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☆ Sanctions on Russia aluminum could send ripple effects through global supply chains
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowAluminum is the latest casualty of global economic headwinds as prices sink amid alleged dumping of Russian aluminum, weakening global demand and soaring operational costs. Earlier this week, stocks of aluminum in the London Metals Exchange (LME) warehouses leapt, sparking concerns of potential dumping of Russian-origin aluminum. The White House is already considering a ban on aluminum imports from Russian producer Rusal. Aluminum is the latest casualty of global economic headwinds as prices sink amid alleged dumping of Russian aluminum, weakening demand across the world including China and soaring operational costs. Any influx of Russian aluminum into LME warehouses also pose a more complex problem, Dhar said in a note.

ShFE stocks, bonded warehouse stocks and Yangshan premiumSHANGHAI SQUEEZEThe ShFE copper contract has been characterised by low inventory and rolling tightness for some time. It is probable that troubled trade house Maike Group is also somehow in the Shanghai copper cocktail right now. LONDON'S RUSSIAN DILEMMAChina's strong call on copper is being felt in London, where falling LME stocks have rekindled time-spread volatility. The micro-macro divergence looks set to accentuate as LME stocks are stripped for shipment to China. Over 60% of LME copper stocks at the end of September were Russian metal.

Aluminium ingots are seen outside a warehouse that stores London Metal Exchange stocks in Port Klang Free Zone, outside Kuala Lumpur, March 23, 2015. Another source with direct knowledge said that the aluminium delivered to Gwangyang was produced by Rusal. The sources did not say how much of Rusal's aluminium had been delivered by Glencore to LME warehouses in Gwangyang. Glencore and the London Metal Exchange declined to comment. Stocks of aluminium in LME warehouses jumped 65,825 tonnes to 433,025 tonnes on Friday.

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - European copper buyers are going to be paying a lot more to get their metal next year. Aurubis (NAFG.DE) cited a combination of high freight and power costs and low visible copper stocks. European annual copper premiumsSANCTIONS CREEPThere were no official sanctions on Russian copper until earlier this month, when the British government announced an asset freeze on Iskander Makhmudov. ASIAN DISCOUNTWhat will happen to all the Russian copper if Europe stages a collective boycott? The sharp hike in next year's European premiums says much about the cost of refusing Russian metal.

☆ Aluminium spikes 7% after report of U.S. ban of Russian supplies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) soared on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported that the United States was considering a ban on Russian aluminium in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Benchmark aluminium was up 3.3% at $2,309 a tonne at 1612 GMT after briefly spiking 7.3% to $2,400 a tonne. The Biden administration is considering raising tariffs on Russian aluminum to levels so punitive they would effectively ban Russian aluminium producer Rusal, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed people familiar with the decision-making. The LME last week launched a discussion paper on the possibility of banning Russian aluminium, nickel and copper from being traded and stored in its system. Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russian banks and wealthy individuals connected to President Vladimir Putin since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February, but so far there are no restrictions on buying Russian metal.

Annual supply contracts are in the process of being negotiated and at least some buyers are "self-sanctioning" by specifying no Russian metal in 2023. LME stocks and percentage of Russian metalCOPPER FLOWSThe proportion of Russian copper in LME stocks was actually higher in the third quarter of 2021, when it reached 95% of live tonnage, LME data shows. With just Nornickel still fully unsanctioned, the amount of potentially deliverable Russian copper is sharply reduced. Moreover, there is an obvious destination for any unsold Russian copper next year. The three options are to do nothing, set thresholds for Russian metal deliveries or suspend all warranting across all locations.

☆ Russian aluminium producer Rusal reshuffles sales team
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer outside China, has not been hit directly by the sanctions imposed on Moscow since it sent thousands of troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24. However, some consumers said last month they would not buy Rusal's aluminium for 2023, and the London Metal Exchange launched a discussion paper on the possibility of banning Russian aluminium from being traded in its system. Steve Hodgson, who previously held the sales director post, will remain with Zug-based Rusal Marketing GmbH to support sales to international consumers. Andryushin "has vast experience in sales development and diversification in difficult market conditions," Evgenii Nikitin, Rusal chief executive, said in the statement. Elias Sarkis will be in charge of Rusal's export sales and Bob Katsiouleris - in charge of market development and quality, Rusal added.

