Base metal prices dipped again in nervous, volatile pre-market trading on the London Metal Exchange as investors took profits.

 

The prices have been up for so long that as soon as the market showed signs of weakness investors took a chance to cover their positions, which in turn encouraged another sell off by funds this morning,” an LME trader said.

“On top of that, on some base metals we saw inventories inflows,” he added.Aluminium lost $16 to a three-month price of $2,625/30 per tonne from the previous final kerb price of $2,646 per tonne, after the metal’s stocks in LME warehouses rose 1,250 tonnes to 724,125 tonnes. Nervousness amid inventory inflows at the LME keeps prices volatile. Producers have also been seen selling forward,” said Barclays Capital analyst Ingrid Sternby/The increase in stocks took place largely due to a 2,325-tonne inflow of aluminium into ingapore.

 

Lead basis three months slipped $5 to change hands at $1,285/90 per tonne compared with $1,295 per tonne at the end of Thursday kerb trading.Nickel for delivery in three months traded $175 lower at $15,525/600 per tonne.Tin fell to a three-month price of $7,825/75 per tonne from the previous final kerb price of $7,900 per tonne.

 

Copper bucked the trend as investors bought into earlier price weakness, rising to a three-month price of $4,985/95 per tonne, up $20 from the end of Thursday kerb trading. LME copper stocks fell net 25 tonnes to 99,175 tonnes. Busan warehouses received 1,000 tonnes of copper on Friday but the inflow was offset by deliveries out of Bilbao, Hamburg, Hull, Rotterdam and Singapore. Still, the rise in the price, which pushed the metal closer towards the $5,000-per tonne mark, could cause more speculative technical selling later in the day and create more price volatility, especially with evidence of some further producer forward selling interest, Sternby said/Three-month zinc barely moved from the previous final kerb price of $2,340 per tonne to $2,330/40 per tonne on Friday morning.

 

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A group of container shipping lines plan to raise freight charges for shipments of commodities, including metals, from the US to Asia beginning March 15, the Westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (WTSA) group said in a statement. 

 

The 11 shipping lines, which belong to the WTSA group, will increase freight rates for steel, aluminium, copper and other commodities by $200 per 40-foot container (FEU) and $160 per 20-foot container (TEU) starting March 15, said the statement. The group also intends to increase the freight rates for plastic scrap, chemicals, and resins heading to Asia by US$100 per FEU and $80 per TEU as "a reflection of steadily increasing demand for these cargoes as industrial inputs for Asian manufacturers.

 

Further details were not immediately available. The WTSA announced in January that it would
increase freight rates for shipments of scrap metal from the US to Asia on February 15 due to strong demand for scrap in China (MB Jan 13).Members of the WTSA group include Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd Container Line, South Korea’s K-Line, Japan’s NYK Line, Taiwan’s Evergreen
Marine Corp and China’s Cosco Container Line.