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The additional demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and tighter supplies of piped gas placed enormous strain on the global market, spurring an energy crisis that pushed gas prices to historic highs. Newcastle coal futures have soared almost 140% in 2022, the biggest jump since 2008. U.S. gas futures jumped by more than 20% and Dutch wholesale gas prices rose by almost 8%, both rising for a third consecutive year. Power-generation fuels - coal, natural gas and gasoil - outperform other energy products in 2022 following cut in Russian energy supplies to EuropeBecause Europe will continue to import LNG to rebuild gas inventories next year after winter, gas prices are expected to remain elevated as limited new supplies come onstream. However, a European cap on gas prices starting in February could keep a lid on the market and reduce the volatility seen this year.

Industrial metals, iron ore and rubber are on track to finish in negative territory, pushed down in 2022 by China's strict zero-COVID policy and fears of a world recession. The additional demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) amid tighter supplies of piped gas placed enormous strain on the global market, spurring an energy crisis that pushed gas prices to historic highs. U.S. gas futures and Dutch wholesale gas prices have jumped by more than 20%, rising for a third consecutive year. Power-generation fuels - coal, natural gas and gasoil - outperform other energy products in 2022 following cut in Russian energy supplies to EuropeBecause Europe will continue importing LNG to rebuild gas inventories next year after winter, gas prices are expected to remain elevated amid limited new supplies coming on-stream. However, a European cap on gas prices starting in February could help keep a lid on the market and reduce the volatility seen this year.

☆ Growth constraints to shackle industrial metals for a few more months
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Pratima Desai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nickel and tin have slumped 50% and 70% respectively. Spiralling inflation, COVID lockdowns in top consumer China and aggressive interest rate rises are behind economic weakness and dwindling demand growth for industrial metals such as copper, used in the power and construction industries. However, BoA noted that metals prices had already fallen significantly and that they would outperform energy in the first half of next year. For soldering material tin, a major theme is consumer belt tightening, which has hit demand for electronic goods. "Slowing (tin) demand is perhaps best illustrated by global semiconductor billings, which had retraced 18% by September, since reaching an all-time high in February," Macquarie analysts said in a note.

☆ Judge dismisses demands for LME disclosures on cancelled nickel trades
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AQR Capital Management said after the ruling it would continue to evaluate all legal options. The other claimants in the filing were Winton Capital Management, Capstone Investment Advisors, Flow Traders (FLOW.AS) and DRW Commodities. The London Metal Exchange was represented by global law firm Hogan Lovells, instructing Brick Court Chambers. "Hogan Lovells has today secured an important victory for its client the London Metal Exchange (LME)," it said in a statement. The LME also faces lawsuits from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading, which are suing the LME for $456 million and $15.3 million, respectively, for the cancelled nickel trades.

LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - China's imports of primary aluminium jumped to a one-year high of 110,700 tonnes in November in a significant reversal of the recent trend. China's imports and exports of primary unwrought aluminiumTRADE FLOWS FLIP AGAINChina's primary aluminium export surge has passed. Global aluminium production monthly change annualisedSLOWING MOMENTUMChina's renewed import appetite for primary aluminium looks at odds with the combination of lockdown-weakened demand and strong domestic production growth. Expressed in terms of annualised production, China's collective run-rate has dropped by almost 1.2 million tonnes since August. Sichuan briefly rationed power to industrial users, including aluminium smelters, in August because of a protracted drought in the hydro-rich province.

☆ Indonesia confirms bauxite export ban to proceed as scheduled
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Fransiska Nangoy | Bernadette Christina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The timing of Indonesia’s ban, however, is in line with its current mining law. The measure, which led to a dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), also helped boost the value of Indonesia’s exports. China was the biggest importer of Indonesia’s bauxite until Jakarta introduced a mineral export ban in 2014, which it lifted in 2017. Indonesia’s bauxite reserves are enough for up to 100 years production, he said. He said there was a possibility that legal action could be pursued against Indonesia for banning bauxite exports, but it would not deter him.

