* Lead touches 15-month peak * Copper hits highest in more than a month * GRAPHIC-2019 asset returns: (Updates with closing prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Zinc prices rose on Friday asLondon Metal Exchange inventories touched the lowest level in 12years, though analysts said the higher prices failed to reflectlarge amounts of hidden stock. Inventories in LME-registered warehouse...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Friday October 25, settling above the $5,900 per tonne level for the first time since September amid thin turnover, while zinc futures similarly closed higher. Copper's outright price closed at $5,925 per tonne on Friday, climbing by around 1.2% from its intraday low of $5,862 per tonne and settling at...Read More

An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their latest price moves.Read More

Stocks of base metals other than nickel in Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses fell in the week to Friday October 25.Aluminium stocks decreased the most in percentage terms, followed by zinc, lead, copper and tin. Nickel inventories rose marginally.Aluminium stocks fell by 6.8% or 21,629 tonnes in the week of October 21-25 to 294,837 tonnes. The largest outflow in aluminium inventories w...Read More

The widening arbitrage loss and low buying interest weighed on the Shanghai copper cathode premiums in the week ended Friday October 25. Fastmarkets' copper grade A cathode premium, cif Shanghai fell to $68-80 per tonne on Friday, down by $2 from $70-82 per tonne on Thursday and the second straight day of decline. Market participants pointed to a widening arbitrage loss and low buying interes...Read More

Switzerland-based commodity trading and mining company Glencore recorded a year-to-date decrease in copper and nickel production for the third quarter of 2019, while zinc production increased.Copper and nickel production for the first nine months of 2019 fell by 4% and 2% respectively compared with the corresponding period of 2018, while zinc output increased by 3% over the same period. Glencore's...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged in pre-opening trade.Amazon dropped $107.98 to $1672.80 after reporting lower than consensus third quarter earnings.Intel gained $1.90 to $54.13 after reporting higher than consensus third quarter revenues and earnings. JP Morgan raised its target price to $68 from $64.Verizon added $0.67 to $61.25 after reportin...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has set out its requirements for responsible sourcing, outlining three routes to compliance. The requirements will be underpinned by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) due diligence guidance. The exchange's announcement on Friday October 25 follows the close of a market-wide consultation on June 30 into the introduction of responsible sour...Read More

Russian aluminium producer Rusal released its results from a 'disappointing' third quarter on Friday October 25, which saw 'further deterioration' in aluminium demand compared with the previous quarter.Global aluminium demand decreased to almost zero growth year-on-year in the first nine months of 2019 at 49.5 million tonnes (ex-China region was down 1.5% year-on-year at 21.9 million tonnes), whil...Read More

Bauxite deliveries from Cie des Bauxites de Guin?(C)e's (CBG) at the port of Kamsar in Guinea will be disrupted due to a broken conveyor, sources told Fastmarkets. Images seen by Fastmarkets on Thursday October 24 show that the bauxite conveyor belt's structure has partially collapsed. Bauxite miner CBG exports approximately 15 million tonnes per year of high-grade bauxite and is jointly owned by...Read More

Cold-rolled coil and galvanized base prices in the United States have held their ground for the first time following a month of declines.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, fob mill US was unchanged at $34 per hundredweight ($680 per ton) on Thursday October 24.The weekly price assessment for hot-dipped galvanized (base) steel coil, fob mill US held flat at $...Read More

Between 2000 and 2017 deaths from heart disease have decreased 9% while deaths from alzheimer's have increased 145%.According to the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 5.8 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2019.By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer's dementia may grow to a projected 13.8 million, barring no medical breakthroughs...Read More

Indian domestic secondary billet prices in the current week fell following a drop in demand and in prices of finished long products, particularly rebar.The price of steel billet domestic, ex-works India assessed by Fastmarkets' on October 25 was down by 600 rupees ($6) per tonne to 26,000-26,200 rupees per tonne compared with last week's assessment at 26,600-26,800 rupees per tonne. "The...Read More

Turkish prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) fell in the week ended Friday October 25, with demand remaining weak, sources have told Fastmarkets.Some buyers believed that prices may increase, while others said that local demand was not strong enough to support price increases.The expectation for a price increase was driven by the recent price rises for raw materials.Fastmarkets' daily index...Read More

Demand for flat steel was moderate in Turkey in the week ended Friday October 25 as buyers waited to see if prices would increase further amid rising raw material costs.Fastmarkets' daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), Northern Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was at $240.12 per tonne on Thursday, October 24, rising from $232.98 per tonne on October 16.Flat steel buyers wanted to see if the...Read More

Domestic rebar prices in Poland have decreased over the past week, but the price trend is expected to change on the recovery of the international scrap market, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday October 25.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 1,930-1,960 zloty ($502-510) per tonne on October 25, down from 1,960-2,000 zloty per tonne ex-w...Read More

A group of metals and mining companies including Glencore and Anglo American have joined forces with the World Economic Forum to explore the use of blockchain technology to accelerate responsible sourcing of raw materials. The Mining and Metals Blockchain Initiative will explore the building of a blockchain platform to address transparency, the track and tracing of materials, the reporting of carb...Read More

Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market declined slightly during the week to Friday October 25 despite a recovery in ferrous scrap prices amid an ample supply of Indian and Japanese billets.Scrap prices in the bellwether Turkish market, the world's largest import of steel scrap, have recovered since hitting a year to date trough of $218.98 per tonne on October 1.During the week to Friday, t...Read More

Bearish macroeconomic signals and oversupply have put minor metals and ferro-alloys prices variously under pressure over 2019; the structure and terms of contracts agreed over the coming weeks will show how market participants are accounting for those signals ahead of 2020. A slowing global economy alongside uncertainty over the China-United States trade dispute and Brexit have slowed minor metals...Read More

The inter-merchant spot market for UK-origin light iron scrap was unchanged in the week ended Friday October 25, extending a steady run of prices into a fourth week in line with domestic demand and a pick-up in European steel scrap export prices this month.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap 5C, loose old light, domestic, delivered inter-merchant, UK, was ?60-80 ($77-103) per tonne on F...Read More