This Morning in Metals: LME Announces Next Steps Toward LME Contract
This morning in metals, the London Metal Exchange announced a new partnership that aims to promote “market uptake of a transparent and representative global lithium price,” President Donald Trump backs off imposing a 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico and China’s May copper imports dropped.
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LME Announces New Partnership
The LME announced its latest steps toward creation of an LME lithium contract.
“Over the past 18 months the London Metal Exchange (LME) has been working closely with the global lithium industry to meet the need for transparent and robust reference prices,” an LME release stated. “Following extensive market engagement, the LME is announcing today that it is partnering with price reporting agency Fastmarkets to promote market uptake of a transparent and representative global lithium price. Continued adoption of reference pricing across the industry will pave the way for launch of a LME lithium futures contract.”
Among other uses, lithium is coveted for its use in electric vehicle batteries.
“In recent years there has been unprecedented price volatility in the lithium market, driven particularly by explosive electric vehicle (EV) battery demand,” said Robin Martin, LME head of market development. “The LME has been approached by a number of industry players, including producers, end users and several leading automotive firms, to develop effective lithium price-risk management tools. We are delighted to be announcing the next step in that process today.”
No Mexico Tariffs … For Now
Late Friday, the Trump administration announced it had reached a deal with the Mexican government and, as such, the U.S. would not impose a previously mentioned 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico.
Trump said last month that the U.S. would impose an escalating tariff, beginning at 5%, as of June 10 if the two countries could not reach a deal that addressed the flow of migrants to the U.S.
However, the threat of tariffs still looms.
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump said if the immigration deal does not receive approval by Mexico’s legislature, “tariffs will be reinstated.”
China Copper Imports Down
China’s imports of unwrought copper dropped 10.9% in May from the previous month, Reuters reported.
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Among other metals, China is the world’s top consumer of copper. The country’s imports of copper reached 361,000 tons in May, according to Reuters.
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