ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 31/10: Base metal prices drift lower; EU opens investigation on flat steel venture; LME reaches Brexit resolution

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Wednesday October 31.

Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Tuesday October 30, with broad strength in the US dollar index prompting sharp drops in the three-month copper and zinc contract prices while aluminium drifted to levels not seen since August 2017. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at the close of trading:


Competition regulators in the European Union have opened an in-depth investigation into the 50:50 European flat steel joint venture between ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel Europe, the European Commission said on October 30.

London Metal Exchange members will be permitted to clear via London even if no Brexit deal is reached, although it remains unclear whether this reprieve would also apply in the event of Brexit being agreed with a deal on March 29, 2019.

Strategic & Precious Metals Processing (SPMP) has delayed the production of antimony metal at its antimony-gold project in Oman, SPMP's parent company, Tri-Star Resources, said on Tuesday.

Turkey's domestic scrap prices have increased over the past week due to tight supply and increasing costs for imported scrap, sources said on October 30.

Eastern China's hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall on Tuesday due to low demand, with buyers putting off restocking plans on expectations that the market would weaken further.

With discounts for lower-grade and high-impurity iron ore indicating a structural change in the market, Australia's Flinders Mines is looking to improve the grade of the steelmaking raw material that it hopes to develop at its flagship project in the Pilbara region in the north of Western Australia.

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