ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 11/12: LME base metal prices fall; Chinese alumina prices facing pressure in 2019 due to drop in demand, added supply; Trafigura writes off $72 million of Nyrstar stake equity value

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday December 11.

Base metal prices started the week with a step downward on the London Metal Exchange on Monday December 10. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:


A drop in demand for alumina and supply from new projects coming on stream in 2019 will put Chinese alumina prices under pressure next year, market participants said.

Trafigura has written off $72 million of the equity value of its stake in zinc and lead smelting company Nyrstar, it said in its annual results on December 10, while detailing growth in base metals trading volumes.

Alufer Mining has shipped more than 1 million tonnes of bauxite from its Bel Air project in Guinea and has several offtake contracts in place for 2019, chief executive officer Bernie Pryor told Fastmarkets MB.

Negotiations for 2019 blister copper refining charge terms are still ongoing, three weeks after Asia Copper Week in Shanghai, with parties holding divergent views over Zambian government directives and scrap availability underlying the supply-demand dynamics for the coming year.

Pig iron demand has improved in Turkey due to higher volumes of steel produced via electric-arc furnaces, while scrap quality and quantity have fallen, sources told Fastmarkets on December 6.

Billet export prices from the Commonwealth of Independent States were largely unchanged on Monday, with mills battling against the general downtrend and participants preferring to wait for more clarity in the market.

Import prices for rebar in Singapore were unchanged over the past week after sentiment steadied in the wake of a cessation in global trade hostilities.

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