The London Metal Exchange base metals, except tin, were subject to stock moves in the morning session on Wednesday February 19, with LME three-month prices demonstrating mixed consolidation.
The LME three-month lead price was trading down 0.6% from the previous day's close at around $1,885 per tonne, capped by a 5,725-tonne re-warranting of material in Kaohsiung, South Korea, with a widening cash/three-month spread backwardation dampening appetites for material. The backwardation in the LME lead spreads widened, with the cash/three-month spread trading in a $27.50-per-tonne backwardation today and the cash/March spread trading in a wider $40-per-tonne backwardation. "Although lead might be rebounding from the $1,808-per-tonne low on February 11, the prognosis for the heavy metal is not good," Fastmarkets research analyst Andy Farida said. "The...