Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday February 21, with strong afternoon performances in the prices of three-month aluminium, tin and lead amid a slowdown in copper and nickel activity.
The three-month aluminium price climbed by 2% over the afternoon to reach its highest point since February 7, while a fresh cancelation of more than 17,000 tonnes across LME-listed warehouses in Singapore aided the metal's price surge.Meanwhile, copper's three-month price continued to trade near $6,400 per tonne, its highest price since July 2018, while total volumes topped the complex with more than 18,000 lots changing hands by the close.Despite this, the price of copper consolidated lower over the afternoon but remained well supported and up by a little less than 7% since the start of the year, while total LME inventory continued to dwindle to a decade-low of 137,700 tonnes."LME copper has strengthened by 2.5% since the start of the week, including an increase of 1.5% [on Wednesday] ," Fastmarkets analyst Boris Mikanikrezai said in his Copper Today report."LME copper is up by 3.5% on the month after rallying by...