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By James Regan
3 Min Read
(Updates prices)
SYDNEY, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Nickel and zinc led most base metals higher on Wednesday, building on overnight gains amid mounting supply concerns in China.
Commodity traders said the market was still digesting the impact on China’s future imports of its environmental crackdown on ageing metals and mining operations.
“The more China reduces what it can produce at home, the more it will need to import, simple as that,” a trader in Perth said.
* NICKEL UP: Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange had risen 1 percent to $10,750 a tonne by 0540 GMT, extending a 2.2-percent gain from the previous session. ANZ in a report said nickel was finding support via a “widening shortfall” in the metal used in making stainless steel and batteries.
* SHFE CLOSED: Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for a week-long public holiday in China.
* ZINC BUILDS: Three-month zinc gained 0.5 percent to $3,280 a tonne, close to its 10-year high of $3,292 reached in intraday trading on Tuesday.
* ZINC DISPUTE: Striking workers at North America’s second-largest zinc processing plant, owned by the Noranda Income Fund, have rejected a wage and pension offer from the company, Noranda and the union representing workers said on Tuesday.
* GLENCORE DEAL: Miner and commodities trader Glencore has agreed to buy a further stake worth at least $531 million in Peru’s largest zinc miner, Volcan Compañia Minera, the company said on Tuesday.
* ALUMINIUM RISES: Three-month aluminium gained 0.7 percent to $2,145 a tonne, after rising 1.25 percent overnight. China’s crackdown on pollution has helped boost aluminium prices by 27 percent this year on expectations of widespread capacity shutdowns during winter.
* COPPER STEADY: Three-month copper was steady at $6,519 a tonne.
Three month LME copper
Most active ShFE copper
Three month LME aluminium
Most active ShFE aluminium
Three month LME zinc
Most active ShFE zinc
Three month LME lead
Most active ShFE lead
Three month LME nickel
Most active ShFE nickel
Three month LME tin
Most active ShFE tin
Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Sonali Paul and Joseph Radford
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