☆ UK court says Elliott, Jane Street can sue LME for cancelled nickel trades
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Pratima Desai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A British court has granted permission for U.S.-based hedge fund Elliot Associates and Jane Street Global Trading to sue the London Metal Exchange (LME) for cancelling nickel trades in March, a court document showed. Elliott and Jane Street are demanding damages of $456.4 million and $15.34 million respectively, after the nickel price topped a record $100,000 per tonne on March 8, prompting the LME's suspension of nickel trading and voiding of trades. The nickel trading episode has been the biggest crisis to hit the world's oldest metals forum in decades. "The LME therefore continues to consider that Elliott's and Jane Street's grounds for complaint are without merit, and the LME will defend any judicial review proceedings vigorously." Elliott Associates declined to comment and Jane Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ LME to discuss banning Russian metal, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Pratima Desai | Jefferson Kahinju | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) is planning to discuss banning new deliveries of Russian metal such as aluminium, nickel and copper so its warehouses cannot be used to offload hard-to-sell stock, three sources familiar with the matter said. Western countries have sanctioned Russian banks and wealthy individuals connected to President Vladimir Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but so far there are no restrictions on buying Russian metal. The sources said there was some concern that Russian aluminium producer Rusal would not be able to sell its metal and would deliver it to registered warehouses of the 145-year-old metal exchange. Another source said the LME could not ban Russian metal without sanctions on the companies that produced them. "Although we do not currently see any evidence of LME warehouses being used to offload metal on a long term basis," the exchange added, in response to a request for comment.

Indonesian nickel production by mine and productPOWERING UPIndonesia's nickel boom reflects both the country's rich mineral resources and the government's drive to push miners down the value-add processing chain. China's imports of nickel by product 2020-2022PRICING DOWNThis Indonesian supply surge was widely expected, but its exact timing was fuzzy given the number of new processing routes being used to convert ore to battery nickel. The combination of European demand shock, Indonesian production burst and the closing of the processing gap between stainless and battery nickel means there "is close to 30% downside for the nickel price into year-end". This mismatch of market-place and market is one of the reasons the LME nickel contract melted down in March. Macquarie Bank now provides three different nickel price forecasts for LME refined metal, Chinese nickel pig iron and Chinese nickel sulphate.

☆ London copper price hits two-month low on strong dollar
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - London copper prices hit a more than two-month low on Monday, as a stronger dollar made greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies. FILE PHOTO: A worker checks copper wires at Truong Phu cable factory in northern Hai Duong province, outside Hanoi, Vietnam August 11, 2017. LME aluminium hit an 18-month low of $2,151 a tonne, zinc eased 0.4% to $2,995.50 a tonne by 0326 GMT while tin rose 1.5% to $20,540 a tonne. The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined 2.7% to 60,840 yuan ($8,500.17) a tonne. ShFE nickel dropped 3.1% to 188,620 yuan a tonne, tin fell 3.1% to 178,510 yuan a tonne, aluminium declined 1.9% to 18,380 yuan a tonne and zinc was down 2.2% to 24,430 yuan a tonne.

Another key alumina supply channel was shut off by the closure, also in March, of the Nikolaev refinery in Ukraine. CONTINUED METAL FLOWSCertainly, the flow of Russian metal into Western markets has been robust since march. That extreme premium sucked in every spare unit of aluminium, including a lot of surplus Russian metal. A partial boycott will coincide with increased Russian supply as Rusal's domestic market weakens further under the broader economic sanctions package. You can understand why the aluminium market is starting to worry about the prospect of large volumes of unsold Russian metal being dumped into LME warehouses.

☆ We visited Chris Sacca-backed Epoch Biodesign's London HQ. The startup wants to clamp down on pollution with plastic eating enzymes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Epoch Biodesign, a startup converting plastic to chemicals using enzymes, has raised $14.5 million. Epoch Biodesign uses plastic-eating enzymes as a base and scientifically alters them to produce a specific chemical from the consumed plastic. Epoch Biodesign is also developing enabling technologies to do this cheaper, faster, better, and at greater scale. This is a colony picker, one the machines used test and select Epoch Biodesign's enzymes in the lab. In the long run, Epoch Biodesign expects to license out its technology so it isn't running facilities itself.

