EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 05/10: LME base metals prices mixed; alumina market braces for year-end volatility; Concorde to supply Century with alumina

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Friday October 5.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed during early trading on Friday, with a barrage of strong economic data from the United States as well as hawkish rhetoric from the US Federal Reserve continuing to prop up the dollar and limiting any upside moves in the metals' prices.

Check Fastmarket MB's live futures report here.



Participants in the alumina industry are bracing themselves for a turbulent end to the year following Hydro's announcement that it will suspend 100% of operations at its Alunorte facility in Brazil.

Concord Resources will supply Century Aluminium with smelter-grade alumina from 2019 to 2024, it said on Thursday.

Fastmarkets MB is proposing to discontinue its weekly price assessment for molybdenum concentrate, 45% Mo, on an in-warehouse China basis.

Swiss trading house Helvetia Resources will start cold commissioning three furnaces at its new Karaganda ferro-silicon operation in Kazakhstan at the end of the year, according to chief executive officer Yuri Rioneli.

Turkish billet prices have remained broadly stable over the past week despite sluggish demand, especially for imported material, sources said on Thursday.

Turkish domestic long steel prices have continued to soften over the past week on sluggish demand, while the country's lira was gradually regaining value against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday October 4.

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