London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouse stocks of the galvanising metal total 36,525 tonnes, the lowest amount this century. LME zinc price, spread and stocks; Shanghai Futures Exchange stocksSMELTER DISRUPTIONGlobal refined zinc output fell by 3.2% in January-October, according to the ILZSG, matching the drop-off in usage. Shanghai Metal Market (SMM) estimates total "social" inventories of zinc ingot across seven domestic markets at a low 56,000 tonnes. The longer-term question-mark over Europe's power-hungry smelters hasn't gone away, injecting a whole new twist in the zinc market narrative. In the short term the zinc market is going to remain beholden to the European power market.

☆ British court set to hear demand for evidence over LME nickel crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The other claimants in the filing at the London Commercial Court were Winton Capital Management, Capstone Investment Advisors, Flow Traders (FLOW.AS) and DRW Commodities. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, has rejected the legal action as without merit. The LME is also facing lawsuits from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading, which are suing the LME for $456 million and $15.3 million, respectively, for the cancelled nickel trades. British financial regulators launched a sweeping investigation in April of the suspension of nickel trading while the LME also commissioned its own independent review of the matter. Reporting by Eric Onstad and Nell Mackenzie in London Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Turbulence still haunts LME nickel, months on from trade debacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Pratima Desai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Months after turbulence highlighted shortcomings in LME oversight, the nickel contract remains broken. Declining liquidity, together with low stocks, has led to high LME nickel prices this year, pushing up costs for industrial users already grappling with surging inflation. LIQUIDITY SLUMPSMany investors, traders, consumers and producers have abandoned LME nickel in the aftermath of the chaos in March. LME nickel typically trades at a discount to the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) contract because China is a net importer of nickel and the ShFE nickel price takes into account logistical costs and local taxes. "There's a major disconnect between LME nickel (futures) and the physical market," a nickel trader said.

Money manager positioning on the CME's copper contract shifted back to a net long at the start of November for the first time since early May. Bulls remain conspicuous by their absence, waiting to see how Doctor Copper prices the confusing combination of Western recession and tentative recovery in China. The bounce has forced an unwind of fund short positions, which have more than halved to 31,177 contracts as of last Tuesday. Bears have retracted their claws on both exchanges but there's been no corresponding surge in bullish exuberance among fund managers. Investment fund and other financial net positioning on LME copperRECOVERY AND RECESSIONFunds' reticence to commit to copper is understandable given the market is trying to price two conflicting trends.

Goldman Sachs and Bank of America say copper could hit record highs in the coming year, as short-term supply tightness and long-term energy transition-related demand push the red metal north. Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange were trading around $8,525 per metric ton on Friday in Europe. LME copper prices peaked at over $10,600/t in March this year, but two of Wall Street's biggest names see further price rises ahead. Both Goldman and Bank of America highlighted the energy transition as a key driver of copper markets looking ahead. While Bank of America's Michael Widmer said: "Copper is set to rally as usage in green technologies should offset cyclical demand weakness."

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The world is going to need another 50,000 tonnes of tin per year by 2030 to meet a looming surge in demand, according to the International Tin Association (ITA). The country exported 75,000 tonnes of refined tin last year with shipments running 8% higher through the first 10 months of this year. State producer PT Timah needs around two years to develop its existing tin chemical facility and longer to secure markets, Alwin Albar, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tin Exporters, told a parliamentary hearing. China imported 22,600 tonnes of refined tin in the first 10 months of the year with Indonesian metal accounting for 19,000 tonnes. After peaking at 5,160 tonnes in September, headline LME tin stocks have fallen to 3,075 tonnes with 535 tonnes awaiting physical load-out.

