EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 23/02: SHFE base metals broadly higher; Section 232 isolates US from trade flows; HudBay posts strong earnings

Good morning from Metal Bulletin’s offices in Asia, bringing the latest news and pricing stories on Friday February 23.

Base prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose across the board during Asian morning trading on Friday February 23, the second trading day after Lunar New Year holidays.

Check Metal Bulletin’s live futures report here.

LME snapshot at 0200 London time
Latest 3M  LME Prices
Price ($/t)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 7155.5 -6.5
Aluminium 2193 8
Lead 2546.5 1.5
Zinc 3521 -10
Tin 21425 -150
Nickel 13790 -40

SHFE snapshot at 1000 Shanghai time
Most traded SHFE contracts
Price (yuan/t)  Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (April) 53,530 780
Aluminium(April) 14335 210
Zinc(April) 26670 340
Lead(April) 19370 75
Tin (May) 147280 100
Nickel (May) 104880 2040

Changjiang spot snapshot on Friday February 23
Range (yuan/t)  Change (yuan)
Copper  53,060-53,080 780
Aluminium 13,930-13,970 260
Zinc 26,530-27,330 330
Lead 19,300-19,500 150
Tin  146,500-148,000 -750
Nickel  104,050-104,150 2,000

The proposed Section 232 investigation remedies by the United States Commerce Department are being felt in the global market, with the common theme being a reorganization of the world’s supply chains to remove the US from the trade flow.

HudBay Minerals reported strong revenue and profits during 2017, notably due to better-than-expected copper output and and solid zinc production, the company said in its February 21 earnings report.

Constellium NV sees room for the company to grow its automotive aluminium sheet capacity in North America despite a recent competitor announcing plans to build a new automotive sheet mill.

Apple has been experimenting with ways to recover cobalt from its lithium-ion batteries and to use recycled cobalt.

The former Chief Executive Officer of Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources Tom Albanese has joined an advisory board at flourishing miner Nevada Copper, in the expectation of being nominated for membership of the company’s board at an annual general meeting in April.

Another notice on executive changes. US Rusal has appointed Alexandra Bouriko as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company, according to the company announcement on Friday February 23.