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses saw 11,200 tonnes of copper arrivals on Tuesday, the largest single-day warranting since June. LME inventory remains ultra-low by any historical yardstick, representing just two days' worth of global usage. At their peak of 175,000 tonnes in February last year they dwarfed registered LME copper inventory of 74,000 tonnes. Registered exchange stocks combined with LME shadow and INE bonded stocks represent the total statistically verifiable copper inventory landscape. Global Copper stocks, including LME Shadow and INE bonded...WHAT YOU CAN'T SEEThere is obviously more copper "out there" in the statistical dark.

☆ Cinemas are screening the Queen's funeral. Here's what else is open on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Anna Cooban | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London (CNN Business) Much of Britain came to a standstill on Monday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II . A company spokesperson told CNN Business that its venues would open on Monday "for communities to gather to mourn and reflect together on the life of the Queen." Travelodge, which has 78 budget hotels in London, said its staff were working "around the clock" in preparation for the Queen's funeral. Most major supermarkets — which normally remain open on public holidays for a reduced number of hours — are planning to close for the funeral. Apple AAPL confirmed to CNN Business that it would close all of its 39 stores in the country on Monday.

REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniLONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The puzzle facing the zinc market is whether demand or supply will fall hardest this year. LME zinc fund net positioningLOW STOCKSThe outright price is falling despite low exchange inventory. Fastmarkets assessments of Antwerp and Italy premiumsSUPPLY HITEurope is at the epicentre of the global zinc supply hit as smelters struggle to cope with soaring power prices. SHIFTING BALANCEZinc's micro dynamics are shifting fast and at the moment it seems that the demand hit is outpacing the supply hit. It's the demand outlook that's weighing on the outright zinc price.

Signage is seen at the JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York Head Quarters in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 30, 2022. read moreTsingshan has approached at least two LME brokers to become a client or increase credit lines after JPMorgan's actions, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. JPMorgan declined to comment and Tsingshan was not immediately available for comment via phone or email. In March, JPMorgan had the largest exposure of about 10 banks and brokers to large short positions, or bets on prices falling, held by Tsingshan. “And now those clients that have been reliant are finding that the cost of credit and access to liquidity is difficult post the war,” he said.

☆ Why a coup in Guinea was felt around the world
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-16 | by ( Timothyna Afua Duncan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A coup that took place in a coastal country in West Africa may hit closer to home than you think — with smartphones and power lines potentially being affected. These items all contain aluminum, and the world's primary source of aluminum is bauxite ore. And Guinea, the country where this coup occurred, has the world's largest bauxite reserves. Soldiers from the country's special forces had ousted President Alpha Conde, citing corruption as their motivation. In the process, the coup disrupted nearly a decade of political stability in the mineral-rich nation. Watch the video above to find out why a coup in Guinea was felt around the world, and what this latest blow means for consumers and businesses around the world.

Persons: Alpha Conde Organizations: London Metal Exchange, Markets Locations: West Africa, Guinea, Conakry

☆ De ce a ajuns preţul cuprului la nivelul maxim al ultimilor şapte ani
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-04 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Cotaţia cuprului la bursa London Metal Exchange a crescut vineri până la 7.750 de dolari tona, cea mai ridicată valoare înregistrată după luna martie 2013, pe fondul îngrijorărilor că grupurile miniere vor avea probleme în a face faţă cererii după revenirea economiei mondiale, relatează Agerpres citând Bloomberg. „Este un mediu favorabil din punct de vedere al preţurilor”, este de părere Ivan Arriagada, director general la compania minieră Antofagasta Plc. Potrivit acestuia, cererea de cupru venită din China s-a menţinut la un nivel solid iar piaţa mondială a cuprului se îndreaptă spre un uşor deficit în 2021. Progresele realizate în dezvoltarea unor vaccinuri anti COVID-19 au îmbunătăţit estimările privind evoluţia economiei mondiale, ceea ce ar trebui să crească gradul de utilizare al metalelor. În cazul cuprului, investitorii mizează şi pe un val de cheltuieli în infrastructuri verzi care vor necesita cantităţi mari de cupru.

Persons: Ivan Arriagada Organizations: London Metal Exchange Locations: Agerpres, creştere, Antofagasta Plc, China

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