☆ Another OPEC? Indonesia wants to create a cartel for battery metals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The nickel market is also structured very differently than the market for crude oil, with private firms rather than national companies running the show. The country now accounts for more than 38% of global refined nickel supply, according to data from market intelligence firm CRU Group. People who track the nickel market are skeptical such an arrangement is workable. But other countries that have direct access to battery metals and other important minerals also want a say. “The metals market and its importance to the energy transition is something we’re all waking up to and adapting to how it’s going to work in practice,” Bronze said.

☆ HSBC resigns as LME member after exiting industrial metals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) has resigned its membership in the London Metal Exchange, the LME said on Friday, after the bank decided to close its industrial metals business two years ago. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, said in a notice that HSBC Bank plc had resigned from both the exchange and its clearing house effective on Friday. The bank was a small player in industrial metals, but told Reuters in July 2020 that returns were too low to justify continuing the business. "We remain focused on growing our leading position in precious metals," a HSBC spokesperson said on Friday. HSBC was a Category 2 LME member, which allows trading for their own account and on behalf of clients using the LME electronic system, but not in the open-outcry ring.

☆ LME had regulatory obligation to be able to cancel nickel trades in March, filings say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Traders, brokers and clerks on the trading floor of the open outcry pit at the London Metal Exchange in London, U.K., on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The London Metal Exchange (LME), battling a combined $472 million lawsuit from U.S. hedge funds Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading, had a regulatory obligation to be able to cancel nickel trades in March, it said in court filings. "All the actions taken on 8 March were lawful and made in the interest of the market as a whole. Elliott Associates and Jane Street declined to comment. But the exchange counters that its rulebook gave it clear and specific power to suspend the market and cancel existing trades.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel trading has turned wild again this week. LME and ShFE nickel contracts price and volumeVOLATILITY TRAPThe fund exodus after March has left a liquidity vacuum and a self-reinforcing volatility trap in the nickel market. ("A financially constrained physical market", April 3, 2022)LME nickel trading volumes have fallen steeply since March. Year-to-date nickel volumes are 24% below last year's equivalent period, the scale of decline flattered by strong trading activity in January and February. But until inventory and volumes rebuild, time-spread turbulence and perma-backwardation are becoming the new normal in the Shanghai market.

☆ Nickel prices tumble as LME scrutinises volatile trading
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Marianna Parraga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Wednesday it was conducting enhanced monitoring of nickel trading after prices fell as much as 12% in volatile and illiquid conditions. The London Metal Exchange (LME) on March 8 cancelled all nickel trades and suspended the market for more than a week after prices doubled in a matter of hours. "The LME notes the current volatility in nickel," the exchange said in a statement. "The price limits in place are functioning as expected and the LME is undertaking enhanced monitoring to ensure that participants' trading activities are being conducted appropriately." Benchmark LME nickel racked up six consecutive days of gains between Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, starting the first at $23,330 a tonne and reaching as high as $31,275 on the last.

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced it will continue accepting Russian metal as good delivery against its industrial metal contracts, for now at least. Absent formal government sanctions against Russian aluminium, copper and nickel, everything depends on how many players choose not to take Russian metal in their 2023 supply contracts. The LME's discussion paper on the acceptability of Russian metal has revealed just how split the global industry is on the question right now. Two favoured thresholds for Russian metal, an option deemed too complex, and one abstained from making a choice. The company is a major producer of the Class I refined nickel that is deliverable against the LME nickel contract.

☆ Shares and bonds chastened as Fed urges caution
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The benchmark European STOXX index rose 0.15% (.STOXX), and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.5%, after jumping 7.7% last week. EYES ON CHINAChinese stocks gained on reports that regulators have asked financial institutions to extend more support to stressed property developers. The support for China's property sector, which consumes a vast amount of metals, boosted copper towards a five-month high. The dollar index was last seen on Monday at 107.15, still well short of last week's 111.280 top , while the euro eased a touch to $1.02875 , after climbing 3.9% last week. The firming dollar also dragged down oil prices, despite the hopes of a demand boost from China's hints at reopening.

