Weekly round up: Base metals prices show mixed trends

Domestic base metals prices showed diverse trends this week. Domestic aluminium and nickel prices were almost stable with some minor fluctuations, while zinc and copper witnessed positive movement this week.

Aluminium

Stocks continued to fall by 22,000 tonnes (t) to 586,000 t w-o-w at London Metal Exchange (LME)-registered warehouses.

SteelMint’s price assessment for aluminium tense scrap stood at INR 173,000/t ($2,262/t) marginally down by INR 1,000/t w-o-w, exy-Delhi, whereas, ADC12 stood at INR 216,000/t ($2,824/t), exw-Faridabad, largely range-bound on a w-o-w basis.

Further, Middle East (ME)-origin aluminium scrap import tense and extrusion prices increased in the range of $10-55/t CIF Nhava Sheva on 19 April, while taint tabor scrap prices fell slightly by $20/t as against 12 April 2022. UK-origin wheel scrap prices, too, saw a minor correction by $20/t w-o-w.

Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited which is a global leader in aluminium rolling and recycling, recently announced it is investing more than $30 million to build a new continuous annealing line at its Plettenberg-Ohle, Germany, facility. The additional line will double the plant’s capacity for aluminium used in the production of coffee capsules, a market that is growing in response to increased demand for sustainable packaging solutions.

Nickel

Cash prices of nickel on LME showed an uptrend this week, while three-month contract prices fell by $68/t to $33,107/t towards the end of the week compared to last week’s levels.

Stocks of nickel were assessed at 72,678 t on 22 April, up 78 t as against last week.

SteelMint’s assessment of stainless-steel grade 304 scrap was recorded at INR 192,000/t ($2,510/t), down INR 1,000/t ($13/t), and grade 316 scrap at INR 289,000/t ($3,779/t), stable as against 19 April 2022, exy-Delhi.

Copper

Copper showed minor fluctuations in terms of both cash and three-month contract prices. However, copper inventory was recorded at 137,775 t, up sharply by around 27,100 t from 110,675 t last week.

SteelMint’s assessment for copper armature scrap exy-Delhi stood at INR 752,000/t ($9,836/t), up INR 5,200/t ($68/t) w-o-w.

The highlight of the week was Turkey’s largest copper mine tender securing $149 million in a winning bid on 21 April 2022 for the development of the mine.

Zinc

The zinc market exhibited positive sentiments. However, stocks declined by 12,350 t to 103,250 t on 22 April.

SteelMint’s assessment for special high-grade zinc ingots stood at INR 387,000/t ($5,062/t), up INR 9,200/t ($120/t) w-o-w.

Upcoming projects in Southeast Asia:

Thailand intends to develop its technology for a zinc-ion battery: Thailand looks set to construct a zinc-ion battery plant to support electric vehicles (EVs) and utilise its domestic resources, as per reports.

According to Mr. Janekrishna, Executive Director of the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECi), the government has agreed to this development plan and offered a 192-million-baht budget this year. National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) will use the funding to build the infrastructure for a pilot battery plant at EECi with a capacity of one megawatt per hour.