Three-month LME aluminium climbed toward a record high on Tuesday, as mounting sanctions on Russia sparked concerns about aluminium supplies from Rusal. The worries about shipping disruptions pushed up nickel prices at the same time.

According to a report released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) on Wednesday, the global supply of primary aluminium from January to October 2021 will be short of 1.366 million mt, while the surplus of primary aluminium in 2020 was 1.271 million mt.

According to SMM survey, the conversion margins of aluminium billet have been standing high for a long period.

This is a roundup of news in the steel industry for last week.

The new production capacity of lithium resources will be put into operation intensively after 2022-2023, and the production may be lower than expected. It is expected that there will still be a supply shortage of 24,000 mt LCE in 2022.

Zinc stocks across LME-listed warehouses declined 9,325 mt to 226,900 mt last week. The contango of LME cash to 3-month contract rose to $14.5/mt. The market expects that the FOMC will not propose a gradual reduction in debt purchases in September due to sluggish US data and the spread of Delta virus. At the same time, the European Central Bank's speech is relatively optimistic, and the market holds a moderate outlook. LME zinc is expected to move between $3,030-3,110/mt.

China’s tin ore imports in March saw a sharp year-on-year drop of over 60% due to lower production in Myanmar and its declining grades.

The growth rate of global copper ore output is expected to rise back to 3.3% in 2018, said SMM senior analyst Ye Jianhua.

Indonesia’s Trade Ministry revised the country’s tin exports data in September as the institution which provided the data made an adjustment for the figures.

Both ferrous and nonferrous metals performed poorly today. Most base metals on the SHFE went down after mixed opening.