Rolling LME/SHFE price report 22/12: Base metals drift in Europe; Citi calls SHFE the driving force in prices

Welcome to the rolling base metals price report, tracking the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange markets on Tuesday December 22.

22 December 2015 Mark Burton, Ellie Wang

REVIEW OF 2015: Gulf between contract and spot terms puts copper benchmarks under strain

There were plenty of ways to lose money in the copper market in 2015, but being on the wrong side of benchmark pricing was probably the one that caused the broadest frustration in the physical industry.

22 December 2015 Mark Burton, Kiki Kang

MJP aluminium premium looks to reverse trend in Q1

Deals between Japanese buyers and some aluminium producers have been done at $110 per tonne for delivery of material in the January-March 2016 period, $20 higher than current quarter premiums, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.

22 December 2015 Deepali Sharma

NORTH AMERICAN MORNING BRIEF: Key metal markets news so far on December 22

The latest news from the metal markets to start the day in North America on Tuesday December 22.

22 December 2015 Charlotte Radford

REVIEW OF 2015: A year in aluminium premiums

2015 was the year that the world’s hugely elevated aluminium premiums finally fell back, after the London Metal Exchange curbed the huge growth of aluminium stocks in bonded warehouses.

22 December 2015 Jethro Wookey

China's lead concentrate imports up 53% in November

China imported 246,161 tonnes of lead ore and concentrate in November, up 53% year-on-year, according to the latest Chinese customs data.

22 December 2015 Anna Xu

Huge surge in Chinese refined nickel inventories as LME stocks drop

A build-up of refined nickel units in Shanghai went largely unnoticed by international sources in 2015, as market participants focused on the comparatively small London Metal Exchange drawdowns.

22 December 2015 Fleur Ritzema, Ellie Wang

China’s November copper concentrate imports up 25% on surge from Peru

China’s copper ore and concentrate imports rose 24.57% year-on-year in November due to surged shipment from Peru.

22 December 2015 Kiki Kang

LME average daily trading volumes down 3% since January 1

Average daily traded volumes on the London Metal Exchange fell to 677,622 lots in the period January 1 to December 15, a decline of 3% year-on-year.

22 December 2015 Charlotte Radford

SHFE vs LME arbitrage: copper, aluminium, zinc

Arbitrage for copper, aluminium and zinc imported into China*

22 December 2015 Anna Xu