Non-ferrous metals prices on LME show downtrend d-o-d

Prices of non-ferrous metals on the London Metal Exchange (LME) witnessed a downtrend. Over a three-month period, aluminum futures have inched down by 1.3% to reach $2,200/t, nickel dipped by 1.2% to $20,841/t, copper edged down by 1.6% to reach $8,347/t, zinc prices fell by 1.6% to $2,456/t and lead prices inched up by 0.6% to $2,125/t. Likewise, stocks in LME warehouses witnessed mixed trends d-o-d.

COMEX market

Copper prices on the Commodity Exchange (COMEX) witnessed a decrease of 2% to reach $8,271/t from $8,425/t in the last trading day.

India: Non-ferrous scrap markets

Aluminium

Indian imports of aluminum scrap experienced a decline in prices ranging from $50-$70. This drop can be attributed to the decrease in aluminum LME prices. The decrease in LME prices has had a negative impact on investors' confidence, resulting in lower trading volumes and influencing the direction of price trends. Furthermore, aluminum talk prices originating from the US saw a substantial weekly decline of $225/t.

Aluminum scrap prices remained unchanged in comparison to the preceding trading day. Additionally, sources informed that the availability of scrap in the domestic market appears to be sufficient in the northern region, along with various grades of scrap.

Copper market

Indian copper prices remained stable yesterday, with sellers exercising caution in the new month. A recent deal concluded for 25 t of copper motor large and 20 t of motor mix, sourced from the US, sold at $1,100/t and $1,080/t CIF Mundra.

Global updates

South Korea's employment rate in July 2023

In July 2023, South Korea's employment rate for ages 15 to 64 stood at 69.6%, up 0.5% y-o-y. The unemployment rate was 2.7%, down 0.2%, with 807,000 unemployed around 30,000 fewer than the last year. Youth unemployment declined to 6.0%.

Malaysia's Q2 2023 construction, trade highlights

In April-June 2023 (Q2 2023), Malaysia's construction sector saw continued growth, with work done value reaching RM32.4 ($7.07) billion (8.1% y-o-y). Private sector fuelled growth, contributing RM20.4 ($4.45) billion (63.1%), while public sector declined to RM11.9 ($2.59) billion (4.8% decrease). Selangor and Johor led with RM7.5 ($1.6) billion and RM3.8 ($0.8) billion, respectively.

In June 2023, Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade sector achieved RM138.5 ($30.24) billion in sales value, growing by 4.3% y-o-y, contributed by retail trade (5.8%), motor vehicles (3.4%), and wholesale trade (3.1%). The volume index reached 148.8 points, with y-o-y growth of 3.1%, driven by wholesale trade (4.5%) and motor vehicles (3.1%). However, the seasonally adjusted volume index dropped by 2.2% m-o-m in June 2023.

China's July 2023 production prices

In late July 2023, China's market prices for 50 significant means of production in 9 categories revealed that prices of 39 products rose, 7 fell, and 4 remained unchanged, compared to mid-July 2023. Out of which, ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals have witnessed an overall increase.

Oil prices decline

Amid bearish trade and inflation data, crude oil prices eased in Asian trading today, driven by apprehensions about reduced demand from China. Supply concerns from Saudi Arabia and Russia's output cuts were overshadowed.

Brent oil futures dipped marginally by 0.21% to $85.95 per barrel. Crude oil WTI futures moved down slightly by 0.23% to $82.73 per barrel.

Natural gas prices gain

Prices of natural gas were recorded at $2.781/MMBtu, up 0.14% at the time of publishing this insight.

Dollar index

The dollar index, which gauges value of the greenback in a basket of six different currencies, hovered at 102.38, witnessing a slight drop of 0.14%.

The rupee was recorded at 82.82 against the dollar, depreciating marginally by 0.02% against the last closing.