ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 13/03: Base metals prices slump on LME; Int’l Copper Conference participants discuss state of market; Asian aluminium market mixed on Australia’s exemption from US tariffs

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday March 13.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board at the close on Monday March 12, with overhead selling pressure weakening prices. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how LME prices looked at Monday’s close:

Copper industry participants from throughout the value chain gathered at Metal Bulletin’s 31st International Copper Conference to discuss the state of the market.

Australia’s exemption from forthcoming United States aluminium import tariffs have drawn mixed responses from the Asian aluminium market, with some sources suggesting that this could lead to good western aluminium supply tightness in the region while others downplayed any possible impact on premiums.

Spot prices for ammonium paratungstate (APT) and tungsten concentrates continued to rise last week, with sellers either raising their offers or declining to offer at all while Chinese raw materials remain in tight supply.

Poland’s KGHM has sacked its third chief executive officer in two years, the company said on March 10.

The Chinese ferro-silicon spot market slumped over the past week due to slow demand from key consumers in the steel and magnesium sectors.

Chinese silicon export prices have been stable due to high raw material costs and limited output during the dry season, although market participants are wary of headwinds due to low buying interest while European prices are steady amid hesitant market sentiment.

The reduced availability of steel billet and increased prices for ferrous scrap resulted in the global steel billet market trending mostly upward for the week ended March 9, Metal Bulletin has learned.

Commonwealth of Independent States slab export prices soared for the week ended March 12 amid reduced availability of the material as well as continuing growth in flat steel prices in customers’ own markets.

Import prices for rebar in Singapore fell over the past week, with buyers taking the opportunity to stock up on the long steel product amid a softening Chinese market.

What to read next
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of the publication of several US base metal price assessments to a monthly basis, including MB-PB-0006 lead 99.97% ingot premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-SN-0036 tin 99.85% premium, in-whs Baltimore; MB-SN-0011 tin 99.85% premium, ddp Midwest US; MB-NI-0240 nickel 4x4 cathode premium, delivered Midwest US and MB-NI-0241 nickel briquette premium, delivered Midwest US.
The news that President-elect Donald Trump is considering additional tariffs on goods from China as well as on all products from US trading partners Canada and Mexico has spurred alarm in the US aluminium market at a time that is usually known to be calm.
Unlike most other commodities, cobalt is primarily a by-product – with 60% derived from copper and 38% from nickel – so how will changes in those markets change the picture for cobalt in the coming months following a year of price weakness and oversupply in 2024?
Copper recycling will become increasingly critical as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a special report published early this week.
Fastmarkets proposes to lower the frequency of its assessments for MB-AL-0389 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, US Midwest and MB-AL-0390 aluminium low-carbon differential value-added product US Midwest. Fastmarkets also proposes to extend the timing window of these same assessments to include any transaction data concluded within up to 18 months.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on its non-ferrous and industrial minerals methodologies, via an open consultation process between October 8 and November 6, 2024. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.