Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were lower across the board during morning trading on Tuesday December 18, with a broad sell-off across the complex capping prices, while another fresh inflow of more than 57,000 tonnes of aluminium did little to spur price action.
After more than 104,000 tonnes of aluminium inflows this week, including a net inflow of 57,700 tonnes today, the metal's three-month price continues to face pressure from a strong dollar and uncertainty over trade tensions between the United States and China. In spite of the inflows, tightness in aluminium's forward spreads persists, with the metal's cash/three-month spread now in a $1.25 per tonne backwardation, and its cash/January 2019 spread in a $20 per tonne backwardation. Falling 1.4%, the three-month copper price fell to its lowest level since November 13 to $6,036 per tonne this morning, with more than 9,400 lots traded on the exchange as of 10:28am London time.Despite recent inflows, the total LME on-warrant stock level remains just above 105,000...