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Shanghai copper hovers just below the record high, as Chinese demand increases and dollar weakens
Shanghai copper hovered just below a new record high on Thursday as Chinese demand increased and the U.S. Dollar weakened. The most active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading up by 1% at 96,210 Yuan ($13732.51) per metric ton. Shanghai copper reached an all-time record of 96.750 yuan per ton on Tuesday, while?London's benchmark also hit a high at $12.282, close to the $12.300 mark. The London market is closed over the Christmas Holiday. The rise in copper was due to a surge in Chinese demand as the holiday season approached. Yangshan Copper?premium The price of seaborne copper units has been rising since the beginning of December. It reached its highest level since late September, $55 per ton. Prices had been hovering around $40 since mid-October. China's top copper smelters, in a Thursday meeting, decided to not set guidance on the processing fees of copper?concentrates for the first quarter 2026, due to historically low prices and a shortage of raw materials. Investors bet on further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Fed Reserve next year to continue the?weakening of the U.S. Dollar. Aluminium and lead were also up in the SHFE base metals. Zinc fell 0.56%. Nickel's six-day rally ended with a decline of 1.22%. Tin lost 1.18%.
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Japan's lobby leader says China's export licenses will not reduce excessive steel exports
Tadashi Imai, Chairman of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, said that China's proposed export-licence requirements would not be effective in curbing export volumes or supporting a recovery in prices. China, the world's biggest steel producer, will implement a licensing system in 2026 for export regulation. This is because robust shipments of metal have fueled a protectionist backlash around the globe. Imai said at a press conference that the permits are aimed at controlling quality. China's steel exports have become a global concern. Japan is among the countries that criticize Chinese firms for receiving government subsidies which?encourage exports at low prices and overproduction. The Federation forecast that Japan's domestic demand for steel from the construction and manufacturing industries will remain flat during the fiscal year beginning in April. Crude steel production is expected to remain unchanged. The Japanese trade and industry ministry forecast this week that Japan’s crude steel production for the current fiscal year will fall by 3.2% to 80.33 millions metric tons, which is the lowest since fiscal 1967. Imai, also the president of Nippon Steel and the CEO of the company, was asked about the impact that U.S. Tariffs will have on his company. He said the tariffs could cut the profit by about 20 billion yen (130 million dollars) this fiscal year, while exports to the U.S. would be halved from the previous year. He said that the total impact of the tariff, which included indirect effects such as the 15% on automobiles was less than what he had expected.
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Dalian iron ore continues to benefit Beijing's home buyers
The prices of Dalian Iron Ore Futures rose for the?second straight session on Thursday as Beijing relaxed its restrictions on domestic?buying. The day-traded price of the most traded?iron ore? contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.58% higher, at 778.5 Yuan ($111.10) per metric ton. Singapore's market will be closed on Christmas Day, Thursday. Beijing's municipal officials further relaxed curbs on home purchase on Wednesday, lowering the qualification thresholds for home buyers, as part of the latest effort to?boost the demand amid the worsening prices of homes in the Chinese capital. Chinese officials pledged earlier this week that they would step up their efforts to stabilize the property market by 2026. Market participants were watching to see if other large cities would ease up home buying further. China's property industry, which used to be its largest steel consumer, has suffered a steady decline since mid-2021, with falling home prices and shrinking sales. The property market slump has had a negative impact on steel consumption, but robust exports and growing demand in the manufacturing sector have helped to offset some of the decline. Analysts also said that the expectation of steel mills booking more seaborne cargoes during the Lunar New Year holiday, in February, to "meet their consumption needs" was another factor supporting the prices. The price gains were curtailed by high portside inventories of?iron ore and seasonal slack demand for steel. The coking coal, the coke and other ingredients used in steelmaking are largely unchanged. The benchmark steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are mixed. The rebar and hot-rolled coil grew by 0.03%. Wire rod jumped 1.21%, while stainless steel fell 0.08%. ($1 = 7.0074 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Ryan Woo and William Mallard).
