At the end of another busy week in the Metal Bulletin newsroom, editor Alex Harrison takes a look back at some of the key stories.
The Qingdao lawsuits could last for years and involve the courts in a number of countries.
Last week warehousing company Impala Warehousing & Logistics (Shanghai) Co Ltd and Wanxiang Resources (Singapore) Pte Ltd were in a commercial court in the UK to argue about jurisdiction in relation to an aluminium repo deal in the Chinese port.
Metal Bulletin’s Claire Hack was there.
We’re publishing more on the hearing next week, summing up the arguments of both sides and considering what the eventual judgement might mean.
Latest on copper
Copper stocks in China’s bonded zone are closing in on 600,000 tonnes, up from 550,000 tonnes in February: read the story here.
Copper rod suppliers in the Middle East have settled contracts with buyers in one of their big markets at levels almost 10% higher terms in 2014: click here to read more on Metal Bulletin.
More in-depth information is available in our weekly digital newsletter Copper Price Briefing, which covers all the news and prices that professionals in the copper market need: sign up for a free issue here.
Latest on aluminium
Japan: stocks rose in Japanese ports in February, but at the lowest rate for a year: read more.
Second-quarter business has been settled in Japan at levels over 10% under where contracts were settled for the first quarter: Metal Bulletin’s Deepali Sharma reports from Singapore.
Frozen: the market in Brazil. Click here for more.
Nickel
Demand for nickel ore in China weakened as a result of nickel pig iron producers in Shandong province closing. Linda Lin in Shanghai had the story.
US ITC on SiMn probe
The US International Trade Commission is considering whether imports of silico-manganese from Australia have been dumped in the country. Read more here.
Material from Australia has been diverted into Asia as a consequence, pushing down prices of metal exported from India. Chloe Smith reports on the bulk alloy market.
Exchanges
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will start trading tin and nickel on March 27. The details are here.
LME electronic trading
Electronic trading of LME contracts began 15 years ago, in a move that has parallels with today.
Metal Bulletin published a series of articles, explaining what happened then and how it compares with the exchange’s current plans to attract more trading into the monthly dates.
Looking back at electronic dawn sheds light on the present
The sparks that first lit up the LME
Former LME chief executive Martin Abbott wrote to us, outlining his concerns about the monthly dates.
But the exchange’s ceo, Garry Jones, says that members should not fear the changes. See what else he said to Andrea Hotter, here.
The exchange’s head of business development Matt Chamberlain outlined why the LME believes that it can capture more volume in monthly prices without disturbing the carries between dates that enable risk-managers to hedge and power current trading volumes on the exchange. Chamberlain’s article is here.
The head of a leading broker argues the LME is taking a gamble: find out what he had to say here.
And finally, if you haven’t taken part in our short video survey yet, then please do to help provide us with valuable insight into how we can provide more engaging news for you on Metal Bulletin? Click here to complete it and be in with a chance of winning an Amazon gift voucher.
Alex Harrison
aharrison@metalbulletin.com
Twitter: @alexharrison_mb
