keep up with strong demand while in Europe participants were mostly off for the summer holidays
In the fourth episode of Fastmarkets critical minerals podcast Fast Forward, Freeport-McMoRan CEO and president Kathleen Quirk tells host Andrea Hotter why there's a preference to build and not build new supplies of copper right now
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the pricing frequency of its MB-STE-0889 steel scrap, index, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr east China, and MB-STE-0895 steel scrap, index, heavy recycled steel materials, cfr north China to once a month from the current weekly basis.