- Hindustan Copper’s Q3FY’25 profit dips
- China boosts secondary copper use, recycling
At close of trading on 14 Friday, 2025, base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) showed mixed trends, with nickel witnessing the highest decline of 1.83% w-o-w. Meanwhile, LME warehouse stocks also exhibited mixed trends, with nickel again showing a drop of 4.63% w-o-w.
On the LME, three-month aluminium stood at $2,637/tonne (t), up by 0.34%, while nickel prices decreased by 1.83% w-o-w to $15,468/t. Copper prices were at $9,477/t, up by 0.74% w-o-w, while zinc increased by 0.07% w-o-w to $2,842/t. Lead inched up by 2.26% w-o-w to $1,993/t.
Aluminium
Imported aluminium scrap prices in India rose by up to 5% w-o-w, driven by a shortage in the local market. This scarcity also pushed up prices of semi-finished aluminium products.
BigMint’s benchmark assessment for Tense scrap originating from the US was at $1,860/tonne (t), increasing by $10/t w-o-w, while Wheels from the UK stood at $2,435/t, remained range-bound w-o-w, both CFR west coast, India.
Domestic aluminium Tense scrap prices inched up by INR 2,000/t w-o-w, with ex-Delhi at INR 177,000/t and ex-Chennai at INR 178,000/t.
BigMint’s weekly assessments for ADC12 (non-OEM) grade stood at INR 204,000/t in Delhi and INR 205,000/t in Chennai, increased by INR 1,000/t w-o-w.
A leading automobile manufacturer has set its ADC12 settlement prices for March at INR 212,110/t, marking an increase of INR 4,210/t m-o-m, the highest in the past four months. This hike follows a recent surge in imported aluminium scrap prices amid tight supply. Notably, the scrap-to-semi-finished spread for March rose to INR 36,000-37,000/t, up by INR 3,000/t m-o-m.
Copper
Domestic copper armature prices were assessed at INR 790,000/t ex-Delhi, up 2.6% w-o-w, while copper motors mix scrap prices moved up w-o-w to $1,200/t, up $20/t w-o-w.
Secondary continuous cast rods (CCR) (99.90%) were assessed at INR 845,000/t ex-Delhi, a 3.3% increase w-o-w. Meanwhile, primary CCR prices rose by 4.2% w-o-w to INR 870,000/t.
Hindustan Copper, which controls 80% of India’s copper reserves, announced a slight 0.15% q-o-q dip in net profit, with INR 62.9 crore secured in Q3FY’25 compared to INR 63 crore a year earlier. The company’s revenue also fell, by a larger 17.91% to INR 327.77 crore from INR 399.29 crore in Q3FY’24, attributed to lapses in exploration, mining, and marketing strategies.
Zinc
Zinc prices remained range-bound w-o-w. Imported zinc diecast from the Middle East was assessed at $2,115/t CFR Mundra, up $5/t w-o-w, while domestic zinc ingots decreased by INR 1,000/t w-o-w to INR 277,000/t. Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) zinc ingots, however, inched up by INR 5,800/t w-o-w to INR 290,800/t ex-Jodhpur.
Lead
In this segment, domestic primary ingots increased by INR 2,000/t w-o-w to INR 202,000/t, while re-melted ingots increased by INR 2,000/t w-o-w to INR 182,000/t. Meanwhile HZL lead ingots were increased by INR 2,000/t w-o-w to INR 202,800/t ex-Jodhpur.
Chinese base metals market overview
In the week ending 14 February, deliverable base metals inventories at warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchanges (SHFE) displayed a positive picture, with zinc showing the largest inflow of 70% w-o-w to 67,503 t, according to the exchange’s weekly stock report.
China expands secondary copper use with new recycling facilities: China continues to expand the use of secondary copper in its smelting operations by investing in new copper scrap recycling facilities and ramping up scrap imports. This strategy is aimed at reducing reliance on primary copper sources and promoting sustainability.
India’s industrial output slows in Dec’24: India’s industrial output grew 3.2% y-o-y in December 2024, the weakest in four months, missing the 3.9% forecast. Manufacturing rose by 3%, electricity output increased 6.2%, and mining expanded 2.6%. For April-December, industrial growth slowed to 4% from 6.3% y-o-y a year earlier, reflecting weaker demand and economic uncertainties that impacted overall production momentum.
Leave a Reply