Commodity News
HeadLine : Base metals fall after Fed minutes
Date : Aug 22 2019
Most industrial metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) slipped on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled that it was not on a preset path to more monetary policy easing. Interest rate cuts by the Fed could lead to a weaker U.S. currency, which makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for users of other currencies. Minutes of Fed’s last month meeting showed policymakers were deeply divided over whether to cut interest rates, but were united in wanting to signal they were not on a preset path to more rates cuts. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.2% to $5,719.50 a tonne, aluminium was almost unchanged, nickel decreased 0.5%, zinc dipped 0.5% and lead was 0.9% lower. Chile’s Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, said on Wednesday it had shut down its Ventanas smelter along Chile’s central coast for maintenance until Sept. 3, but the shut down would not impact production. The global nickel market deficit narrowed to 45,100 tonnes in the first six months of this year, compared to a deficit of 85,200 tonnes in the same period of 2018, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed. The global zinc market swung into a 10,900 tonne surplus in June from a revised deficit of 38,200 tonnes in May, data from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) showed. The global lead market recorded a widening deficit of 65,000 tonnes in the first half of 2019, compared to a deficit of 37,000 tonnes during the same period last year.

Source: Reuters

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