EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 18/05: SHFE base metals broadly higher; Marex sees bull market for Cu; European molybdenum prices dip

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Friday May 18.

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Friday May 18.

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were largely higher during Asian morning trading on Friday May 18, with the exception of tin and aluminium – the latter easing after a huge re-warranting in London Metal Exchange warehouses in Malaysia.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

SHFE snapshot at 10:38am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan per tonne) Change since previous session’s close (yuan)
Copper (Jul) 51,270 220
Aluminium (Jul) 14,800 -85
Zinc (Jul) 23,695 125
Lead (Jun) 19,565 155
Tin  (Sep) 144,880 -1,060
Nickel  (Jul) 109,540 1,720


LME snapshot at 03:39am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price ($ per tonne) Change since previous session’s close ($)
Copper 6,866 -13
Aluminium 2,277 -16
Lead 2,361 -13
Zinc 3,082 -14
Tin 20,660 10
Nickel 14,715 120


Changjiang spot snapshot on May 18
  Range (yuan per tonne) Change (yuan)
Copper  51,020-51,060 60
Aluminium 14,640-14,680 -90
Zinc 23,930-23,980 -110
Lead 19,450-19,650 100
Tin  143,500-145,000 -500
Nickel  109,400-109,500 1,500

The outlook for base metals is a positive one, with copper ready to push into a long period of bullishness, said Guy Wolf, Marex Spectron’s global head of market analytics.

European spot prices for molybdic oxide and ferro-molybdenum dropped slightly this week, with renewed trading activity weaker than expected after the May public holidays, although expected new tenders may boost the level of business in the near term, sources said.

The CME Group’s growing share of global trade in recent years has been driven by its increasingly global reach since its commercial push in base metals began in 2012, its global head of metals Young-Jin Chang told Metal Bulletin this week.

The US Commerce Department has made a final determination that Vietnamese cold-rolled and coated coil made from Chinese substrate circumvents US duties on flat-rolled steel from China, market sources told American Metal Market.