WEEK IN BRIEF: New LME warehouse deal; oil and copper; new silico-manganese prices; minor metals under pressure

Metal Bulletin reviews the biggest news and price moves from the metal market over the past week.

New LME warehousing deal
London Metal Exchange warehouse companies have until February 9 to provide feedback on the LME’s proposed new warehouse agreements.

So, what do warehouses see as the problems with the new agreement? Why do some support it and others oppose it? Click here to find out more 

The rewording of one clause has created particular interest, since the reference to “exceptional inducements” has been substantially rewritten. Under the current agreement, how would the LME have looked to define such inducements? More information here. 

More details on what the LME has done with the new warehousing deal are available here. 

Rightly or wrongly, banks have been in the spotlight as a result of their engagement with physical commodities, including warehousing. Here Andrea Hotter looks ahead to the results of the US Federal Reserve’s review of banks’ involvement. 

Oil and copper
Both markets have been under pressure, but what is the relationship between plummeting oil prices and the copper market? Mark Burton, editor of Metal Bulletin sister publication Copper Price Briefing, explains here.

Copper Price Briefing contains all the details of what happened in the copper market, why it was important, and what happens next, as well as proprietary market information. The latest issue of the CPB digital newsletter contains an in-depth interview that covers India’s copper rod market, for example.

Sign up for a trial issue here.

Minor metals prices
Indium, bismuth and antimony prices all came under pressure this week as stockpiling on the Fanya Metal Exchange in China appeared to have stopped. Metal Bulletin’s minor metals reporter, Chloe Smith, explains the dynamics of what’s happening here. 

New bulk alloys price
Metal Bulletin has launched a new silico-manganese price assessment for material exported from India, at the same time as the European Union launches an anti-dumping investigation into the product. Click here to read about the possible effect of duties 

Click here for the specification. 

…and here to see the price history for silico-manganese fob India we developed before launching the price. 

Zambia and DRC
Fleur Ritzema reviewed the latest developments in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two key producers of copper and cobalt. Read her report here. 

Minor metals trader Anthony Lipmann has had a long interest in welfare in Zambia. He responded to Metal Bulletin in a letter. Read it here. 

editorial@metalbulletin.com