LONDON (Reuters) – “Near the bottom or worse to come?” The title of CRU Group’s panel discussion last Tuesday neatly sums up the downbeat mood of this year’s London Metal Exchange (LME) Week, the annual gathering of the world’s metals industry.
This time last year the cocktail party chatter was all about President Trump and the escalating trade war with China. One year on and the Sino-U.S. stand-off is still tantalisingly suspended between deal/no-deal (delete according to personal preference).
Industrial metal markets have paid the price for this year-long showdown. Political deadlock has accentuated China’s manufacturing slowdown and further depressed an already struggling global automotive sector.
Copper, aluminium, zinc and lead are all expected to experience a demand contraction this year, according to CRU. The sector hasn’t seen this sort of synchronised downturn since the dark days of the Global Financial Crisis.
At least there was nickel to provide a bit of bullish frisson to this week’s activities. The break-out performer from a flat-lining base metals pack was the hottest topic in town.
For the rest of this article: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-metals-lmeweek-ahome/column-fizzing-nickel-distracts-from-the-lme-week-metals-gloom-idUKKBN1XE1IT