EUROPEAN MORNING BRIEF 19/12: SHFE base metals prices broadly lower; backwardation dampens European, US Al premiums; Glencore's Katanga settles with OSC via $22.5mln payment

Good morning from Fastmarkets MB's offices in Asia as we bring you the latest news and pricing stories on Wednesday December 19.

Base metals traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly down during Asian morning trading on Wednesday following Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech on Tuesday, which lacked concrete steps to improve the economy and diffuse trade tensions with the United States-and more recently, Canada.

Check Fastmarkets MB's live futures report here.





The backwardation in the London Metal Exchange's cash/January spread dampened aluminium premiums in Europe and the United States in the week ended Tuesday December 18, while spot activity was quiet in the Asian and Brazilian markets.

Glencore's Katanga Mining Ltd will pay the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) around $22.5 million as part of a settlement over the copper-cobalt producer's historical disclosures.

French bank Natixis, information technology firm IBM and commodities trading group Trafigura have been working together for some time on a blockchain project for commodity trade finance in crude oil transactions in the United States.

Chinese ferro-vanadium exporters continued to aggressively slash offer prices in response to sparse buying interest amid weak domestic demand, while European prices followed the move down.

Aqua Metals is nearing completion of the first phase of its two-stage capital improvement program, as well as implementing its plan to begin processing a portion of hard metallic lead into lead ingots.

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