By Violet Li / April 11, 2018 / www.metalbulletin.com /
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Good morning from Metal Bulletin's offices in Shanghai as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday April 11.
Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up during Asian morning trading on Wednesday, with the red metal continuing to benefit from an easing in global trade tensions.
But the release of disappointing Chinese data earlier this morning has dampened sentiment slightly, putting a cap on copper's gains and pushing some of the other metals downward.
China's consumer prices were up just 2.1% year on year last month, beneath both expected and previous readings of 2.6% and 2.9% respectively, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics.
Meanwhile, China's producer prices in March were also shy of forecasts, gaining an annual 3.1% against expected growth of 3.2% and a previous increase of 3.7% in February.
Check Metal Bulletin's live futures report
here.
| LME snapshot at 03.19am London time |
| Latest three-month LME Prices |
| | Price ($/t) | Change since yesterday's close ($) |
| Copper | 6,929 | -16 |
| Aluminium | 2,205 | 4 |
| Lead | 2,391 | -1 |
| Zinc | 3,243 | 0 |
| Tin | 21,015 | 140 |
| Nickel | 13,660 | -35 |
| SHFE snapshot at 11.10am Shanghai time |
| Most-traded SHFE contracts |
| | Price (yuan per tonne) | Change since yesterday's close (yuan) |
| Copper | 51,340 | 170 |
| Aluminium | 14,325 | -25 |
| Zinc | 24,515 | 15 |
| Lead | 18,485 | -5 |
| Tin | 144,330 | -320 |
| Nickel | 101,540 | 610 |
Vedanta Resources' planned restart of its Tuticorin copper smelter in Tamil Nadu, India, will be delayed after its application to do so was rejected by state environmental officials.
The US Midwest
aluminium premium surged by 20% after the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and aluminium producer UC Rusal. The Asian and European markets remained mostly firm while market participants assessed the effects of the sanctions on the physical markets.
A wave of
volatility has swept through aluminium scrap markets in the US due to drastic trade policy changes, with mill-grade and smelter-grade prices moving in opposite directions.
Silicon metal prices in the US
ticked down in April following the US International Trade Commission's vote against anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports from key suppliers.
Steelmakers in the US
exercised discipline in February and reduced imports of higher-priced raw materials despite improving domestic melting rates.