There was broad weakness across the base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange during morning trading on Wednesday May 8, with growing trade concerns denting market sentiment and triggering a wave of selling.

Zinc outperformed the rest of the base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange during morning trading on Tuesday March 26, with a weaker dollar and upcoming trade talks between the United States and China buoying market sentiment.

Metal Bulletin’s Charlotte Radford reviews some of the key news and price moves from the past seven days.

The three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange dropped by 1.2% during morning trading on Tuesday May 28, capped by thin buying interest across Asian trading hours while US-China trade tensions continued to hang over commodity markets.

Zinc prices continued to strengthen on the London Metal Exchange this morning, Wednesday October 4, while the rest of the base metals were on divergent paths.

Metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are up across the board this morning, Friday February 16, by an average of 0.4%, while trading activity has been light due to the Lunar New Year holiday.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange mostly drifted lower during morning trading on Wednesday August 7, with US-China trade tensions continuing to unsettle global markets and dampening risk sentiment.

Zhuzhou, China’s biggest zinc smelter, is meeting its commitment to cut 50,000 tonnes of refined zinc production this year, sources said - and other smelters in the country could follow suit while raw material concentrates become more expensive and progressively scarcer.

With the exception of nickel and aluminum, base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange staged a modest recovery during Asian morning trading on Monday July 16, with the market continuing to adjust to trade tensions between China and the United States.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly down during morning trading on Tuesday July 10, led by a significant drop in zinc prices, while ongoing uncertainty around Sino-US trade relations hampers the complex.