April 10, 2024

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• LME Aluminum 3M Select is up $27/mt, the highest since February 2023.
  • Last trade was $2,485/mt (6:45 AM CST)
  • Last month, China’s primary aluminum smelters produced 3.555 million mt, up 4% compared to last March, according to Shanghai Metal Market estimates. For April, SMM predicts the country will have 3.49 million mt, down slightly from a month prior. This is mainly due to an expected smelter shutdown in the Sichuan province and a slower-than-expected smelter restart in Inner Mongolia. Previously curtailed production in Yunnan Province, the country’s top production region, is also slowly coming back online. (Source: SMM)
• LME Copper 3M Select is up $63/mt, recouping yesterday’s losses.
  • Last trade was $9,490/mt (6:45 AM CST)
  • With new investments and mine expansions, Zambia’s copper production could reach 1 million mt by 2026, the country’s Finance Minister proclaimed late last week. Production could rise to 3 million mt by the end of the decade, he also stated. In 2022, the country produced 763,000 mt but slipped to 698,000 mt due to weather and financing issues. Despite the recent setbacks, Zambia is the second-largest copper producer in Africa and is becoming an important, emerging source of the red metal. (Source: Bloomberg)
• Prompt month CME HRC Steel last traded at $853/st, down $2/st (6:45 AM CST).
• Gold prices hit a fresh all-time high of $2,365/oz yesterday and could reach $3,000/oz by 2025, according to Bank of America. If you have exposure to the gold market, please reach out to AEGIS for hedging strategies.

Price Indications

Today's Charts

AEGIS Insights

4/4/2024: AEGIS Factor Matrices: Most important variables affecting metals prices

4/3/2024: Important US Economic Data (AEGIS Reference)

3/20/2024: Midwest Premium Buyers Should Hedge While Prices Hover at 3-Year Lows, and Demand Appears To Be Stabilizing

2/27/2024: Aluminum Consumers Should Still Implement Hedges, Even Though Russia Sanctions Mean Little

2/2/2024: China's Real Estate Woes Provide Opportunity for Copper Consumers

1/25/2024: Aluminum Starts 2024 On a Down Note, But Potential Supply Shocks Give Consumers a Reason to Hedge

4/9/2024: China March aluminum output and April forecast

4/9/2024: Gold hits record high for eighth session in a row

4/8/2024: AI could add 1 million tons to copper demand by 2030, says Trafigura

4/8/2024: US must boost Africa ties to secure key minerals, report says

4/5/2024: Zambia's copper output may rise to 1 mln tons by 2026 as mines expand

4/4/2024: Ford delays some North American electric SUV, truck production

Important Disclosure: Indicative prices are provided for information purposes only, and do not represent a commitment from AEGIS Hedging Solutions LLC ("Aegis") to assist any client to transact at those prices, or at any price, in the future. Aegis makes no guarantee to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Aegis and/or its trading principals do not offer a trading program to clients, nor do they propose guiding or directing a commodity interest account for any client based on any such trading program. Certain information in this presentation may constitute forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “edge,” “advantage,” “opportunity,” “believe” or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or activities.