Metals Daily

This Morning At the 07:00 CET Tuesday snapshot, base metals were mostly firmer against Monday’s official closes. Aluminium led the gains, rising 0.6% to $3,241 per tonne, while copper added 0.5% to $13,944 and zinc advanced 0.4% to $3,654. Tin gained 0.3% to $55,300 and lead edged 0.1% higher to $1,828. Nickel was the exception, falling 0.6% to $16,770; its decline matched aluminium’s gain as the session’s largest move in percentage terms. Macro & Geopolitics European equity futures pointed 0.3% higher after strong U.S. corporate earnings and a four-year high in American manufacturing activity supported risk appetite. Brent crude recovered to around $85 a barrel following Monday’s 7% fall, as conflicting statements from Washington and Tehran clouded the prospect of peace talks and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb remained disrupted. Markets still assigned a 65% probability to a Federal Reserve rate increase in September. For European industry, record-low Rhine water levels were an additional cost threat: vessels were operating at roughly 20% capacity, potentially trimming German third-quarter growth by 0.1–0.2 percentage points. Base Metals Copper’s advance was underpinned by shrinking exchange stocks. LME inventories had fallen to 244,025 tonnes from around 400,000 in April, while Shanghai holdings had dropped to roughly 69,300 tonnes from more than 430,000 in March. COMEX stocks continued to rise to more than 717,000 short tons, highlighting the concentration of available metal in the United States, although high prices were beginning to weaken Chinese downstream consumption. Zinc remained exposed to a tight nearby market, with only 73,850 tonnes of available LME stocks and costly backwardation around the August contract. Nickel recovered in wider Asian trading but remained vulnerable while Indonesia prepared clearer guidance on new mining quotas. Separately, Indonesia’s aluminium exports more than doubled year on year in June, providing evidence of stronger shipments, although most first-half volumes were destined for Vietnam, China and South Korea. Precious Metals Gold held near $4,060 an ounce as traders balanced continuing Middle East risks against expectations that U.S. interest rates may rise in September. Attention shifted to this week’s labour-market releases, with weaker employment figures likely to reduce rate-hike expectations and support bullion. Silver rose 1.0% to $58.74, while platinum and palladium each gained about 1.2%, reaching approximately $1,647 and $1,280, respectively. The precious-metals complex remained highly sensitive to oil-driven inflation expectations and the dollar. Steel Jindal Stainless reported a 7.7% increase in quarterly profit as stronger selling prices offset a 7.3% decline in volumes. The producer said shortages of propane and LPG linked to the Middle East conflict disrupted output, while power and fuel expenses jumped 75%; it also indicated that shipments to the European Union were declining. In Europe, Thyssenkrupp was targeting the end of October for the spin-off of its materials-trading division, subject to shareholder approval. Meanwhile, restricted Rhine cargo capacity was raising inbound raw-material and distribution costs for German steelmakers and industrial processors. Rare Earth Metals A proposed transaction in Malawi underlined continued competition for heavy rare-earth prospects, with AuKing Mining planning to acquire the Machinga project from Tusker Minerals in a deal valued at up to A$4 million. The project remained an early-stage supply proposition rather than an immediate source of material. Separately, the U.S. administration was preparing a Friday meeting with mining executives and a workforce event involving representatives from all 14 accredited U.S. mining schools, reinforcing policy efforts to expand domestic and allied critical-mineral production and processing capacity. Forex The yen weakened 0.3% to around 157.7 per dollar as the initial impact of coordinated U.S.-Japanese intervention faded, although it remained about 4% stronger against the dollar and euro than a week earlier. A weak Japanese government bond auction added pressure by lifting yields and reviving concerns about financing conditions. The dollar index stayed close to a two-month low near 100, while the euro held around $1.15. For euro-based scrap traders, the comparatively firm single currency continued to moderate the local-currency cost of dollar-denominated metal purchases. Watch Today U.S. job-openings data, June trade figures and factory orders were due later Tuesday and could shift expectations for the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. European traders would also monitor BP’s results for indications on energy costs, while AMD and Caterpillar earnings could provide signals on semiconductor investment and heavy-equipment demand.