☆ LME will not ban Russian metal from its system
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Friday it will not ban Russian metal from being traded and stored in its system because for the most part a significant portion of the market is still planning to accept it in 2023. The exchange, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, launched a discussion paper on the subject in October, asking for market opinion. "The LME does not propose at this time to prohibit the warranting of new Russian metal nor to impose thresholds or limits to the amount of Russian stock permitted in LME warehouses," the exchange said in a statement. "While there is evidently an ethical dimension as to the global acceptability of Russian metal, we believe the LME should not seek to take or impose any moral judgements on the broader market." The exchange said it will continue to monitor the flow of Russian metal in LME warehouses and to provide transparency it will publish regular reports from January 2023 detailing the percentage of warranted Russian metal in LME warehouses.

☆ Want to play rising copper prices? Analysts give these 2 stocks more than 200% upside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Copper is having a good month, with both prices and mining stocks trading well in the green. Benchmark copper prices on the London Metal Exchange jumped over 7% last week on hopes that Covid restrictions in China would soon be lifted, although prices have since pared gains. Still, falling inventories and fresh disruptions at the world's second-largest copper producer in Peru continue to support prices. Against this backdrop, CNBC Pro screened the Global X Copper Miners ETF on FactSet for stocks that analysts expect to outperform, using the following criteria: Upside to average price target of at least 15%. Analysts covering the stock put its upside at nearly 19%, and 77% give it a buy rating, according to FactSet.

The status of Russian metal has been a key talking-point at the many seminars and parties this week in London. Should the LME suspend deliveries of Russian aluminium, copper and nickel or should it maintain its policy of not preempting official sanctions? German copper producer Aurubis (NAFG.DE) has joined U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa (AA.N) in publicly calling for an LME ban on Russian metal. There is a lot of metal supply at stake here. An LME ban on deliveries of Russian metal would clearly have significant ramifications for both LME and physical market pricing.

☆ Norsk Hydro Q3 beats forecast, outlook more uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) posted third-quarter profits well above expectations on Tuesday as high metal prices continued to boost returns, but said its outlook was more uncertain amid high inflation and weaker global growth. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 9.72 billion Norwegian crowns ($926.02 million) in July-September from 7.22 billion a year earlier, beating an average analyst forecast of 7.84 billion. While global production of the light-weight metal, used in packaging, transport, construction and electronics, is expected to lag consumption this year, the worldwide supply of aluminium looks set to slightly outstrip demand in 2023, Hydro said. Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange rose sharply in early 2022, hitting record highs above $4,000 a tonne, but have since fallen to trade at $2,178 on Tuesday. ($1 = 10.4965 Norwegian crowns)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Victoria Klesty and Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trade flows have been adjusting, with Western buyers shunning Russian crude and products, and a formal European Union ban on crude coming into effect in December and on products in February. Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China's top supplier of crude oil, and China has also boosted imports of Russian coal. There is less Russian nickel in the LME system, perhaps about 5% of the total, but Russian aluminium makes up closer to a quarter of the total. China is a net exporter of aluminium, meaning there would have to be a significant price incentive to effectively "churn" metal through China. Overall, whatever emerges from the LME's discussion paper on Russian metal, the likelihood is that 2023 will see some form of disruption to the established ways of doing business.

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - It's not the first time the 145-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has found itself in crisis. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterMarch brought Nickel Crisis II, a much scarier update of the original, and now we have the unfolding Russian Metal Crisis. It's perilous legal territory and would have a significant impact on LME price and physical premiums. Meanwhile, CME's (CME.O) cobalt contract has steadily built up liquidity since its end-2020 launch even as activity in the LME's contract has steadily dwindled. Disgruntled funds have already voted with their feet, the collective departure causing LME trading volumes to slide by 6% over the first nine months of this year.

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