Commodities Roundup: European HRC prices dip; tin rises on Indonesia export ban possibility; oil prices retreat

Here’s a quick rundown of news and thoughts from particular commodity sectors, including oil prices’ retreat this week, hot rolled coil prices in Europe and more.

MetalMiner, a sister site of ours, scours the landscape for what matters. This week:

European HRC prices dip

Reporting from Europe, Christopher Rivituso this week delved into recent hot rolled coil prices in the European market.

“Lower auto sales in Europe have put West European hot rolled coil prices under pressure,” he explained. “However, demand from construction is nonetheless helping to support prices for the flat-rolled product.”

As in the U.S., prices have started to soften.

“ArcelorMittal had originally sought €1,080 ($1,210) in November,” he added. “While that price remains the Luxembourg group’s official one, transactions have taken place at lower levels.

“Large-volume transactions have occurred in November at €980-1,000 ($1,095-1,120) per metric ton exw for delivery in January, the trader said.”

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Tin prices surge

Tin prices, meanwhile, have surged recently, particularly amid comments from Indonesia’s president indicating the country could impose tin and copper concentrate export bans.

Beginning in 2020, Indonesia imposed a nickel ore export ban, prompting a WTO complaint from the European Union.

Tin prices have surged since the start of November. LME three-month tin closed earlier this week at $39,250 per metric ton, or up 7.24% month over month.

Tin metal is used in a wide variety of applications, including food containers, solder and consumer electronics.

Alcoa announces smelter restart

In supply news, Alcoa Corporation announced plans to restart a joint venture aluminum smelter that had sat idled since 2009.

The Portland Aluminium smelter in Australia, a joint venture in which Alcoa of Australia Limited is the majority shareholder (Alcoa of Australia Limited is 60% owned by Alcoa Corporation), will restart production in Q3 2022, Alcoa said.

The facility has 358,000 metric tons of capacity per year, of which Alcoa has 197,000 metric tons of consolidated capacity.

Copper prices

Like aluminum, copper prices surged in late October before plunging and then stabilizing in November.

According to media reports this week, the CEO of Codelco, the Chilean copper producer, said copper prices could fall next year.

LME three-month copper closed earlier this week at $9,510 per metric ton, up 0.2% from a month ago.

Meanwhile, on the political front, elections in Peru and Chile, the world’s top two copper producers, could lead to significant impacts on their world-leading copper mining sectors.

Earlier this year, Peru elected leftist Pedro Castillo as president. As for Chile, the world’s top copper producer, the country is in the middle of a runoff election between conservative José Antonio Kast and leftist Gabriel Boric.

Oil prices drop

Meanwhile, after previously moving above $80 per barrel, oil prices took significant losses this week.

The WTI crude oil price closed Wednesday at $65.57 per barrel, down $12.82 per barrel from the previous week, the Energy Information Administration reported, in part influenced by recent concerns over the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

For motorists in the U.S., pre-Thanksgiving gasoline prices reached their highest for that time of year since 2012.

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