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Sources: China's smelter group does not set copper TC/RC guidance for Q1
Sources said that the top copper smelters of China did not set a guideline for copper concentrate processing fees for the first quarter 2026. This is the fourth time in a row the group has refused to do so, as feedstock shortages have pushed charges to new lows. Two sources familiar with the discussion confirmed that the decision was taken at a quarterly China Smelters Purchase Team meeting. The CSPT is a group of sixteen leading smelters whose advice is often used as a standard in spot concentrate transactions. When concentrate supplies are tight, treatment and refining fees (TC/RCs), which miners pay to smelters in order to refine copper concentrates, tends to fall. Antofagasta, a Chinese copper-smelter and the World Bank reached an agreement on 2026 TC/RCs of $0 per metric ton or 0 cents a pound. This was the lowest price ever negotiated in annual negotiations. A source familiar with the situation said that Antofagasta had reached an agreement with its Chinese clients to set annual TC/RCs equal to zero. The CSPT did not set a benchmark for the previous three quarters either, because China's copper smelters were struggling with negative charges on the spot market. This meant that smelters had to pay miners in order to?process the concentrate. CSPT members agreed last month to reduce 2026 production by more than 10% in order to offset falling processing fees, after China's Nonferrous Metals Industry Association stated that it was "firmly against" zero and -negative processing charges. China is studying ways to control its ever-expanding capacity to smelt copper and to counter negative TC/RCs. Copper concentrate is expected to'remain tight' next year due to mine disruptions. This includes the suspension of Freeport’s flagship Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia.
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Shanghai copper hovers just below the record high, as Chinese demand increases and dollar weakens
Shanghai copper was below its record high Thursday, as the Chinese demand increased and the U.S. dollar weakened. dollar weakened. As of 0330 GMT, the most active copper contract on?the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 0.40%, to 95,640 Yuan ($13.651.55) per metric ton. Shanghai copper reached an all-time record of 96.750 yuan?a ton, and the London benchmark?also hit a high at $12.282, which is near the $12.300 mark. The London market is closed over the Christmas Holiday. The rise in copper was due to a rise in Chinese demand as we approach the holiday season. Yangshan Copper Premium The price of, which measures Chinese demand for seaborne units of copper, has been rising since the beginning of December. It is now at its highest level since late September, $55 per ton. Investors bet on further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2013, leading to continued weakness of the?U.S. dollar. dollar. Aluminium and lead were the only two metals that changed little in SHFE. Zinc?dropped by 0.75%. Nickel's six-day rally ended with a decline of 1.79%. Tin lost 1.48%. (1 Chinese Yuan = 7.0058 Renminbi)
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Dalian iron ore continues to benefit Beijing's home buyers
The prices of Dalian Iron Ore Futures rose for the second consecutive session on Thursday, as further relaxations in Beijing on home purchases boosted sentiment. As of 0251 GMT, the most-traded contract for iron ore on?China's Dalian Commodity Exchange(DCE) increased 0.26% to $776 yuan (US$110.76) per metric ton. Singapore's market will be closed on Christmas Day, Thursday. Beijing's municipal officials further relaxed curbs on home purchase on Wednesday by lowering the threshold of home-buying qualification, in their latest effort to boost demand amid worsening prices for homes in the Chinese capital. This came after Chinese officials?promised earlier this week to increase efforts to stabilize the property market by 2026. Participants in the market were watching to see if other large cities would ease home buying even further. Since mid-2021, China's property sector has suffered a steady decline, with falling home prices and shrinking sales. The protracted downturn in the property market has had a negative impact on steel consumption. However, robust exports and a growing demand for manufacturing products have helped offset some of the decline. Analysts said that the expectation of steel mills booking more seaborne cargoes in order to meet their consumption needs over the Lunar New Year holiday, which is February, also supported the price of the main?steel making ingredient. The price increase was tempered by a?high iron ore stockpile at the port and a seasonally low steel demand. The coking coal, as well as other ingredients used in steelmaking, remained largely unchanged. The Shanghai Futures Exchange has seen a rise in the majority of steel benchmarks. Rebar gained 0.26%; hot-rolled coil gained 0.24%; wire rod increased 0.66% and stainless steel fell 0.58%. $1 = 7,0060 Chinese Yuan (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Ryan Woo)
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Sources say that China's first batch fuel export quotas for 2026 are stable year-on-year.
Three sources familiar with this matter late Wednesday said that China issued 19 million tonnes of export quotas, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, in the first batch for 2026. In this batch of export quotas, the world's second largest consumer of oil gave out?8 millions tons of low sulphur marine fuel. Both volumes were stable compared to a year ago. China's refined fuel exports are managed by a quota-based system that balances the fundamentals of supply and demand in its domestic market. The main recipients of the quotas were the state-owned oil companies Sinopec and CNPC. They received 13.76 millions tons of allowances for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel exports – more than 70% of the total volume. Zhejiang Petrochemical, a major private refiner, was allocated 1.56 million tonnes?of export quotas in this first batch. Almost 85% of the 8 million tons of low-sulphur fuel allowed for marine use went to Sinopec and CNPC. China's oil refinery exports, including aviation fuel, marine bunker fuel, and diesel fuel, totaled 52.65 millions tons in the first 11 months 2025. This is a 3.2% decrease from last year.
