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Commodities News

Up-to-date news on raw materials


FT Mercati provides subscribers with a dedicated commodities news bulletin to stay up-to-date.
Here is a selection of the latest news:

9/3/2024

GLOBAL COPPER PREMIUMS STABLE AMID QUIET BUYING

Copper cathode premiums held largely stable globally in the week to Tuesday August 27, with Chinese participants buying very cautiously. In the US, the market was very quiet amid a summer lull.
ASIA
Spot trading among Chinese participants became quiet again in the week to Tuesday, with a lack of import incentives discouraging spot liquidity.
Offers remained largely elevated, but spot buying interest was minimal following a rise in the London Metal Exchange copper price, which deterred import appetite, sources said.
UNITED STATES
The summer months have been expectedly quiet, with the market remaining relatively flat. Although a few market participants said that the premium may be rising, not all believe the market to be at that point yet: traders not believe the market will begin to pick back up until October.

9/3/2024

GLOBAL ZINC PREMIUMS LARGELY STABLE; IMPORT ARB LOSS WIDENS

Zinc premiums in Europe and Shanghai remained stable in the week ended Tuesday August 27, amid a slow market and a widening import arbitrage.
At the same time, premiums in the US narrowed downward during the week.
CHINA = An absence of spot liquidity was reported amid a closed arbitrage window, and wide import losses restricted buyers’ interest in overseas units, sources said.
Some market participants showed positive expectations of a pick-up in China’s zinc demand in next two months, because September and October are always regarded as the “golden period” for downstream consumption after the summer lull.
NORTHERN EUROPE = Sources reported a stable and quiet market, with many participants away on summer breaks.
But many participants expect market activity to pick up within the coming weeks.
Participants are keeping a close eye on rising London Metal Exchange prices: this price rise follows continued supply side concerns in the zinc concentrate market, and the announcement of potential production cuts from Chinese smelters on August 22.
UNITED STATES= Chatter was heard amongst multiple sources regarding the previous spread, with one trader noting that the previous assessment was too high. It was actually a little quieter this week than the past five so there’s nothing to really update, and can't see a change in indicated range.

9/3/2024

BASKET OPEC PRELIMINARY PRICE

OPECNA, the news agency of OPEC, announced the OPEC Basket preliminary price
02 september = $ 77.03 /b (down from previous daily value)
(The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) introduced on 16 June 2005, is currently made up of the following: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia , UAE and Venezuela.

9/3/2024

NICKEL PREMIUMS FLAT ACROSS EUROPE, CHINA, US

European nickel premiums for briquettes, full-plate cathodes and 4x4 cathodes all remained flat across Europe, Asia and North America in the week ended Tuesday August 27, despite a burst of spot activity in the briquettes sector.
Traders said that there is plenty of cheap Russian material available: it keeps the overall market stable by supplying some of the demand. There is any upward pressure on the price of uncut cathode; also nothing is happening with 4x4.
In China, premiums on nickel full plates in China were still unchanged in the week to Tuesday, amid broadly stable conditions. Also arbitrage conditions were also largely stable.
United States nickel premiums were flat despite positive developments in the North American battery recycling sector.
But in notable news, despite recent challenges and delays over the past few weeks, Canada’s battery recycling market was “making progress.
Recently, Canadian multinational Electra Battery Materials received $20 million from the US Department of Defense to enhance North American domestic production at its cobalt sulfate refinery near Toronto, the only such refinery on the continent.

9/3/2024

ALUMINIUM PREMIUMS INCH UP IN US AND EUROPE, FLAT IN ASIA AMID SUMMER LULL

The aluminium P1020 premium increased in the Rotterdam and US markets during the week to Tuesday August 27, while premiums in Asia were stable.
Fresh liquidity in Rotterdam was reported to Fastmarkets, while spot markets in other parts of the world remained quiet, with market participants starting to return from summer vacation.
EU - ROTTERDAM- ITALY
Was finded support from ongoing reports of tight regional supply despite consumer demand remaining reportedly slow
The market is still confusing, and it’s difficult to make up your mind about direction. There’s still some nervousness around where the next tonnes will come from. But there is reason to be bearish too, due to LME spreads tightening and macroeconomic uncertainty, combined with little optimism on demand.
Premiums in Italy were unchanged amid quiet spot market conditions, with some participants still away due to regional summer holidays and maintenance periods.
UNITED STATES
The daily aluminium P1020 premium in the US increased in the week to Tuesday, with most market participants no longer believing that transactions were possible at lower premiums.
ASIA
There was no genuine trading of the light metal to the Chinese market.
But sources said they noticed improving sentiment, reflecting potentially lower premiums in Asian markets, such as Japan and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the MJP aluminium premium was stable in the week to Tuesday despite bearish sentiment.

9/3/2024

USAGE AND SUPPLY TRENDS IN JAN-JUNE 2024 – ICSG

According to preliminary International Copper Study Group ( ICSG ) data, this are figures of copper world production and usage (thousand tonns) :
JAN-JUNE 2024 :
world mine PRODUCTION (concentrates and SX-EW) = 11,137 ;
world mine CAPACITY = 14,271 ;
primary refined PRODUCTION (A) = 11,540 ;
secondary refind PRODUCTION (B) = 2,315 ;
Total A+B = 13,855 ;
world refined USAGE (C ) = 13,367 ;
balance A+B-C = +488 (surplus).