LME Metal Inventories See Mixed Moves on September 24: Copper Rises, Aluminum, Lead, Zinc, Tin Decline, Nickel Unchanged

Korea Zinc said its affiliate KZAM has been mass-producing battery copper foil since June and has begun supplying a global battery customer, marking its first commercial shipments. The material will be used in batteries manufactured in North America, with expected revenue of up to KRW40 billion. Korea Zinc also confirmed an integrated recycling chain in which e-waste collected by its U.S. subsidiary Pedal Point is processed at the Onsan smelter into recycled copper, which is then used as feedstock for KZAM's battery-grade copper foil.

Overnight LME copper opened at $14,236.5/mt, dipped to $14,233/mt in early trading, then drifted higher with its price center rising toward the session end to $14,362/mt, and finally closed at $14,362/mt, up 0.88%. Trading volume reached 14,400 lots, and open interest stood at 265,000 lots, down 3,627 lots from the previous trading day, reflecting bear position reductions. Overnight the most-traded SHFE copper 2610 contract opened at 109,100 yuan/mt, drifted higher in early trading to 109,210 yuan/mt, then drifted lower to 108,930 yuan/mt, moved sideways, and finally closed at 109,110 yuan/mt, up 0.53%. Trading volume reached 32,000 lots, up 743 lots from the previous trading day, reflecting bull position additions.