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Odesa Zoo saves birds after Russian attacks
Volunteers lift a dead bird from the wind-swept beach of 'Odesa. The Black Sea port town where an oil spill, blamed by Ukrainian officials on Russian attacks, has left wildlife fighting for survival. Odesa is a Russian target, and has been since the Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 20, 2022. However, the attacks are more intense now. Wildlife is also among the victims. Russia hasn't commented on the spill but previously denied targeting civilian infrastructure. Odesa Zoo is determined to save birds that survive after being coated with oil. Birds can no longer move due to their feathers becoming coated. "They can't fly or swim," said zoo director Ihor Bilyakov outside a rescue point to rehabilitate the birds. They lose their mobility and freeze quickly because it is cold now. The spill, which was caused by Russian air strikes that damaged storage tanks of sunflower oil in Pivdennyi Port last week, killed dozens of birds. Regional governor Oleh Kiper blamed the incident on Russian attacks. The birds screech indignantly when volunteers clean them of oil from their bill to toe. Biliakov said that the two most elegant species, the great crested and horned Grebes, were the worst affected. He said that the great crested Grebe is a waterfowl species that is particularly vulnerable to contamination by oil. The port administration reported that emergency crews deployed floating barriers and specialised vessels to contain spillage, and temporarily closed the channel. The oil will degrade organically, according to authorities. However, monitoring and cleanup efforts are ongoing in order to prevent any further spread. Reporting by Iryna Nazaarchuk, writing by Ron Popeski and editing by Howard Goller
US designates South Korea as a "sensitive" country amid concerns over nuclear weapons
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Energy said that South Korea was a "sensitive country" after its president briefly declared martial law, and amid reports of Seoul possibly developing nuclear weapons.
In a written answer to questions, the DOE confirmed that the administration of former-President Joe Biden placed South Korea in the bottom tier of the Sensitive & Other Designated Countries List shortly before Biden's departure.
The department didn't explain why the Asian country was added to this list, nor did it indicate that Donald Trump would be inclined to reverse this measure. Seoul's spokesperson stated that there are no new restrictions to bilateral science and technology cooperation.
Media reports have stated that the designation will come into effect April 15.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said that the government took the issue seriously and was in constant communication with Washington.
The ministry issued a statement saying that it would "actively negotiate" to make sure there was no negative impact on the energy, science, and technology cooperation between South Korea & the United States.
According to a document published on the DOE website in 2017, the DOE's list of sensitive nations includes China, Taiwan and Israel. Iran, North Korea and Russia are also included. Tehran and Pyongyang were designated as terrorists.
Then-Defence Minister Kim Yonghyun and President Yoon Suk Yeol were among the officials who suggested that Seoul might be forced to pursue nuclear weapons due to fears about Pyongyang’s weapons program as well as concerns over the U.S.-led alliance.
Yoon and Kim were indicted for insurrection in relation to Yoon's declaration of martial laws in December, which lasted six hours. Yoon's presidential powers were suspended and he was impeached while a court decided whether or not to remove him.
Yoon has backed down from his rhetoric on a nuclear weapons programme after negotiating an agreement with Biden in 2023, under which Washington will give Seoul greater insight into U.S. plans to deter and react to a nuke incident in the area. Seoul, in return, renewed its pledge to not pursue its own nuclear bomb and stated that it would adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which it had signed.
This has not, however, been enough to remove doubts about U.S. commitments in defense, which have fuelled calls for a South Korean nuke arsenal.
Last month, Foreign Minister Cho Taeyul stated that nuclear weapons are not "off-the-table", but it is premature to discuss such a plan.
Cho said at a hearing in the parliament that "given that international situation are evolving in unpredictable ways, this is an important principle that we need to prepare for all scenarios."
Daryl Kimball is the executive director of nonprofit Arms Control Association. He said that South Korea was a proliferation risk in light of these "provocative statements" and the DOE had been prudent to include the country on their list.
"Listing the ROK as a proliferation-sensitive country should rule out any chance of a South Korean request for U.S. approval to enrich uranium and reprocessing spent fuel... to produce nuclear weapons," Kimball said, citing the country's formal name, the Republic of Korea.
Seoul was concerned about the handling of this designation. Cho said in the parliament that the Biden administration had not formally contacted his ministry and only learned of the designation through an informal tip.
The Energy Department may list countries for national security reasons, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, or for supporting terrorism. However, inclusion on the list does not indicate a hostile relationship with the United States.
The DOE stated that there were no restrictions in place at this time on the bilateral science and technological cooperation between the ROK and the US. The DOE said that it looks forward to working with the ROK in order to further our mutual interests.
The department stated that, although the designation does allow for scientific and technical cooperation with the countries listed, it is subject to an internal review before the visit. Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington and David Brunnstrom and Ju-min Park in Seoul, with editing by William Mallard, Sam Holmes, and Sam Holmes.
(source: Reuters)