ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 29/03: Base metals mostly rise on LME; Gresik copper smelter said temporarily shutting; Sterlite Copper smelter advances scheduled maintenance

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday March 29.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange generally ended higher at the close of trading on Wednesday March 28, with only aluminium and zinc trading lower. Read more in our live futures.

Here are how LME prices looked at Wednesday's close:


Indonesia's Gresik copper smelter in eastern Java will shut down for up to 10 days next week to resolve technical problems, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Sterlite Copper's Tuticorin smelter has advanced its scheduled maintenance and will close for "approximately" 15 days, the company said, while thousands of local residents gathered in protest of the planned expansion.

Union leaders at Codelco Norte, a division of Chilean copper producer Codelco, are urging supervisors to vote for industrial action following the company's latest contract offer.

K Alex Stewart, founder and chairman of global inspection and analysis organization Alex Stewart International, died on March 26 at the age of 83.

Aluminium scrap markets in the United States were mixed, with mill-grade scrap stepping lower on declines in the terminal market and smelter-grade products mostly on steady footing while all eyes remain on potential aluminium scrap tariffs in China.

In the steel market, Saudi Arabia's National Committee for Steel Industry on Tuesday called for urgent action against allegedly dumped imports into the country, specifically by raising duties.

Unionized workers at Iron Ore Co of Canada's mine in Labrador City, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, have gone on strike.

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