ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 06/11: Base metals slide on LME; Morocco slapped by WTO; Alumina index pressured by easing in market tightness

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly lower at the close of trading on Monday November 5, topped by a continued downturn in lead’s three-month price while aluminium was the only metal to trade in positive territory. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:

The World Trade Organization has ruled that Morocco’s anti-dumping duty on Turkish hot-rolled coil, imposed four years ago, violates the international regulator’s rules on anti-dumping.

Easing supply tightness in the alumina market continued to put significant pressure on the fob Australia alumina index, and traders expect prices to fall even further before the end of the year.

The import price for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia stopped declining over the past week, with trading activity still muted.

China’s hot-rolled coil market was largely steady on November 5 but expectations have emerged for some upward momentum in the export segment once prices bottom out.

The seaborne iron ore pellet price dropped for a fourth consecutive week on November 2, prompted by the limited demand from major buyer China.

The import price for rebar in Singapore remained at an intra-year low over the past week due to subdued demand from downstream fabricators.