Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were split into two camps at the close on Thursday March 29 ahead of the market shutting down for a long Easter weekend.
The three-month aluminium price closed 1.5% lower as it hit a low of $1,996 per tonne - the lowest since August 8, 2017. "Aluminium therefore cost nearly $300 less than the multi-year high it achieved in early January. Almost all of the gains chalked up by aluminium in the second half of December (when it surged from $2,000 to $2,300 per tonne within a good two weeks) have meanwhile corrected again," Commerzbank's research note said. "Besides the much gloomier technical picture, we believe that the US import tariffs that came into force last Friday are also contributing to the price slide. This is because the material originally destined for the US is likely...