Read Fastmarkets' monthly base metals market for May 2025 focusing on raw materials including copper, nickel aluminium, lead, zinc and tin.

Major trading houses Mercuria and Glencore secured copper concentrate offtake agreements totaling at least $450 million in prepayment financing in late December, with Mercuria signing for 195,000 wet metric tonnes from Bulgaria’s Ellatzite mine on December 30 and Orion Minerals providing an update on December 31 on its $200-250 million Glencore financing and offtake deal for South Africa’s Prieska project.

The Ozernoye zinc and lead mine in Russia launched concentrates production on Wednesday September 4 after year-long delays, Fastmarkets learned.

Demand for zinc was expected to grow by 2030, despite the challenges facing both the supply and demand sides, Andrew Green, executive director of the International Zinc Association, said in an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets during LME Week in London

The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.

Read the key takeaways from a recent conversation on Fast Forward podcast with Vedanta Resources CEO, Deshnee Naidoo, and Andrea Hotter

An interview with Vedanta Resources CEO, Deshnee Naidoo, on how India is emerging as a metals market powerhouse for the Fast Forward podcast

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has set out its plan to launch low-carbon base metals price premiums for nickel, aluminium, zinc and copper in a white paper published on Monday October 13.

A second pricing notice will follow when the pricing database has been updated.  The following prices have been affected by this:MB-AL-0256 Aluminium fixing price for LME trade, rand/tonne MB-CU-0338 Copper fixing price for LME trade, rand/tonne MB-PB-0064 Lead fixing price for LME trade, rand/tonne MB-NI-0093 Nickel fixing price for LME trade, rand/tonne MB-SN-0005 Tin rand fixing price for LME trade, […]